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Terrific as he's been, I have difficulty thinkibg of TP as a franchise player.
Here's the article:
Top 50: Tony Parker, No. 15
Look up the word envy and you will see it is described as a noun originating from France that expresses a feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another. Ask me to use it in a sentence and I can give you a few. For example, I envy the speed and teardrop floater that Tony Parker shows off every night he plays. You could also say I, a Houston Rockets fan, envy how many les Tony Parker has helped lead the San Antonio Spurs to in his career. And it should go without saying that any sane individual must envy Parker for his relationship with a certain Desperate Housewife. It’s only fitting that both the word being dissected and the player in focus come from the same country.
Let’s step back a few sentences and clarify a point of discussion. You might be thinking, “Tony Parker didn’t lead S.A. to multiple les. That was Tim Duncan.” You’d be partially right. Tim has unquestionably cemented himself as the greatest power forward of all-time. Without him the Spurs don’t have a dynasty. But there is a lack of respect that the point guard position receives, none more understanding of this notion than Parker. It wasn’t Tony’s job to take the last shot. That was Timmy’s job. Until recently, it has always been Parker’s job to defer. And while Duncan stepped into the spotlight from day one of his NBA career, there is a certain beauty to the way Parker’s game has grown over the years, so much so that it shouldn’t be surprising if Parker supplants Duncan this season as the franchise player in San Antonio.
To study the timeline of Parker’s career is an exercise in maturity. He was a player that was initally dismissed by Gregg Popovich in a workout because he couldn’t handle the physical nature of the NBA game. Nothing has come easy for Parker. He had to figure out how to craft his style of play. He’s been in Pop’s doghouse plenty of times, even to the point where he was warned not to shoot 3’s. But every season that we see Parker, there is a new facet to his game. He’s not perfect but neither are we. Have any of us not been chastised by a coach for firing outside of our range? Parker is a player worth celebrating because he is the best of us. He has had to weather the same hardships every talented baller with a touch of recklessness had to endure, the difference being that he found a way to put it together. Parker’s growth as an NBA player is what we wish we could have achieved, if only we had that speed, that elusiveness, that… sorry, here comes the enviousness again.
It is only a matter of time before you see an ESPN header that reads “The French-ise” with Parker’s smiling mug underneath it. There’s no accounting for taste in headlines but it is time that we start accounting for Parker in terms of importance to the Spurs and the league in general. He’s already become the first European player to win an NBA Finals MVP, and Parker had career highs last season in points per game and assists, at 22.0 and 6.9 respectively. As Manu Ginobili and Duncan enter perhaps the twilight of their careers, which is strange to hear myself say, Parker is hitting his prime.
Anyone who questions this notion can go back to the 4-1 series loss the Spurs suffered at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Tony dropped 28.6 a game on Dallas even though the Mavericks knew he and Duncan were the only two players worth guarding on the Spurs. Try convincing me Michael Finley was a threat. You have a better chance of arguing that Paul Blart: Mall Cop deserves an Academy Award. It takes a special player to slash through a defense that is waiting for him. Parker is that player.
Ask someone to name the best point guards in the NBA and you almost assuredly will hear the names of Chris Paul, Steve Nash and Deron Williams listed first. How many rings do those guys have between them? Nada. Parker has three to his name. If he wins this year, and the Spurs have to be considered a serious contender with the acquisitions of Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess, maybe Parker will be generous enough to keep one ring for himself and give one a piece to the aforementioned PGs on the list.
You can argue that Parker’s outside game is sorely lacking, that his jump shot can be inconsistent at times and that he has been blessed with exceptional talent around him. I’ll give you the first two contentions but you can’t blame a player for being placed on an organization that understands the importance of chemistry, balance and depth. And talent doesn’t equal championships. I submit the Phoenix Suns for your consideration. At the end of the day it is all about winning and right now there isn’t a point guard in the league with the amount of talent and rings to match Tony Parker.
In the same way that the New England Patriots don’t measure success by number of magazine front covers or jersey sales, the Spurs all understand that legacies are measured by championships. Based upon that criteria, Parker’s legacy rises higher than Vince Carter did in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. Parker said it best. “When there is talk about the best point guards, sometimes they don’t talk about me. But that’s not my main motivation. They can talk about Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Deron Williams and Chris Paul. I still have the most rings.“
Truer words have never been spoken.
Terrific as he's been, I have difficulty thinkibg of TP as a franchise player.
On any other team he might just be the franchise player...
maybe tony could maybe be a NBA franchise player. but he surely won't ever be the franchise player Tim is.
it's unfair to compare both players.
As i already said Tim is in a very smart list of active players able to make a franchise a winning one almost only by themselves: Shaq (on his prime), Lebron and Tim. that's all IMO.
and Shaq is selfish and Lebron has not yet won, so you can safely argue that Tim is simply the best current franchise player, even if past his prime.
but now, who care about that ? a lot of teams have shown you could win it all with many major players. indeed, it's even a better thing. i still remember the spurs beating easily Cleveland after having controlled Lebron in 2007. i'm just happy we have several major players.
What I find interesting is that he was already #15 last year (and that created a huge controversy at the time on their website, just read the comments section), and now he's #15 again although everybody thinks he's much improved. One of the rankngs must be bogus (or both...)
should be ranked higher. hes 3rd or 4th best PG in the game. great PGs are super rare.
Tony Parker is an arrogant prick, I just thought you all should know that.
"U MAD?"
Yeah, TP.
LOL suns
Being a Suns fan is like having lots of sex but never experiencing an orgasm.
No . The best part is he totally destroys the "Spurs are boring because they dont have any rappers" argument.
Article says the rankings are based "solely" on the "projected" 2009-10 performance. So this is how they expect the player to play this upcoming season.
Other interesting rankings by SLAM's top 50 so far include Rajon Rondo being the 27th best player in the league, Derrick Rose already the 18th best player in the league, Lamar Kardashian for his role playing part will be the 33rd best player in the league this season, and Ron Artest will be the 42nd best player in the league. Shaq still projected to be a top 30 player in the league.
http://www.slamonline.com/online/cat...online-top-50/
http://www.slamonline.com/online/cat...top-50/page/2/
Their top 14 should be interesting.
blair should be top 10 easily
Blair> TP
I would love to see Parker add a consistent 3 point shot to his game. That's the real missing piece to his offense. If he can make people pay for going under screens when he's at the 3 point line, paired with his speed, he'd be unstoppable.
I think Tony has the potential to be a franchise player but based on his performance with the French team it doesn't seem he's anywhere near that yet.
Has Tim been ranked yet?
No. He was #3 last year.
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107884
Thanks, and I hope he's top 7 at least.
Even on Spurs he still probably is though, at least the OP believes TL is already the franchise player in SA and mechanically ignores the other candidates in TD, RJ and the arguable Manu.
Tony definitely has the talent to be a franchise player, and I'm pretty sure that in most teams of the NBA he would average around 25/30 points but I've doubts about him beign a "positive leader", some things he says make me think that he has a big ego and that if he would have landed on any other NBA team he would now be like many of the "prima donna" players wandering around in the league making a lot of points and getting paid but on teams that aren't good enough to be championship contenders.
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