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Sorry Tony. You have to make way for the dumb Chinese who vote in a loser getting 15ppg on 39% shooting because he's Chinese by association.
Spurs' Parker looking like an all-star
Jeff McDonald
Every NBA player, every season, has a night or two he'd rather forget. For Spurs guard Tony Parker this season, Dec. 18 at Orlando was one of those nights.
With a national television audience looking on, Parker went 3 of 17 from the field, scored just nine points and had as many turnovers as assists (four) in the Spurs' 90-78 loss. To make matters worse, his Orlando counterpart, Jameer Nelson, had 24 points, inviting his Magic teammates to ride him piggyback to victory.
To Parker, the whole night seemed like a bad dream. Or a bad joke. And the charter flight home was no picnic either.
“It's impossible to play good every game,” Parker said, philosophical now that the worst night of his season is so far in the rearview. “We play so many, sometimes you're going to have one of those bad games. The key is to bounce back and come back even stronger.”
In the 10 games since leaving Orlando, Parker has taken his own words to heart.
When the white-hot Magic arrive at the AT&T Center for tonight's repeat engagement, they can expect to find a very different Parker than the one who left Amway Arena in December disgusted with himself.
Since transforming the Magic's kingdom into his unhappiest place on Earth, Parker has done much to bolster his All-Star credentials, averaging 21.7 points and 7.3 assists. He has boosted his season numbers to 20.9 points and 6.7 assists per game, both of which will be career highs if he can keep it up another three months.
Beyond the numbers, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has been impressed with Parker's decision-making, the No. 1 skill required of any point guard.
“He's a scoring point guard, but he's got to make sure he keeps everybody involved, too,” Popovich said. “He could try and get something done (by himself) all the time, but he realizes it's a team game. The decisions he's made this year have been really, really good in that regard.”
One moment in Parker's post-Orlando All-Star audition stands out.
On Christmas Day in Phoenix, the Spurs were behind by a point on their final possession. Driving toward the basket, Parker sensed Phoenix's Jason Richardson had wandered a little too far from the man he was supposed to be defending.
Parker threaded a pass to a suddenly open Roger Mason Jr., in the corner, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the horn.
Mason got the glory, but his “SportsCenter” highlight wouldn't have been possible without Parker.
“He's trying to make himself an all-around point guard,” Spurs swingman Michael Finley said of Parker. “He has the scoring down. Now he's trying to better distribute the ball.”
The Spurs will need the best of both worlds from Parker tonight, as they face an Orlando team playing as well as anyone in the league. The Magic have won 12 of their past 14 games and have quietly surpassed the Boston Celtics for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Parker wasn't the only reason the Spurs struggled in their earlier meeting with the Magic. When a team falls into a 23-point hole, as the Spurs did in Orlando, there is much blame to go around.
As such, today's expected pre-rematch film session wasn't exactly highly anticipated among Spurs players.
“You have to face it,” Mason said. “At the end of the day, when you play, it's recorded. Hopefully, you don't make too many mistakes, because Coach Pop will let you know.”
As a point guard, Parker's mistakes at Orlando were more visible than those of his teammates, making him an easy scapegoat for the Spurs' national-TV pratfall.
Before tipoff tonight, Parker will watch many of his misses and mistakes unfold again on the big screen in the team's film room. Maybe, just maybe, he might be able to muster a smile.
It turns out, Parker is thankful for the night he'd rather forget.
“It was good,” Parker said. “It's like a wake-up call ... and then you play better than you were before.”
Sorry Tony. You have to make way for the dumb Chinese who vote in a loser getting 15ppg on 39% shooting because he's Chinese by association.
Who are you referring to? If you mean McGrady, he's not Chinese (though his teamate is and probably gets him a few more votes). If you're talking about Yi Jianlian, he's in the eastern conference as a forward (and I have to admit I've been voting for him just to spite Garnett. I still harbor hopes that the Chinese will embark on an organized massive voting effort the day it ends just to send him past Garnett).
Hence the phrase Chinese by association.
"On Christmas Day in Phoenix, the Spurs were behind by a point on their final possession."
Check your fact.
TP must be there. He's playing great. Only CP3 is playing better than him at PG
ANd T-Mac on All Star game this season is a big JOKE
Parker has appeared in the all-star several times but that's mainly because the spurs are too powerful to have only one guy in the all-star, not because Parker is that good. Manu is more like an all-star than TP, IMHO.
Very humble opinion to say the least
yes, jason terry is much better and should go instead of tony
too bad no one outside dallas think the same.
Rogue, your only purpose here is to with Spurs fan. Saying Parker is not good is the icing on the cake! Look at his stats, not that it would convince you, you don't care. Btw, section 123, I will be there tomorrow, and Wednesday. I will see the lakers ............ Are they crying again??? I have not seen that since the the Spurs beat them in ....,
Parker has two all star appearances, he might be a backup this time.
Last edited by Chieflion; 01-11-2009 at 09:03 AM.
He was an AllStar in 2006 and in 2007.
Ok, corrected. Thanks.
His best friend CP3 is always gonna keep Tony from starting in the annual Mickey Mouse Game. The game is as important as any video game.
Not this year.
Let me also take a moment to comment on life's losers who wanted to trade Parker in the early part of this decade for AI or Chris Whitney or The Glove whoever: YOU and I TOLD YOU SO... es. You know who you are.
Last edited by exstatic; 01-11-2009 at 03:48 PM.
It'd be really great to see all the Big 3 make the All-Star game for once. It seems, one of them always gets left out with the exception of Tim. I think it is possible for Manu to make it as an All-Star but at this point TP's numbers are better, so that might give him the nod over Manu.
Manu has NO chance to make it this year. He knows it and doesn't care. It's all about the post season for him
This season he is though. Tony has been pretty consistent since his injury, manu hasn't
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