As I watch the playoffs, I can't help to think that the type of player we want steve francis to become is tony parker. Think about it. He scores, distributes, has a good assists to turn over ratio. Play good team D. Anyone Disagree? Here's a 21 year old Frenchman who is playing better than SF did vs the Lakers.
watch out for the French... and watch out for comparisons to SF3 Ming is good, but he is NO Tim Duncan ! - TD might make a lot of guys look better than they are (look how Kenny Smith made a career off Dream) I believe Charles Barkley described the impact that a great player can have on others on the floor best when he said... (in response to a comment that Malone was the greatest PF of all time)... "I would have been the greatest PF of all time if I had John Stockton passing me the ball every play for 15 years!") not to take away from Parker, but I imagine that Stevie might say that he would be a better PG if he had Tim Duncan to throw the ball to every time
Parker clearly is helped playing next to Duncan. Yao will continue to get better, but he has a ways to go before he can be as effective as Duncan. Having said that, if I'm picking players to build the ultimate team, I pick Parker no question, since he's better alongside a dominant big man, and big men win championships. If I'm picking someone based purely on talent, I still pick Francis, no question.
As far as running a team goes, no question. Parker can still be flaky in games, but at 21, he's rapidly becoming the top PG in the West. Evan
If this was true why did so many pass up on him in the draft, if I recall right, he was the 28th pick in the draft. There are plenty of teams in the league without a true point guard which I think is the toughest position to fill after a legit center in the league today. Francis is a better talent, but Parker is a better PG because he is a PG, Francis was sort of stuck playing PG because he would have been way to small to play SG as we didnt have a true PG to begin with on the team when he was drafted. (AI has Snow so he could move over to SG) As soon as we get someone that can run an offense properly I hope SF can slide over to the SG spot and you'll see a whole different team
Based on draft position? Teams miss on players every year in the draft. Mobley was a 2nd round pick, Harold Minor was a lottery pick, who turned out to be the better player? Everybody passed on Rashard Lewis at least once (some even 3 times).
Parker is better than Francis on teams that have big men. However, in terms of talent and skill, Francis is clearly the better of the two. If your choices to carry a team were Francis and Parker, you'd go with Francis.
Bad point. You never know what your going to get in a draft. Look at M. Daniels, T. Prince, C. Mobley, etc....... To the thread, yes Parker is better then SF. Even JVG was praising him as a great PG!
Tony Parker fits with the Spurs' system, while SF doesn't fit with JVG's system. It's simple as that. As a basketball player, Steve is much better than Parker.
anyone who feels steve francis is a better basketball player than Tony Parker is completely biased. TP plays better defense, is faster, quicker, better in transition, better shooter, passer, sees the floor better, drives better.... the only thing SF does better is vertical leap. Francis is one overrated player . period.
Francis is definitely a better baller, but Parker gets the nod at playing PG for an NBA team with other stars. If you don't have stars and you need someone to be the focal point of your offense, I don't know how you can go with Parker over Francis. But with TD, I'd rather have Parker out there running the show.
Tony Parker is on one hell of a team. He is better; but so is his supporting cast. Steve? On an Eastern Conference team with another play doing more of the distributing, he would be an Allen Iverson. That is, electrifying, sometimes maddening, but not getting in trouble off the court (fingers crossed), and selling tickets. Tony Parker developed as a point guard since the age of, I don't know, 15. Steve? He was barely playing basketball by then, I think. Anyway, I doth protest too much.
i dont think there is any question who the better point guard is, god i wish we could get our hands on parker maybe this guy is the closest we can get: http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/roko-leniukic.asp NBA Comparison: Tony Parker Strengths: Plays very fundamental. Takes over games, as he did at Manheim in the 2002 Junior Championships. He's a quick player with great control of the ball, a good distributor, doesn't make a lot of mistakes. A good rebounder for a PG who's never afraid to shoot when left alone. Also a very good penatrator, if his shot is failing, watch out! He has a great future. Weaknesses: He's a little bit of a streaky shooter. Very slender now, must build his strength. Could use some work on defense but is solid, Just needs to continue to develop. Notes: He reminds of Tony Parker, not quite as steady a shooter as Parker is but is a little better rebounder, but otherwise there are a lot of similarities. Tony Parker was the first European point guard to succeed in the NBA. Because of Parker, European point guards now feel they can have the same success. Probably will look to play a few years at the top level in Europe before entering the NBA draft. -Uros Velkavrh Strengths: A high-energy point guard. Ukic is a talent on the rise, athletic, with unrivalled ball handling, extremely quick (similar to the Road Runner’s quickness…) that takes opponents of the dribble and gets fearlessly to the hole. Imagine he is a high school basketball player. He is solid but inconsistent. He is the perfect fit for full court pressing defenses, seems to have inhexaustible stamina. Goes for the rebound, has long arms and a wingspan of a 6-6 player that enable him to steal the ball. Weaknesses: His game lacks maturity, he isn’t a coach on the floor but this is justified by his age. He lacks the drive n’ dish game, seems to be selfish. His 3 point shooting accuracy is questionable. His body is weak, needs some pounds of muscle, in order to “survive” in the next level. -Dimitris Armadoros
