Mike Finger: Spurs turn to Parker in bad times
Web Posted: 04/24/2007 10:28 PM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Just like every other newcomer to South Texas, Tony Parker learned early on to expect an occasional drought. Under dry conditions, locals are encouraged to get conservative. And for years, that’s exactly what Parker did.
In the old days, the longer the Spurs would go without scoring a basket, the more hesitant Parker would become. If he took a shot in those situations, he usually did it tentatively. After all, if anyone was authorized to go to the well, it was supposed to be Tim Duncan or Manu Ginobili or David Robinson, not the baby-faced Frenchman with the unreliable jumper.
“I was the kid,” Parker said. “That wasn’t my job.”
But now? As the Spurs look for a way to keep pace with a younger, more athletic opponent, and still appear prone to extended periods of field-goal shortages?
The kid might be the best drought-stopper they have.
As resolved as Duncan might be to atone for his brutal offensive showing in Sunday’s postseason-opening loss to Denver, and as brilliant as Ginobili always has been at lifting his game to the occasion, neither has the power to take control of the series the way Parker can.
Duncan is reliant on someone else to get him the ball, and then he’s usually double-teamed. Ginobili is more of a creator, but even he can sometimes encounter trouble getting to the rim.
Parker? The key to avoiding scoring slumps is in his hands because that’s where the ball is. Denver is feeling proud of its defense this week, and justifiably so, but the Nuggets still haven’t proven they can stop Parker from penetrating. Few teams in the league can.
The problem comes when Parker forgets this. Five different times Sunday, the Spurs went more than two minutes without scoring. During those slumps, Parker attempted only two shots combined.
The last cold-shooting spell was the most damaging. The Spurs went more than three minutes without a basket late in the fourth quarter, allowing the Nuggets to turn a one-point deficit into a 10-point lead.
The run finally came to an end when Parker drove hard to the hoop, was fouled, and hit two free throws. That move might have come late, but it at least showed Parker has begun to recognize how to pull his team out of a drought. (There’s a temptation to say Parker is the man who can make it rain, but ‘Pacman’ Jones ruined that analogy forever.)
It’s a learning process and one his coach is glad to see coming to fruition.
“He senses when somebody’s struggling and he has to take more of the scoring load,” Gregg Popovich said. “Now and then, he’ll be a little more dynamic with what he does. I think he’s grown into that pretty well over the years.”
It can be a tough line to walk, though. For a big segment of Spurs fans, the biggest criticism of Parker is that he shoots too much, and he hears those whispers. But he also realizes his quickness and playmaking ability are two of the Spurs’ biggest strengths and knows he would be a fool not to take advantage of them.
“The team needs me to be aggressive,” Parker said. “So I have to keep doing that.”
His teammates understand this. Michael Finley remembers the days when he used to play against the Spurs and knew that every time they needed a basket, they made sure Duncan touched the ball in the post.
That’s no longer the case, and Parker is a big reason.
“When you’re not scoring, you usually want a play where somebody can get an easy basket,” Finley said. “And nobody on the team can get an easy basket like Tony.”
This doesn’t mean the Spurs have to run their entire offense through Parker. Duncan, fresh off a 7-for-17 shooting performance, spent a half hour by himself after Tuesday’s practice with a basketball, a rim and a rebounding machine, and looks determined to prove Nenê isn’t the next Ben Wallace. Ginobili also should be feeling inspired after a 4-of-15 effort, and Robert Horry might be ready to unleash some big-shot magic after clanging a couple of open jumpers Sunday.
But tonight still might bring a moment when all of them are misfiring, and they will look to Parker.
He’s still the kid. But he can’t say it’s not his job anymore.