Mike Monroe:Duncan might return Saturday, Parker won't

[THE SIXTH MAN]

Pro basketball: Duncan might return Saturday, Parker won't

Web Posted: 12/14/2007 12:33 AM CST

Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES — The telltale about Tony Parker's ankle injury was working on his jumper with Spurs shooting coach Chip Engelland on Thursday morning at Santa Monica High School.

Darius Washington, called up from the Austin Toros of the National Basketball Development League, arrived here in time for the Spurs' morning shootaround. His presence was a clear indication Parker's injury may keep him out of action for a game or two, and maybe longer.

Parker sat out Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center, missing his first game of the season. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Parker is unlikely to suit up against Denver on Saturday in San Antonio. After that, his status will be game by game.

Parker suffered a left ankle injury in the Spurs' Nov. 30 game at Minnesota. An MRI exam showed no bone damage and he had played the three subsequent games. But his performance had suffered and Popovich chose to shut him down for a while.

“The MRI showed negative,” Popovich said. “But it's real sore. It became obvious in the Golden State game. Two days of rest didn't do any good. I just had to make the call and have him sit. He buys it. He understands we had to do it.”

Parker has struggled with his explosiveness since injuring the ankle. Popovich wants to make certain the injury is fully healed before he suits up again.

“I think it might be longer,” Popovich said. “He's obviously labored for a while now. I know some games he's played well, but he can't put them back to back. His foot is sore afterwards.”

“I almost sat him for the Golden Sate game, but he thought the two days (off) would help him, and it didn't. He doesn't have his lift. He doesn't have his explosiveness. He can't get by people. He can't plant on that5 foot the way he wants to, so we're going to make sure that little bone he aggravated, according to the MRI, is not a problem before we put him back out there.

“It's too early to take chances with guys. Unfortunately, I'm probably sitting him one game too late.”

Washington played the first 15 games of the Spurs season before he was assigned to Austin. He had played well in four games with the Toros, averaging a D-League best 28.2 points in 38.5 minutes per game.

Right now Darius is a scorer,” Popovich said. “He knows how to score. He's compe ive and a tough kid and he knows how to score. He's got a lot to learn in a lot of other ways, but with Tony out I think it's good to have a little more insurance.

“If there is an opportunity we'll let him play and we'll see if he's adjusting and learning the things we want him to learn.”

Duncan probable: Popovich said Duncan would suit up Saturday against the Nuggets at the AT&T Center if he responds well after a workout today and again Saturday morning.

“With his workout (Thursday night), if he feels good again (today), and same thing after (Saturday's) workout, I would think he would be probably suit up. But if he doesn't react well to those workouts, we will probably sit him another game. But he is pretty close (to coming back).”

All-Star tally: Duncan, moved back to forward for online balloting but still listed among centers on the printed ballots, is third in fan voting according to the league's first official release of vote totals.

Duncan has 423,608 votes. He trials Denver's Carmelo Anthony (482,127) and Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki (443,117).

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili ranked fourth among guards, behind Lakers Kobe Bryant, Houston's Tracy McGrady and Denver's Allen Iverson.
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[timvp]

Sounds like Parker is out for a while. A number of people have commented about Parker looking slowed/sick/tired in some games sporadically throughout the last couple weeks. This ankle problem answers a lot. The most important thing to do is rest it and get it 100%.

It probably all dates back to the injury he suffered with the French NT. If that's the case, Parker could be out a good chunk of games to ensure he'll be healthy later on in the season. He not only needs his speed, he need his ability to stop on a dime ... which I've noticed has been lacking for a while.

[timvp]

"Right now Darius is a scorer,” Popovich said. “He knows how to score. He's compe ive and a tough kid and he knows how to score. He's got a lot to learn in a lot of other ways, but with Tony out I think it's good to have a little more insurance.

“If there is an opportunity we'll let him play and we'll see if he's adjusting and learning the things we want him to learn.”

Translation:

Washington isn't a point guard. He has tools but I can't trust him at this point. I'll play him in spots but not when it matters.

Well, that answers the question why Pop doesn't stick with Washington during games. He must have a really low opinion of Washington's point guard abilities because Pop usually likes scoring point guards.

Bad sign

[carina_gino20]

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili ranked fourth among guards, behind Lakers Kobe Bryant, Houston's Tracy McGrady and Denver's Allen Iverson.

Manu is fifth among guards behind TMac, AI, Kobe, and Nash.

[Bruno]

Parker's injury is the same kind than the one he got with French NT this summer.

Parker's ankle ligaments are very elastic :
The edge of this elasticity is that when he sprains his ankle, his ligaments didn't suffer a lot.
The drawback of this elasticity is that tissues around ligaments suffer a lot because ligaments don't do their job at limiting the twist.

[Bruno]

Pop said that they send Washington in D-League because he needed to improve his PG skills. Washington led the D-League with 5.8 turnovers per game. It seems clear than Washington still needs to work on his PG skills and will be back in D-League as soon as Parker is healthy.
Washington has likely shown too much things now to be cut before his contract become guaranteed in January but he will need to improve this point if he wants to stay with Spurs next year.

[mystargtr34]

Why would Pop be so low on D Wash.. hes basically a homeless mans Tony Parker at this point... he attacks the rim every chance he gets ala TP. Tony isnt exactly Steve Nash ... this team doesnt need a PG to have all league playmaking ability... whats the big fuss about his PG ability.. hes only 21

[Bruno]

Why would Pop be so low on D Wash.. hes basically a homeless mans Tony Parker at this point... he attacks the rim every chance he gets ala TP. Tony isnt exactly Steve Nash ... this team doesnt need a PG to have all league playmaking ability... whats the big fuss about his PG ability.. hes only 21

Tony isn't Steve Nash when it comes to leading a team but Washington isn't even close to Parker's level in this area.
Pop don't ask Washington "to have all league playmaking ability" but he really needs to improve in this area. I haven't watch yesterdays game but when he played in November with Spurs he was basically playing SG on the offensive end.
And Pop doesn't give up on him, he just says that he needs to learn things before becoming an effective PG for Spurs.

[Bruno]

BTW, people who have bashed all summer French NT medical staff should now bash Spurs medical staff ten times more for having letting Parker aggravates this ankle injury.

[TDMVPDPOY]

if pop wanted a real pg, too bad he traded one away

how about signin some one who is free atm left on the market

[duncan228]

ESPN chimes in with injury reports from around the league. Here are Duncan and Parker's.

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/ba...=nbainjury1214

Occupational Hazard: Spurs cautious with Duncan
By Guy Lake


Tim Duncan, PF/C, Spurs: Nope, he's not back yet. Duncan missed Thursday's game as the Spurs are being extra cautious with his sprained right ankle. The Spurs are a model franchise for protecting their players (note the minutes cap they have religiously followed with Manu Ginobili), so I am not reading this as an indication of a serious injury. Rather, the team knows they cannot go deep into the playoffs without Duncan and they won't have him back until he is 100 percent. That looks like it will be Saturday. The Associated Press reports that coach Gregg Popovich said Duncan might return to face the Nuggets.

Tony Parker, PG, Spurs: It appears extremely unlikely that Parker will be back in time for Saturday's game. The San Antonio Express News reports that Parker initially sprained his left ankle against the Wolves on November 30 and that he will miss at least Saturday's game. While Parker was not participating in practices following that late November game, he was playing 33.0 minutes per game since. The ankle was not getting the rest it needed and that has come back to bite him. Parker is a fantasy gamble going into next week, as he could miss Monday's game. Ginobili is going to see a lot of run with Parker out and I expect better production in points and assists, as he will need to initiate the offense from the perimeter.

[greens]

I hope Tim is back soon too...when he's fully ready of course...

I'm glad that Tony is at least getting some recovery time...I'm hoping he'll return real soon too.

We need all the guys to be healthy...

[Bruno]

Duncan should be back before Parker.
I hope Spurs will play great and win games without Parker because he is slowly developing a huge ego and the fact that Spurs win without him could bring him back a little down to earth.

[Hemotivo]

Duncan should be back before Parker.
I hope Spurs will play great and win games without Parker because he is slowly developing a huge ego and the fact that Spurs win without him could bring him back a little down to earth.