Spurs of the Moment

Last week we looked at the offensive system the great Chris Paul of the Hornets plays in and compared it to Tony Parker and the Spurs. This week we will look at another factor that robs Tony Parker of getting his so-called 10 dimes a game that every good point guard should have, and that is the personnel they play with – in particular at the shooting guard position.

Steve Nash – A few years ago he was the best point guard in the league (before the 07-08 CP3 came along). He has incredible court vision and on ESPN they always show his incredible passes, just like with Chris Paul. However, when looking at the personnel he plays next to in the backcourt (09-10 Jason Richardson/10-11 Vince Carter), you’ll notice that their play-making abilities are almost non-existent when compared to Nash.

Steve Nash 09-10 [11 apg]
Jason Richardson 09-10 [1.8 apg]

Steve Nash 10-11 [11.4 apg]
Vince Carter 10-11 [1.6 apg]

What about Tony Parker? Who is his running mate in the backcourt? Why yes, probably the most loved Spur in SA right now, Manu Ginobili. How are his playmaking abilities next to TP?

Tony Parker 09-10 [5.7 apg]
Manu Ginobili [4.9 apg]

Tony Parker 10-11 [6.6 apg]
Manu Ginobili [4.9 apg]

Ginobili has great court vision and pure point guard characteristics. In pick-and-rolls and on the break he is dangerous as a scorer and a passer. Meanwhile, Vince Carter is not the player he once was, and his passing ability is almost gone, especially since he is already playing with one of the best passing point guards in the league. And former Sun Jason Richardson was always an athletic scorer and nothing more anyway.

Looking back at Parker, he not only has to share his ballhandling abilities with Ginobili throughout the game, but is basically playing the two-guard position in the 4th since Ginobili is the Spurs ‘Closer’. For the Phoenix Suns, Nash will have the ball in his hands almost all the time, especially when it’s deep in the 4th.

Bottom line – Nash, unlike Parker, always has the ball and rarely will you see someone else bring up the ball and initiate the offense if he is on the court. So if there is going to be an assist on a play, there’s a 90% chance it will get credited to Nash. While in Parker’s case, he doesn’t always bring up the ball and start the offense. Parker’s career high in assists per game is 6.9 in the 2008-09 season. Is there any significance to that? Yes, Manu Ginobili was sidelined for most of the season and all of the playoffs, therefore the ball was put in Parker’s hands almost all the time like Steve Nash. This is pretty much true with all of the high assist point guards in the league. Just take a look:

Chris Paul 10-11 [9.8 apg]
Marco Belinelli [1.2 apg]

Rajon Rondo 10-11 [11.2 apg]
Ray Allen [2.7 apg]

Deron Williams 10-11 [12.8 apg w/ Nets]
Anthony Morrow [1.2 apg]

Thus far, looking at the evidence it would seem Tony Parker does get unfair criticism for his style of play considering the system and personnel he plays with, or does he? Next week the finale, Part 3- The Truth.

The Spurs traded Curtis Jerrells to the Hornets on Monday, about a week after releasing Kirk Penney. On Tuesday they released James Gist. The Jerrells trade makes sense for both teams. New Orleans could use another backup for Chris Paul, and some added backcourt depth, especially with Marcus Thornton struggling and about to lose minutes to Marco Belinelli. Apparently Dell Demps, who left the Spurs front office this summer to become the new Hornets GM, liked Jerrells enough to swap a 2nd-round pick for him. As for Penney, well I guess he wasn’t impressive enough on defense. He can shoot, but the Spurs have shooters. It’s the defense that needs to be tweaked. I am a little surprised though – not that he was cut, but that he was first to go. Gist was never gonna make the team.  I was gonna look up his pre-season numbers but no one cares.

That brings the total of Spurs players to 15, but Pop said he was thinking of cutting it to 13 earlier this pre-season. So who is left? Gary Neal, Bobby Simmons, Alonzo Gee, Marcus Cousin, and Garrett Temple. The Spurs could keep them all and just leave 3 on the inactive list or assign to the Austin Toros D-League team. However, if they cut two more than I would expect … crap I have no idea what to expect. I don’t even know if I have a preference for who they should keep except for Gary Neal who lit it up in the NBA Summer League. Incidentally, he is the only one who has a guaranteed contract, so I doubt that he’s in any danger. Temple’s chances improve with Jerrells gone, and since Parker was so injury prone last season I could see them hanging on to him. The rest I have no idea. Let’s just move on…

Tiago Splitter has yet to play a game for the Spurs, so Pop has declared DeJuan Blair the starting center for the Spurs opener. Also, the Spurs picked up the 4th-year option on George Hill’s contract.

So much for projected starting lineups. Duncan was a late scratch from last night’s game with an ankle injury suffered against Portland. So going into last night without Duncan or Parker looked slightly bleak. Read more »