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damn... this is not going to end good...
Dribbles David Aldridge nba.com Posted Jan 11 2010
I'm Tired...
Tired of Playing the Game...
Ain't it a Crying Shame?
I'm..so...tired.--
"I'm Tired," Blazing Saddles
Many nights this season, Tony Parker looks like he's got a piano on his back.
"I just think I've played too much basketball," Parker said last week.
The Spurs' guard is still just 27 years old, in the prime of his career. But there are days, and weeks, when the grind of non-stop play for almost a decade catches up with him, and he is ready for it to end. Something is going to give between Parker's commitment to San Antonio and his commitment to the French national team.
Through Sunday, Parker was averaging 16.5 points per game, more than five points off of his average last season and his lowest in five seasons. His assists are down by one from last season, and his turnovers are up. It doesn't mean he's still not an elite-level point guard, but it does mean there's been some slippage. And slippage is not a good thing when you have only a year left on your contract.
"I've played five summers in a row, and I think it's about time I need a rest," Parker said. "It's going to be tough (to play). The contract's coming up, and (coach Gregg) Pop(ovich) wants me to play well every night. Sometimes it's tough, because you know you play all these championship runs, and every year I play for the national team. Every year. This year is the first year I've found my body is a little bit tired, you know? So I'll have to make some decisions, because I'm not Superman. I can't do 82 games at the level Pop wants, and then play on the national team."
International players feel a special pressure to compete in all international compe ions, not just the World Championships and Olympics. The never-ending grind of playing both for China and Houston almost year-round for almost a decade has almost certainly played a role in the injuries suffered by Houston's Yao Ming, who is recovering from foot surgery and will miss the season -- though he has not ruled out playing for China in the Worlds if he gets clearance from the Rockets.
In 2009, Parker played with the Spurs until they were eliminated in the conference semifinals in May. But he spent most of the summer with the French team, which needed to qualify for the 2010 World Championships by finishing in the top six at the European Championships in Poland in September. France finished fifth; its final game was Sept. 20. Parker started camp with the Spurs less than two weeks later.
The Spurs, like other NBA teams, have struggled in recent years with allowing their marquee players to play in international compe ion. Popovich has all but ordered Manu Ginobili to cease and desist from the Argentine national team, after he helped lead Argentina to a silver at the 2002 Worlds and a gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004. But it's come at a large cost; Ginobili aggravated his ankle injury in the '08 Games, requiring surgery that rendered him a s of himself last season. And with the Spurs' contender window likely open for just this season and next (that's how long ownership has committed to making significant luxury tax payments, coinciding with the last two years of Tim Duncan's contract), they are short on time.
The Spurs don't know if Parker is going to play in the World Championships, which start in Turkey Aug. 28 and run through Sept. 12. That doesn't count the practice time Parker would rack up with the French team beforehand.
"Look at Manu," Parker said. "Every year he goes, and every year it hurts us a little bit. Because he was hurt, and we're not the same team when Manu's not playing. When Manu's playing his best, we're a championship caliber team. It's going to be tough for everybody -- for (Pau) Gasol, (Dirk) Nowtizki -- Nowitzki took a pass this summer. So I think everybody, as you get older, it's tough to do both. It's very tough to play every game and then go play with the national team."
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/feature...s=iref:nbahpt1
damn... this is not going to end good...
So you going to ing help duncan or not
Are there any realistic options for resting Parker? Its hard to imagine Pop would just sit him for two weeks and let him recover. I don't even know if 2 weeks would be enough. If they were going to sit him, the time to do that would have been the past few weeks when they played weaker opponents. But, looking at the schedule, maybe you sit him after the LA game for the rest of January, or maybe even until the next Laker game in early February. It doesn't sound that realistic, but neither do our championship chances with a 75% Tony Parker.
well it looks like your choice is obvious, Mr. Parker."...because I'm not Superman. I can't do 82 games at the level Pop wants, and then play on the national team."
say what you want, but your allegiance is to your pay check right now. if you want to play for France, go ahead, but save the Spurs the $millions so they can sign another point guard.
A huge help would be to ban the abomination of back2backs, which cheats/abuses the players and cheats the fans.
the greedy NBA business, too many teams, too many games, too little player and coaching talent, too brutal a schedule.
Tony's answering a lot of his own questions to the problem here, but does anybody else get the feeling he's pointing Pop out as the villain in this story
I don't think so. Every coach wants his players to play hard and at a high level every night. I think he accurately places the blame on the burden of NBA and NT obligations.
No, I think he's basically saying he's not going to play for the national team in the future.
Good article. I think any debate about whether national team play hurts players can put to rest this season. Parker has obviously been tired all year and Pau Gasol has stayed gimpy. It's just not humanly possible to play that much basketball. I respect Parker's enthusiasm for playing for his home country -- but as a Spurs fan that enthusiasm lowers the team's chance of winning a championship ... and that's all I really care about.
That said, I don't buy what Parker is saying. He's the master at playing both sides of the pond. He'll tell US reporters that he's thinking of not playing while telling French reporters something totally different. If I had to guess, he'll be suiting up next summer once again.
i couldn't agree more. i know this opinion probably won't have a lot of sucess here, but the NBA schedule is just insane.
82 games plus the PO (let's say 20 games for a deep run), so more than 100 games in less than 8 months
it's against the games quality, the players health (and we could talk about doping), the international tournaments. it's just money over reason.
still, the offseason is very long (5 months) and you can't deny that to spend most of this time still playing bball in compe ion is a heavy load.
Last edited by kace; 01-11-2010 at 04:16 PM.
Agreed. He's just easing into it instead of flat out saying NO.
exactly
Poor Parker $12,600,00 a year, approx $150,000 a game or $5,000 a minute on the court.
and he ONLY gets 2 weeks a year holidays....
Suck it up Princess.
I can't believe it but you're right...
hopefully after the summer..
Oups,
sorry,
i"am French
it's not about injuries here.
I'm not sure about that, there is a possibility he is preparing himself and the FNT to give up summer compe ions. I think they are already talking about his next contract and I'm quite sure that Pop and the Spurs FO are putting a lot of pressure regarding the NT question.
For the rest I'm quite worried by Tony's words he seems to be both tired and disappointed. In French we say "las", I don't know a proper translation.
On a side note the NBA schedule is just ing crazy 3 to 4 games a week with stupid back to back games. Honestly I hate BtoB games and I think 3 games per week should be the limit when PO come.
I think you are missing the point
He signed some sort of do ent, which says that Tony will play for national team until 2012
Well, I dont think he is indirectly saying 'no' to future national team games. I think he just wants to point out that its tough, but still important for him and he will be there next year at the worldcup. Believe me, he wont give it up.
Basically what he is saying is; If you dislike me playing for France and being tired because of it, well just accept it!!
As for Pop resting TP, well I think it''s needed. Of course resting 2 weeks isnt enough, but also the Spurs cannot afford to rest TP so long at the moment. We need him. Its tough, but I hope he finds a way.
Anyway, even though clearly not back to 100% Tony Parker, he is in my eyes coming back a bit lately.
So much for the 'Tony is young, he won't have Manu's problems' theory...
tony isn't injured, not to talk about a season ending injury like the ones manu had the last two years.
Well this story doesnt mean to accept the fact you are saying. Its says nothing that its going to happen like with manu.
He is young, and he probably won't have any huge issues.
I don't know how binding that is, because he already said earlier this year that he might not play this upcoming summer.
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