Reply With Quote
Have You Watched The Playoffs This Year
Did You See What He Did Against Nash?
The upside on this kid is tremendous and he has great speed, but to be honest I haven't seen him "progress" all that much in the last 3 Post Seasons.
The last time we won the championship in 2003, alot of credit should go to our bench. Manu had taken over games when Jax couldn't get it going and Speedy Claxton continuously saved Parker in both the Suns & Nets series. Matter of fact, Pop took out Parker in the 4th of the last game of the 2003 finals and I specifically remember Speedy & Manu both finishing that series off with both Bowen & Parker benched.
My biggest worry is Parker's maturity and inconsistency. Maybe we are being a bit hard on the guy, but regardless of age, I haven't seen him dramatically progress his entire game in the playoffs. Usually you will see a difference in players in their post season play. Parker has been good, and has been bad. Game 6, he started the game erratic and carelessly. I knew we were in trouble in the 1st quarter because of Parker's play. Some games he plays exceptionally well, but what I've noticed in the last 3 years of every series is that Parker will start off the series good the first couple of games and the rest of the series is all downhill full of inconsistency. I have yet to ever see Parker play an ENTIRE SERIES up to his potential. Someone can correct me on this, but I think I'm pretty sure that Parker has usually started a series off well and then goes downhill from there(with the exception of the Suns series in 2003 where he eventually gained his confidence).
The player I am most concerned with tomorrow is Tony Parker. After listening to his press conference, you get the feeling that not only does he not know why he's playing bad, but he has lost alot of confidence in himself to play better.
If Tony Parker does not play well, the Spurs will lose. The reason why we won the Championship in 2003 was because of our bench play and our depth at both guard positions. Time & time again, Claxton had to be put in rough situations that Parker was not able to handle and Speedy exceled and answered the bell, something Parker does not do very well. We don't have Speedy...we have a rookie in Beno who also plays careless, which is why he hasn't played at all in game 5 and sparingly in game 6.
If Parker plays well, we win. If he doesn't, we will lose. I think the Pistons know this and they will also force everyone to play man-to-man and make it hard on the Spurs to find their "go-to" guy.
What I've noticed in the series after game 2 is the Spurs are playing too much "one-on-one". Even Duncan is playing "one-on-one" and that isn't how we should be playing.
Pistons lost games 1 & 2 because they played "one-on-one", the exact same reason why the Spurs lost games 3,4 and 6.
I'm hoping Parker can mature and come through, but I'll be honest, I don't know for sure if he will. I can lie and call myself a fan, but I'm not going to lie to myself and say, "I know we will win tomorrow" because I just don't know if we will. I just don't know if Parker has matured all that much from the last couple of post-seasons. Sure, his regular season averages are up, but his post-season play has been the exact same as the last several years...just inconsistent.
I don't know how many years Pop has to continue to treat Parker like a "5yr old" and yell at him to get any results. It just doesn't register with Parker for some reason. It's like he "expects" to be yelled at, yet he doesn't learn from his mistakes. I just don't see the seriousness in his game. I don't think he honestly understands that some players will never ever win the championship and doesn't value this opportunity with the respect he should have.
Of course it's not all Parker's fault, but out of Parker, Manu and Duncan, Parker is the most inconsistent and hasn't elevated his game in the Post-Season like Duncan and Manu have.
Have You Watched The Playoffs This Year
Did You See What He Did Against Nash?
I think most players have a career day against his defense.
you are clearly high, anyone with one eye open could see parker progressing.
aaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhh 1k right here
Parker is 1 game closer to his 2nd championship than Speedy or Jax
Newsflash, Tony Parker is very good but will more than likely never be a superstar. Why can't Spurs fans be happy with what they have when it's already better than the majority of other players at that position across the leauge?
Because they are...nevermind. I can't say it. I'm not that mean. I don't have anything nice to say about these people.
that's funny. well the spurs wanted to keep claxton but jax messed it up. tp folds and he has 2 stars to help him. clax is alone in gs. ill give tp respect IF he shows up tomorrow for the whole game.
True. About 3 or 4 years ago, however, we could have had Billups for next to nothing.
Surely, as good (notice I said good, and not great, or sucky, or below-average, or hall-of-famer) as Parker is, we'd be working on a 3-peat, easy, with a great PG, like Billups, running the show. No contest.
Man, Ghost has been married for such a short period of time yet he already has a child. Amazing.
Tony Parker: 20pts/4 assists
Steve Nash: 23pts/10 assists
Next.
Tony doesn't understand game management yet. It takes some points many years to become a guy like a Chauncey Billups. He does have great quickness and his end to end speed is unrivaled. But he doesn't understand how to maximize his speed advantage.
Hopefully, he will bulk up slightly and keep that speed for a few more years. He is 6'2. He is not undersized at all. His game isn't above the rim, which will make him durable.
I already think he's a very good defender. He's just light in the butt and that is why he is struggling against Billups. TP needs to spend his summer on his jump shooting and becoming a better creator for his teammates. I don't think he will need serious weight training to bulk up. He will probably do it naturally, as he gets older.
Sometimes you have to let guys figure it out. In the past, Speedy could come in to bailout TP. Now, TP knows that it's pretty much up to him. If he plays well tomorrow night, he could take off like Billups did the last two seasons.
parker had it relatively easy vs. steve nash in the phoenix series because nash is so poor on defence. spurs will continue to have inconsistent games until they can find a very good point guard, not a freaking streaky shooting guard called tony parker.
ame 7 'dream' comes true
Web Posted: 06/23/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Tom Orsborn
Express-News Staff Writer
Win or lose, Spurs point guard Tony Parker doesn't expect his life to change much after Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
"I'm still going to have the same teammates, same friends, same family," he said.
For a 23-year-old faced with defending Chauncey Billups in the kind of pressure-packed game the Pistons' star relishes, Parker sounded remarkably calm while talking to the media Wednesday at the SBC Center.
"I love it," Parker said. "One game and everything is on the line. It's a great opportunity. It's been my dream to play in (a Game 7) since I arrived in San Antonio.
"This is what you live for — to play in big games."
As an added bonus, Parker draws the assignment of shadowing Billups, who has scored 130 of Detroit's 533 points in the series and leads all players with a 21.7 scoring average.
"Mr. Big Shot," as the Pistons like to call Billups, hit 5 of 9 from 3-point range to finish with 21 points in the defending NBA champions' 95-86 victory over the Spurs in Game 6 on Thursday.
"I have to slow him down a bit," Parker said. "I'll try to pressure him. That's the only thing I can do. Try to force him to do mistakes and not leave him in his comfort zone to hit those 3-point shots."
Despite Billups' production, the Spurs' coaches have been pleased with Parker's defensive effort.
"He's working his butt off against a tough character," coach Gregg Popovich said.
Assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo noted that Parker hasn't backed down from Billups, who at 6-foot-3, 202 pounds is 1 inch taller and more than 20 pounds heavier than Parker.
"Tony has done a very good job," Carlesimo said. "All you can do is make the really good offensive players work, and Tony has really defended. The entire playoffs in general, I think it's the best defense I've seen Tony play, and he's had tough matchups."
With another le and possibly a second-straight Finals MVP award at stake, Billups is expected to be at his best tonight. But that prospect doesn't worry Parker, who said he has "embraced" the pressure of playing in a Game 7.
"You need to have fun," Parker said. "You can't think about what is on the line and how much pressure you got because then you aren't going to be yourself and you aren't going to play your game. You just have to go out there and let it go.
"You have to be happy. It is hard to explain. There is so much on the line, but you cannot be afraid now
Tony Held His Own Against The Mvp Of The Nba And The Best Point Guard This Year
Very true....but IMO, he still has room to improve. Once he becomes a "dollar" player (good for four quarters) he will be an all-star.Newsflash, Tony Parker is very good but will more than likely never be a superstar. Why can't Spurs fans be happy with what they have when it's already better than the majority of other players at that position across the leauge?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
