Hi,
I don't get to see every Spurs match but from what I see, read and (try to) analyse it seems that Duncan is a little "down" (for Duncan) nowadays while Parker seems on fire...
So here's my question: Who's running this team as of now ? Or, in other words, whose team is it ?
Waiting your views since you get to see and hear every little bit about the Spurs.
I don't think that duncan is down. I think there main goal is to give him as much rest as they can for the playoffs as well as to prevent injuries.
Parker is on fire and he is running the offense, but this team still is on the shoulders of Timmy.
Right now, Pop's goal is to keep Duncan fresh and give more minutes to guys like Parker and the bench, so there confidences will increase.
Just to clear things up and prevent this thread to become a love declaration to Tim I just want to point that I didn't ment to say that TD was down... Just a little bellow his usual self lately... Might be the same for Manu for the matters...
This is TD's team, nobody would ever argue that.
It's Tim's team, which is both good, and part of the problem.
On the one hand, they keep a relatively even emotional keel.
On the other, when they need a verbal kick in the ass from somebody in uniform, there's no Mario or AJ or even a DRob to do it.
TD sure as heck isn't going to do it.
On the floor, at least on offense, Parker is the leader. He's the PG, he calls the plays or takes the calls from Pop. He tell players where to go more often than anyone else.
POP has been doing it very well. He gets on them if they miss one defensive assignment even if they're up by a bunch.
Over the last few weeks, you can make a case that Parker has been the best player on the team. That's mainly because Duncan isn't playing at 100% for whatever reason, but Parker has picked up his game as of late.
Parker has been huge. I can say that he's definitely grown into the role of an on the court leader, but I'm not sure how he is in the locker room, being still so young on a veteran team. I remember when Tony looked at the bench/Pop EVERY time down the floor. No wonder those teams never ran.
But, you could make the counter argument that what makes Tony "the best player on the team" over that stretch is Tim's presence (which demands defensive respect, no matter how Tim's going) and Tim's willingness to share the ball with other players. Would Tony be playing at such a high level if Tim weren't on the floor? It's hard to say, and fortunately, we don't really get the opportunity to find out. I'd be hard-pressed to agree that the elevation of Tony's game isn't somehow correlated to the slight dip we've seen of late in Tim's numbers -- that Tim is creating opportunities for Tony (and others) and not trying to force himself in MVP numbers when others can shoulder the load.
There's no doubt that Tony has improved his play, though, and over the long haul, that's a tremendous positive for the Spurs.
They both need each other, but in the final analysis, Tony is the PG and has the rock more than anyone. Maybe it isn't a matter of Tim sharing so much as Tony recognizing that he's struggling, and taking the load.Would Tony be playing at such a high level if Tim weren't on the floor?
parker runs the team, he runs the show offensively, and Pop wants him to gain confidence and experience so he won't choke come playoffs time. I won't be surprise if tony scores more than timmy more often.
but san antonio spurs is duncan's team,no doubt.
________
TaRa
Last edited by san antonio spurs; 09-17-2011 at 10:13 AM.
No doubt that Duncan is by far the best player on the team and keys everything else on the court. However, over the last couple weeks, Parker has been the better player. But as FWD said, that could very well be because Duncan is getting all the attention ... as he should.
The Spurs need Duncan, Parker and Ginobili at their highest levels to have success in the playoffs. Right now Parker is there, Ginobili is close and Duncan is struggling.
Brent Barry right now, is a certain leader, in he has taken Beno Udrih under his wing, wich will do nothing but great things for Beno.
Barry is a certain leader, but IMO, the team looks to Duncan and Pop.
The Spurs win because of Duncan, but it's ludicrous to say he is the reason his teamates put up their numbers. Aside from PCT's, with the way the Spurs' offense is structured, Duncan hurts the individual numbers of the players on this team.
If Duncan wasn't here, the Spurs would probably lose more, but Parker's numbers would go up...so would everyone elses'.
For an example of this, look at last season when Duncan went down.
For another example of this, look at the numbers Jax put up last season...and he did mention that he got sick of hearing people say he could only score because of Duncan.
For yet another example of this, Hedo.
And for one final example of this, David Robinson.
Yeah, but the point is it's better if you also have a player who can do that.
Coaches get tuned out from time to time.
One thing I have to give Pop huge props for, even when they players get tired of his yelling, they still get his message. Only other coach like this is Jerry Sloan.
For examples of what can happen otherwise, see any of Larry Brown's or George Karl's teams.
I'm not talking about sheer numbers, but efficiency. As your statement seems to recognize, Duncan's presence makes the players around him better because he allows them to be more efficient, in the main. During the regular season, that tends to be particularly true of the jump shooters on the Spurs roster, who get much better looks by virtue of the defensive attention paid to Duncan. In terms of sheer numbers, the other players may see fewer shots and get fewer touches than they might otherwise (i.e., the difference between the 02-03 Steven Jackson and the 03-04 Steven Jackson), but the quality of those touches and shots is markedly better because of Tim's presence, whether he's struggling or not. And along with that, I'd sure hate to be the team that concocts the "Tim's struggling so let's pay less attention to him" defense; probably won't be a pretty night in the post if that happens.
Tony's improvement (and his stellar play of late -- anyone remember when some were suggesting that Beno should start for the Spurs?) is gravy for the Spurs. If Tony's play is better, the chances are diminished that the Spurs will fall prey to an extended Duncan slump or a short Duncan injury. In the end, at playoff time, the threat of Tony and the threat of Tim should only serve to make the Spurs more difficult to defend. But to say that Tony's recent great play is somehow totally independent of Tim's presence is shortsighted, I think.
It's gotten where the jump shooters are getting better looks as much from Parker driving, drawing defenders and kicking to wide open shooters as to Duncan drawing double teams and kicking it to open shooters. In fact it's getting to be more Parker creating open shots than Duncan.
Parker helps Duncan and much as Duncan helps Parker more often than not now whenever Parker isn't on a cold streak.
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