Utah's Williams special, but he's no Parker
SAN ANTONIO -- After Deron Williams' second-half performance in Sunday's Game 1 loss, analyst Mark Jackson said the second-year guard had to be in the conversation with Steve Nash and Tony Parker among the Western Conference's top point guards.
Jackson's opinion has picked up so much clout that it has him on the radar for coaching vacancies, but I've got to go Dennis Green on him. If you want to crown D-Will, go ahead and crown his ass, but Parker made that comment look pretty foolish in San Antonio's 105-96 Game 2 victory.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich wanted to ensure Parker was focused in Game 2, so he matched up his point guard with Williams rather than Derek Fisher from the jump, and the tweak got the desired results. Williams missed five of his first seven shots, committed four first-half turnovers and looked out of sorts.
Parker hit his first six field goals, ended up with 14 assists -- a playoff career high -- and set the tone for another lopsided result.
On the same floor that showcased Duncan's brilliance around the basket, Manu Ginobili's electricity, Carlos Boozer's strength and Williams' compe iveness, it was Parker's speed that was Game 2's most dangerous weapon. He got to the basket whenever he wanted, read where the defense was collapsing and found the open man.
Simple and effective. Deadly and unstoppable.
"Every time I penetrate they are wide open," Parker said, "so I guess they’re forcing us to make our best shots. Tonight, we made our shots."
If there was one spot where Utah could grab an advantage to change the current climate of the series, it was at the point. After watching Williams carve up the Spurs for 26 second-half points in Game 1, maybe your mind started to wander, too.
Parker made sure that didn't happen, even adding a rare 3-pointer in the final minute to cement the result. It was a neat finishing touch on one of the best performances of his playoff career, a night where his decision-making was exceptional, rising to the challenge at hand.
"Pop got on him about that and knowing they are packing the lane in and that our shooters are going to be open," said Duncan. "I thought he did a great job using enough dribbles to draw people and find our shooters. He got Brent (Barry) off. He got Bruce (Bowen) off in that fourth quarter. All of those shots were because of his penetration."
This isn't meant to be a rip job on Williams, who truly is a special player. He rebounded with another strong second half, scoring 19 of his 26 points, but he's not on Parker's level yet. He'll deserve to be called one of the league's top point guards someday soon, but that doesn't look like it's going to come soon enough to save the Jazz in this series.
It's not even fair to expect him to. Williams is in his second year in the league. Parker, despite being just two years older, has been a professional since he was 19 years old. He had already won his first ring before Williams had enrolled at Illinois.
And yes, Parker did win a championship in his second year in the league, but keep in mind that he had veterans David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Steve Smith, Terry Porter and Bowen around him. On this Utah squad, Williams is counted on to be a leader.
Taking a team to a national championship game is the not equivalent to winning a pair of NBA les, and Williams is just now gaining the type of experience it takes to break through with a win in a hostile atmosphere like San Antonio.
Utah's two disastrous second quarters in this series are no coincidence. The Spurs are capable of stretches where they find another gear, and the only way to beat them is to keep those runs from crippling you. Managing the pace ultimately falls on the point guard's shoulders, and the Jazz were guilty of sloppy play, rushing shots and feeding the avalanche.
Williams should be more comfortable at home on Saturday, where the Jazz hope it won't take him until the second half to get going.
http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/10192921
And yes, Parker did win a championship in his second year in the league, but keep in mind that he had veterans David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Steve Smith, Terry Porter and Bowen around him.
Thank God for Smith and Porter during that '03 playoffs! Those helium-filled bench chairs might have floated up to the ceiling if not for them!
Parker has Duncan, Finley, Ginobili, Barry to pass to.
Williams has Boozer to pass to. Makes a big difference.
Well, Williams didn't exactly suck in Game 2. 26 points and 10 assists. Parker has been in the league 6 years (5 maybe?). So saying Williams isn't Parker is no problem for me. They are different players. Williams is bigger and more powerful and will be a more prolific scorer than Parker. Parker is faster and always will be. He also has a better line-up to pass to. I'd say both of them will continue to get better, but I'll take D-Will on my team over Parker any day.
I don't remember Porter taking a break from coaching Milwaukee to come play for the Spurs in 2003. You'd think that would have gotten more pub.
Yeah of course he's no Parker. They are two different types of players.
One thing is for sure, that kid can BALL!
I think you have to be careful when you compare players. Williams has a face up jump shooting boozer and okur for help on offense. TP has alot to work with and doesn't have to carry the load. IMO i think parker is a bit better then williams but this one game/series doesn't prove it either way.
I'd take either guy and couldn't criticize anyone for taking williams over parker.
Parker and Williams have such different roles on their team that you can't really even compare them. Williams has the ball every play and he's in charge of making things happen offensively. The Spurs, on the other hand, have three guys who you can run the ball through at any given time.
Since Parker is easily the better defender, he's probably the better player right this moment. But it's tough to compare the Spurs apple to the Jazz orange.
if spurs did not have manu or duncan create as much on o
tp would score more and average more assist
and spurs would get crushed by Utah and the rest of the NBA
depends on who replaced duncan and manu!
no one would replace duncan but some players come closer then others
I actually think the opposite is true. Parker only gets open Js when the defense collapses on TD or Manu. Parker isn't going to go and score 30 pts a night without TD. Sure he gets to the basket and scores some layups, but if the defense didn't have to worry about the other two all night, then Parker wouldn't be getting to the hoop as much either. Parker is fantastic in this system with these players, but it would be interesting to see him operate in a lesser environment like say...Portland or Seattle etc...
tony parker will never be the pg that deron williams is now...parker is a pure scorer...deron has everything u need in a pg..handles,vision, excellent passing ability, and he can spread the floor with a 3 and shoot from anywhere on the court...parker just has pure speed..probally one of the best at finishing at the basket...parker could score like 22pts a game for a season and that will be his best year...williams will most likely have a 20&10 career average when its said and done...
lakers forcused on stoping tp before and won in playoffs
parker has improved
suns said their forcus was to slow tp down
we all know how that turned out
any point guard is not as good without a big
So I guess Charles Barkley is eating one big fat crow right now.
Too bad Drob never had shooters like these guys...except for the Rifleman.(Dale Ellis, AKA the Walking(sleepwalking) Dead doesn't count since they found out after he retired that he had actually been a zombie since 1988.
That would be scary. I think you put DRob circa 1995 on this team in place of TD and you have a Champion. It just goes to show it's not just about the big star, it's who you surround him with and how you coach that makes the difference.
Good call.tony parker will never be the pg that deron williams is now...parker is a pure scorer...deron has everything u need in a pg..handles,vision, excellent passing ability, and he can spread the floor with a 3 and shoot from anywhere on the court...parker just has pure speed..probally one of the best at finishing at the basket...parker could score like 22pts a game for a season and that will be his best year...williams will most likely have a 20&10 career average when its said and done...
The author is right. Williams is no Parker but also Parker is no Williams. Its not like either guy is horrible. They are both all-star quality players. They just have different styles.
I would take Parker at the moment because he has some more time in the league under his belt but if Deron Williams was ever a Spur....I would be very happy.
The thing is...the Shooters the Spurs have now are effective even when they aren't hitting their shots(with the exception of Finley who jacks up too many)...because they don't get doubled off of...
This is why we could never beat the Jazz...even when we had Duncan and Drob. We never had more than 1 shooter that was respected...DRob never had teamates that punished opponents that doubled him...that's why he'd shoot 41% against the Jazz Quintuple teams.
Say what you want...but if you doubled Hakeem...Mario Elie, Robert Horry...they made you pay. Just like they did when they came to the Spurs.
Spurs would be working on championship no. 9 if he had
Both are good. If Parker keeps progressing with his mid-range shot and even a three he'll be ridiculous. One thing Williams has that Parker hasn't had is a guy like Boozer who is good at pick and pop as well as pick and roll. It would be interesting to see howw good Parker would do playing with a great pick and roll and pick and pop player.
nah, not yet. Ginobili said last nite all the Spurs did was get what they were supposed to get - 2 wins at home.
Two more W's then you can serve it up to Chuck on a silver platter.
Yeah...the Spurs idea of putting a shooter with Drob was signing Lloyd Daniels out of a crackhouse.
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