Parker question

[JamStone]

I'm a Piston fan and I had a question about Tony Parker. I'm not trying to start a controversy or anything, but I was just wondering if Spurs fans ever thought that Tony Parker gets jealous of all the Manu Ginobili hoopla.

It seems like Tony Parker was a big time fan favorite first, was the French phenom, and the secondary star to Tim Duncan. But, now it seems as though Manu Ginobili is the fan favorite and is becoming the bigger star between the two, if not as big as Tim.

Case in point, the other night when Manu had that transition and-1 when he got bumped by Rip Hamilton and tossed it up and the ball bounced three or four times and went in, the other Spurs all got hyped, pumping fists, screaming and clapping. And, Tony Parker was on the floor but really didn't show any emotion, at least from what the TV cameras showed.

Do you think Tony Parker is a little jealous of Manu's growing fame? Again, I'm not trying to start a controversy. Just asking Spurs fans if they see that.

[SMLT]

Spurs has one super star (Tim) and, so far, two stars (Manu and Tony). Considering the game he plays Manu has everything to become, and is becoming, a superstar on his own (highlight every game or so :o) but that doesn't diminishes Tony's status.

They get along very well and, for the emotion shown, I felt that Tony wasn't really happy during the whole game so, you know, don't anticipate too much. As a matter of fact, in Phoenix, Game 5, when Tony scores floater and nails 2 threes to give the winning lead in this difficult game he didn't show much emotion either. I don't know why but he seems a little tense right now. His game is still there anyway (he had a solid game 1, not great as we now expect of him, but solid).

And, to clear your doubts (because you didn't try to start a flame war of course) Tony said that he expects Manu to be at this level during the whole serie against Detroit. Does not sound like jealousy to me.

Cheers

[Sek-cMan]

not at all.. All the spurs stay focused on the goal which is the win at hand. Fame and spotlight is all the media hype. If "ANY" of the boys do well the media jocks them. Its part of the Aftergame. During the game there is no time for jealousy which is what separates champions from contenders. As far as TP not showing much emotion . Its a given that he has seen for more spectacular plays from Manu . That or he could have been just tired? whos to say?

[Mark in Austin]

Doubtful.

Parker is as big a rock star in France as Manu is in Argentina. He's getting plenty of attention locally too. The fans have always responded a little more warmly to Manu; and I think this is for a number of reasons. With a huge hispanic population, it's probably fair to say that a lot of hispanic fans identify Manu as one of their own, and he's making history as the most prominent hispanic player in the league - this is a tremendous source of pride for a lot of people. Also, Manu comes to play every night. There's always maximum effort there. And because of his style of play, even if he doesn't fill up the box score on a particular night, you know he was giving it everything he had. He's a pretty rare blend of blue collar player and human highlight reel, and fans of all backgrounds are starting to recognize that. To quote coach Pop, the Spurs value players that have "gotten over themselves". Manu has done just that. While this is true to a large extent of all the Spurs, Manu's case is a little different because of the "Sportcenter-worthy" plays that he makes so often. What other player in the league with a style of play so spectacular also plays so intensely on both ends all the time, has embraced the team-first concept, (like Larry says - "playing the right way") and is so approachable and easy to indentify with as a person off the court? I read someplace that Manu's teammates on the Argentinian National Team have nicknamed him "The One". I think there are a lot of people that are just now starting to see why.


As a player, Parker has been a little more inconsistent. (Which is natural - Parker is 5 years younger than Manu, and is playing the most difficult position on the court to master. Most good to great point guards don't really come into their own until their mid-twenties. Parker just turned 23 a month ago.) But fair or not, I think that inconsistency, especially in the playoffs the past several years - where despite 2 championships a lot of Spurs fans to this day still bear the psychological scars of over 20 years of playoff collapses/disappointments- has caused his star to not shine quite as brightly as it could.

Tony also came in his rookie year and took the starting job from Antonio Daniels, who at the time had become a popular player in the community.

And finally, there's been a little backlash from the whole Eva Longoria thing. The relationship made the press right before/after Parker ended a longterm relationship with a woman who a lot of fans had come to think of as part of the Spurs family. Most of the hate has been directed to Eva, though.

As far as his reactions on the court, I've noticed that too occasionally, and used to worry about it, much the same way that I really worried that Pop was going to lose Tony the way that he yelled at him constantly the first couple years he was here. But I've realized that Tony is a pretty remarkable person with a ton of confidence, and he has responded well to Pop - they've got a tight bond. So I'm going to assume that the Manu-jealousy thing is a similar situation - more in the fan's minds than reality. It is far more likely that Parker didn't get all hyped on this play bacause he was tired from defending Billups, who with his size and strength is a really tough matchup for Tony, and was trying to catch his breath, or was concentrating on the next sequence down the floor.

In the grand scheme of things, these are all pretty minor issues, though. While it may be true that some fans like one over the other - you'll notice Parker vs. Manu debates springing up fairly consistently on this board, often with the players home country fan base championing their respective cases; it's not like the fans love Manu and don't like Tony. I think most SA fans are sophisticated enough to recognize that Tony and Manu have different roles to play on the court. While Manu might get more time on Sportcenter, that and $3.00 will get you a cup of Starbucks before practice.

If Parker continues to improve the consistency of his play, keeps his nose fairly clean, reaches out to the community a little, and plays hard SA will have nothing but love for him. (And if on the off chance there is a little bit of jeasousy there, Tony can always take solace in the fact that when his contract extension kicks in next year, he'll be making more money than Manu.)

[ducks]

read tp interview

[spurster]

Closing or crowding the lane because of TP (and Manu) is one the first things that opponents do or at least try to do. Combined with doubling TD, this frees up the perimeter shooters. Manu has been hitting outside shots a lot better than TP, and Manu's zigzags in the lane finds space where TP's quickness does not.

Also because TP can be a one-man fast break against one or two defenders, the other team is forced to get back for potential transitions, which leads to less offensive rebounds.

Now in a series like this, the other team can adjust to limit TP, but as noted, this leads to other things the Spurs can take advantage of.