2014 Western Conference Finals-Game 3-San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder

[Ice009]

I'm just trying to figure out how that's not a "plus" for TP. I'm not even making an argument for TP over Duncan or TP over Manu. I'm simply saying he's carried the team through many playoff series over his career. Why is it that his bigtime series performances are always written off?

The previous poster said that asking him to lead the Spurs to a le is too much to ask from a "mediocre" player. If Tony is mediocre after how much he's carried the Spurs over the past 5 years, then what does that make Tim and Manu?

People hate to admit it, but Tony led the Spurs to a championship last year. He's not the one that failed to grab a rebound. He's not the one that missed a critical free throw to seal the Spurs 5th le.

He had a good finals in 2007, but the finals MVP doesn't mean he was the Spurs' best player that season. He wasn't the MVP of the team or the best player on the team that season or in the playoffs. That's the answer to the question I am answering.

I don't know why you guys are bringing up last season, Spurs didn't win last season. Tony also missed shots after making those big plays in game 6. Sorry, you can't use that as an argument. Tony still had a chance to make plays in game 6 and he didn't do it. He was horrible before those big plays for most of game 6 and he was also bad after those few good plays. Why didn't he play better the rest of the game? Why didn't he show up in game 7? You can't say it was on his teammates for not grabbing a board or hitting free throws and then let Tony off the hook when he had a pretty game before and after those few big plays that he made.

[james evans]

i hope it doesn't take popovich 3 games to figure out ibaka goes for every shot. he's easy to get in foul trouble. it's not illegal to pump fake. we pump fake everyone else, but the best defender they have, we don't. it doesn't make sense to me.

[james evans]

Hey look, Tony Parker was not responsible for the Spurs winning that Championship. He helped, but he sure as wasn't the best player on the team. That's the question I am answering. You guys can spin it anyway that you want. The answer to the question about who was the Spurs best player that season is - Tim and Manu 1A and 1B. Just because Tony won finals MVP doesn't mean he was the best player on the team as some people around here seem to think it is.

If he was the best player on the team back then, they would have lost in round 1.

and he only won that finals mvp cuz duncan isn't kobe. he saw his man had a mismatch and he let him score the baskets. people that don't watch the spurs try to throw that finals mvp at me all the time. parker isn't our best player now and wasn't then.

[TampaDude]

Meh...one loss, which was expected. Spurs in 5.

[cd021]

Against literally any other team but the long, athletic, speedy Thunder. Bonner's the fat kid on the playground trying to play dodgeball with the jocks against OKC.

hard to counter that. My point was to match him vs Adams or Butler (he could easily hide on him) and have him set screens for manu, parker or mills so OKC can't trap. Its not like OKC will start running post plays for Adams. Parker/Mills-Manu-Leonard-Bonner and Diaw for a short burst when OKC goes small. The spacing and potential ball movement could negate their athleticism.

[cd021]

kawhi is getting off easy. he stunk it up tonight too. his jumper wasn't falling, took some bad shots and wasn't aggressive enough at attacking the rim. i know parker turned into ray charles and wasn't looking at getting everybody involved, but he still needs to be assertive and demand some touches. he's not a rookie anymore. closed mouth don't get fed.

The truth . Kawhi was awful and people looking the other way. The kid is supposed to the "Y" if the Spurs best players were vowels (Duncan being A-E, Parker-I-O and Manu being U-) he's scored 14 points over the past two games in 47 minutes. It didn't matter in game 2 but he has a tendency to disappear sometimes on the road. Make Durant work on offense. He needs to be in the 12-15 point range more often than not. Spurs are 7-1 when he scores at least 15 in theses playoffs. The one loss was because of Vince Carter in game 3, of the 1st round.

Parker actually had his worst playoff game in a decade. He deserved to get benched. Hopefully he figures things out, they aren't even playing Sef. he really doesn't have any reason to struggle like he did. Even if Ibaka is back.

[therealtruth]

Well, this is a farce. Aren't the Spurs always about exploiting matchups? So TP's Finals MVP doesn't count because he exploited Cleveland's mismatches. While were at it, Lebron exploits matchups every game so his MVPs shouldn't count because everybody's a mismatch and Miami is just exploiting the mismatches and the Eastern Conference is so weak, Lebron gets to stat pad his numbers.

The Spurs were 25 seconds away from a championship last year with Parker as their best player. Yeah, it pains so many posters in here to hear that. If Ginobili or Leonard could knock down free throws, the Spurs win the championship led by point guard.

Pop's coaching screwed it up. TD should have been on the court at the end of regulation and TP should have been on the court at the end of overtime.