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Nets.com is talking about the Parker quotes about Harris.
http://www.nba.com/nets/news/Game_Time_Blog_3_2_08.html
By Matt McQueeny, NJNets.com
Harris-Parker Match Up Renews
After the dust had settled on the trade that brought Devin Harris to New Jersey and sent Jason Kidd to Dallas, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker had an interesting thing to say about it.
"To be honest with you, I'm really happy for that trade,” he said to the San Antonio Express-News.
“(DeSagana) Diop was doing a good job on us. And Devin Harris, most of the time, he played good against us. So I thought it would be good for us. No disrespect to Jason Kidd, he's a great point guard, but those guys that left always gave us trouble."
Parker and Harris are definitely rivals and - both being lightning-quick guards who use their speed to the greatest of advantages - act as natural foils to one another. So, when Parker says something like that it is almost purely out of the respect he has for the challenge Harris poses to him.
And Harris seems to feel the same way.
“I’m always looking forward to the match up,” said Harris after his rousing debut on Thursday, a 120-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. “Tony’s a great match up; San Antonio’s a great team. It’s always a challenge. It’s a new challenge with a different team. We have different players in different situations so hopefully we can have the same outcome.”
Harris and Parker have gone up against one another 12 times in regular season games and their respective teams have split those games (6-6). Parker started all 12 of the match ups and averaged 17.7 points on 46 percent shooting and 4.2 assists in 33 minutes a game, while Harris started six of the match ups and has averaged 9.6 points on 44 percent shooting and 2.8 assists in 24.5 minutes.
But it was in a legendary seven-game Conference Semi-Final Playoff series in 2006 where their match up was at its best. San Antonio took Game 1 of that series, 87-85. Parker scored 19 and Harris – coming off the bench – scored just three points in 15 minutes of play.
To match Parker’s quickness, Mavs Head Coach Avery Johnson decided to insert Harris into the starting lineup in Game 2. And he responded, scoring 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting, and Dallas won to even up the series.
“We thought we played a game that was pretty much our style,” said Johnson after the win.
“We didn’t get our pace in the first game; we got a little bit better pace in the second game. A lot of that had to do with Devin being out there. We were just trying to save him up, especially for this round of the playoffs hoping that we were fortunate enough to get a win in the first round…But we had our eyes on this round for Devin to have him come out and play for us and he played a game for us tonight.”
“Tony’s pretty hard to guard. I don’t think there’s anybody really that can necessarily stay with him. We just feel that maybe we have a shot at having some guys who can do it every now and then. He’s a tough cover. That’s why he’s an all-star, that’s why he’s the player he is. But I think you have to have guys who can try to match his quickness…”
Harris carried the momentum right into Game 3, which was back in Dallas. He scored a career-high 24 points as his quickness was again a factor. And in the waning seconds with the Mavs holding a one-point lead, he forced a turnover when he broke up a dribble handoff from Robert Horry to Manu Ginobil.
In Game 4 – another Dallas victory – Devin had 18 points, six assists, and six rebounds while Parker had a personal series-high 33.
But the Spurs won the next two games – In Game 5, Parker scored 27 (Harris scored 15) – and a Game 7 was forced back in San Antonio. In that game, Parker had 24 and Harris had just two, but it was his Mavericks who won on the road to close out the defending NBA Champions. Dirk Nowitzki saved the season with a three to force overtime on his way to 37 points and 15 rebounds.
Harris finished the series with averages of 12.7 points on 47 percent shooting, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists and Parker had 20.1 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.1 rebounds. But in the scope of the series, it was Johnson’s move to promote the young Harris to the starting lineup that seemed to get the Mavericks back into the series and ultimately win it.
The two have already played against one another twice this season. In the first game, a Dallas home victory in November, Harris scored 18 to Parker’s seven; in their next match up, in San Antonio in December, the Spurs won as Parker scored 23 to Harris’ four.
The rivalry renews Sunday at IZOD Center -- and again Tuesday in San Antonio -- as Harris and Parker go at it once again.
