For a long time I believed TP to be equally key as Tim and Manu to the Spurs' offense. I listened to all those knocks on ESPN or TNT where he was criticized or simply never even mentioned in the top 10 point guards conversation. Even after his finals MVP, he usually got snubbed by the sportscasters. Rubbish I thought - they don't know how good this guy really is. He was possibly one of the top three point guards in the league at one point I thought... But as we see Tim/Manu breaking down even as the Spurs role players improve, it does not seem that TP has the same impact on the Spurs in the past couple of seasons.
I would think this kind of decline is often due to age, but TP is still in his prime. What I am thinking now, and what I fear, is that TP actually got more credit than he deserved, and that Tim and Manu always propped him way up. So now that those two are clearly on the downside of their carrers, TP's ineffectiveness is finally exposed or at least the Sportcenter and TNT comments snubbing him or leaving him out of the top PG conversation were always justified.
Thoughts?
If Parker isn't playing well, we're ed. Case in point; 2011 first round. He's supposed to be our consistent scoring threat with Manu and if he's off we're going to have a hard time winning no matter what. He had a great season this year and I'm not sure why but he fell apart in the first round and it's a big reason we got thrashed.
I agree that he played really well during stretches of past seasons where Tim and Manu were both out. He is a talented scorer still, but the question coming up will be, is he really good enough to carry the Spurs to some level of success on his own? I thought this could be possible before, but I am not so convinced anymore.
2007: Boobie Gibson
lol finals mvp
idk about any of you all but when you get outplayed by Mike ing Conley then you a scrubbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
Parker haters... he has been a top 5 PG since about 2005. People place the blame on the stars when a team loses.. which is why Parker gets alot of for the Memphis series.. but if the Spurs had an NBA quality bigman to play next to Duncan, or anyone not named Matt Bonner.. the Spurs win the series and no body mentions Parker being 'terrible' against Memphis.
It would take an all time great ie a prime Duncan to carry a team on which Matt Bonner is a relied upon player ..to an NBA championship.
2007........
The Curse of Boobie Gibson .......
The problem with Tony is he's a regular season kind of player. In the span of an 82-game season, he can get his. He's got the speed to get points on the break, and his ability to get in the lane and finish makes him an efficient scorer when teams aren't focused primarily on stopping him.
The problem is, once the playoffs start, the defensive intensity picks up and teams start focusing on ways to 'kill the head of the snake'. And Phil Jackson provided the key to stopping Parker way back in 2004.....pack the lane. If he or other shooters can't hit their shots, game over.
Not saying Tony isn't talented. I'd still rate him as a Top 15 point guard. However, until he can get that jumper cooking again, he's still single-dimensional, and it's too easy to take away a single strength.
Pretty much
The only times TP has shined in the playoffs have been agaisnt piss poor defensive PG's - Nash and Gibson - or teams
Parker has always been ing overrated, always. Like Dex said too often teams pack the paint during the playoffs and Frenchie becomes completely ineffective because he doesnt bring much else to the table. I agree that his inability to develope a jumpshot has cost the Spurs series' since 04', probably wouldve been since 03' if Duncan wasnt God that year and Speedy didnt bail Parker's ass out.
developed a half-decent shot when Chips first became the shooting coach but then his shot reverted to being complete the past few yrs again. Shouldve traded this overrated Frenchie while he still had value before he loses his speed and becomes a complete scrub, shouldve given the reins to that Hill.
Being the leading scorer in the recent Euro Championship and bringing France to a silver medal sure points to the fact that he's overrated.
This past season I noticed he's been lazy on defense. He also wasn't going to his jumper as much. Maybe lack of confidence after missing some or something.
The lack of overall team defense also goes against his game. He's the kind of guy that can run after a blocked shot or a good defensive board, but when you have to inbound after a made basket you go back to the slower game, which is pretty typical of the playoffs, especially when you can't stop anybody. TD's decline certainly contributed to that.
Good point. I though the Spurs started struggling when they slowed their offensive tempo but didn't really improve defensively. I think the problem with Parker sometimes when you feature him too much is he reduces everybody else to a jumpshooter. If his he's not finishing his drives or guys are not making shots then the Spurs are in trouble. That's exactly what Memphis did. Since he's not a pure point it would help if he could play off the ball a little more.
I like the ball in Ginobili's hands more. He is able to gets others involved. Parker can't throw RJ an alley-oop without a set play. I think that speaks volumes about his passing ability. Kidd used to do it all the time. Even Duncan and Ginobili are better at that.
Parker is good, don't be ungrateful. Be glad the Spurs have a point guard who can score and can outrun 85% of all other PG's. How can he be exposed? He has been so good in our past Championship runs, and I firmly believe he deserved that Finals MVP in 07. Him getting outplayed by Conley was a mental breakdown, and I'm sure redemption is on his mind. Expect big numbers from TP next season.
i dunno any other good player out there when gettin outplayed look like a fkn complete scrub...worst thing of all this happens in important games
And we still won in 2005/2007...
Parker is a very good PG. People act like he never played against Paul or Williams in the Playoffs.
But no matter how good he is, no PG will save the day when his team his getting destroyed in the paint. I don't get how people blame Parker so much for the last playoffs. If he was bad, any other player but Manu was worse.
Fact: No top 3 PG has won a ring since Isiah Thomas
In Parker's peak he was arguably a top 3-5 PG but he's no longer as quick and got himself into way too much god damn drama which probably doesn't help. The league is also loaded with young PG's on the rise so its an even more compe ive position than ever before.
Of the Big 3, Parker offers the fewest intangibles, defensive plays, versatility, etc. Bruce Bowen and at times even veteran backup PG's made up for some of Parker's/Spurs weaknesses in the past.
Parker's court-vision/passing/handles/decision-making really isn't very good either. At least when it comes to managing a good assist to turnover ratio especially against the Grizz in the playoffs. He has also failed to utilize Richard Jefferson's few strengths like feeding him on the fast break but thats also because Parker is a score first player and RJ was just a bad fit.
Parker's midrange shot seemed like it kind of disappeared in the past year or two or at least it seemed more inconsistent.
I like that Parker got better in the reg season but for the healthiest and youngest member of the Big 3 he just doesn't have the impact that you'd expect. I don't like Parker mostly because he's been disappointing in the past two playoffs and because he's been getting himself into really stupid stuff like sexting. I think Parker getting involved with ex-Spurs wives is just a bad, bad deal for not only Parker but the locker room as well.
After The Skunker & then 8, it's as obvious as the nose on Manure's face.
Parker ain't a tired old bag like Duncan.
No. Parker is just a bag.
S
LOL
You haters are ing ridiculous on here. Parker was possibly our best and most consistent player throughout the regular season, and 2nd behind Manu in the Memphis series, yet it is only him who was "exposed." It wasn't Jefferson, Hill, or Bonner? They all shrunk and played like es against the Grizzilies. No, but let's blame Parker cause he can't "find" Jefferson in the open-court, even though Jefferson was looking to run less than any other year of his career, and was passive from December on.
Oh, it's his fault that Hill and Bonner played very poorly against their match ups. Parker should of helped them make their shots and defend O.J. Mayo, Tony Allen, Geravais Vasquez, Zach Randolph and Darell Arthur better.
Parker's defense and jump shooting was very subpar at times last season. But you can't lay on the blame on him or think he was exposed because played his usual level. Everyone not named Manu struggled mightily in that series, but it was still very close. The breaks just didn't go our way, but there is (hopefully) next season. Hopefully Parker will redeem himself in many of your eyes, but if he doesn't he still has 3 championship rings and a Finals MVP trophy.
I don't even see how it's debatable, he's definitely an elite point guard. There's 7 elite point guards: Paul, Williams, Rose, Westbrook, Nash, Parker, Rondo.
Parker is one of the most consistent, efficient scorers in the league and a slightly better all around player than he's given credit for. Despite that, he's still the third best player on the Spurs.
He's been, at minimum, a top 30 player for the better part of a decade now. After all he's accomplished, one bad series doesn't mean he was "exposed", it just means he had a bad series. What it proved though, is what has always been obvious: If he has to be your best player in the playoffs, the chances are you're not going very far. But that's more a commentary about what it takes to win a championship in the NBA than it is a knock on him.
You guys ever stop to think that defenses focus more on stopping Tony Parker's penetration. With an aged Tim and Manu teams will scheme towards keeping Parker out of the paint whenever they think it becomes a problem. Before they couldn't do that because Tim and Manu demanded so much attention. Also you got to think Parker came in the league at 19 and has gone deep into the playoffs many times. With the wear and tear and injuries you would have to say he is somewhat past his prime. An old 29 if you will.
He's a great player but he's not Tim Duncan. He ain't gonna carry an entire team. He's got old vets and young rookies around him what do you guys expect? He's done great for us quit hating.
Saying he's a scrub is a bit too much... but denying that he was responsible for the first three losses to Memphis is ignorant. Last I remember, it was Manu that Tony Allen and Battier were guarding, and Mcdyess and Timmy had their hands full with Randolph and Gasol... so it was TP getting outplayed by Conley.
What world are you guys living in, where any of the top PGs in the NBA disappear in the playoffs in every aspect of the game? He missed layups that he should have made, wasn't hitting the outside shot, couldn't stop Conley, and didn't get players involved.
Putting him on the same tier as Rose, Paul, Williams, Nash, and Rondo is dumb. Those players don't disappear, even when defenses focus on them.
Hopefully it's just a confidence thing.
The thing that I find funny is people are acting like this is the first time Parker has been exposed. That's what's really funny.
I didn't put him "on the same tier" as them, I just said he's one of the elite seven. Within' that, there's two tiers. Paul, Williams and Rose are clearly tier one. Advanced stats would lead you to believe that Westbrook belongs with them, but I wouldn't go that far yet.
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