Gotta give major props to the Spurs on player evaluation and development. They do a great job of surrounding Duncan with the right pieces - players who will fit into their system. Whoever heard of Parker and Ginobli three years ago? And, BTW, I'd swap SF for Parker straight up in a heartbeat. D R
Tony Parker is twice better than steve francis. Bar none. I take him 24/7, i take him over francis in a mini second. That fast.
Put Parker in Houston and see the difference it would create now. Parker now is play-off tested and has the swagger of a champion. This attitude can make a huge difference on how you play and how your team mates play. Francis is gifted athletically but he's has not taken the next level to greatness on a consistent basis. It seems that the same things/flaws that plagued him in previous years are the same things people in the BBS are pointing out again now. I'm in the opinion that a change in scenery would be beneficial to his career and the Rockets' chances of assembling a unit capable of challenging for the title not just first round fodder. Yao is only in his second season and can only get better. His impact on the game is on a level that Francis can only dream about. 20-5-5 is good stats but when you add 5 to's + 10 low percentage plays/game (shot-clock violations, palming, clock winding down dribbling, no ball movement), it makes a big difference.
Parker has played his entire career with duncan one of the two best two players in the league, Francis never played with a top 15 player in the league, (maybe Yao is one this year). So ofcourse parker has more rings. let francis play with duncan and he will get his rings, let parker play with the rockets the last couple of years and the rockets would have alot less wins. and please do not start with the argument that francis woudn't pass to duncan, he has tried passing to his teammates for years but they just always missed, Francis is no ball hog, he makes stupid mistake but he is no ball hog, he likes to pass he just needs good players around him.
Parker is just smarter than Steve, he makes quicker better decisions, and is MILES faster than Steve. Steve can jump higher, and is a much better whiner. Parker is the better winner. Parker is STILL better than Francis, and will always be so... DD
DavidS LOL!!! I love the way you diminish the extent that FG%, 3PT% and TURNOVERS have on a PG's performance, but embellish the extent that blocks (0.3, pretending like if that's a huge responsibility for PG!) and a 0.7 difference for assist (holy cow! ) About Duncan. Did you even read any of my posts regarding "supporting cast" on the Spurs? Guess not... By the way, you should save the "rose colored glasses" comments for someone that's a Spurs fan. The so called "hate SF club" are Rocket fans acknowledging that TP is better. Maybe it is you that needs to open your eyes. Francis is "hated" for a reason. His inability to use his brain. But you need to watch games in order to recognize that. It's clear you are unable to see this. ____________________________ Pretty funny that you believe that I diminish the FG%, 3PT% of a point guard's performance (not a shooting guard), but give the big whoop on a difference in assists? I would assume from your comments on TP being better, that your prototypical PG would be pass first, shoot second. If that is the case, then one would expect assists to be higher, not lower, especially on a team that has far superior talent, especially shooting ability and arguably the best player in the NBA. If you will note, I highlighted all statistics, not just the two lines that you think prove your point. I guess the fact I pointed out that SF's advantage in net offensive possessions escapes you as well. BTW, none of my post was directed at you it was a general comment to all those in the "I hate SF club", guess you have a guilty conscience?? In regards to rose colored glasses, you also missed the fact that these comparisons were to SF's worst statistical year, the change in systems and coaches, and an emphasis on defense, not to mention the vast disparity in supporting cast. If you compare to any one of SF’s other years, the disparity is even greater in support of my position. In fact, for his career, including the terrible year he had this year, SF has a better 3PT% than TP. If you will note in my post, I did not try to defend SF's decision making ability on the court. I will admit that he makes some boneheaded decisions at times, but the substance of this thread was "who is better", and I believe that there is no comparison between the two. SF is by far better than TP. If you put SF on SA, SA is a better team. If you put TP on the Rockets, the Rockets are a far worse team. As far as being unable to see, your hatred has clouded your judgment. If you can see, it must be through eyes with cataracts. Again, slowly back away from the crack pipe.
Steve definitely will pass TD the ball. The problem is there is no way SF3 can run P&R to perfection like TP did, thus less easy scoring opportunities for TD. BTW, is there still any question that TP is gonna be an all-NBA caliber player within 2-3 years? TD did not do anything in the 4th quarter last night and it was TP and Ginobli and the team D that beat the Lakers. Shaq is averaging 24.5 ppg on close to 75% shooting from the floor against the Spurs, a significant upgrade over 16 ppg he averaged over the Rockets. Yao neutralized Shaq and we lost 1-4. Shaq dominated inside against the Spurs and are 0-2 against them. Go figure about the talent level between Rockets and Spurs. It's night and day. Barley nailed the issue pretty much on head. The better teams always win a best of 7 series, and Spurs>Lakers>Rockets. Why? TD+TP = KO > Yao + SF3 Ginobli, Horry, Rasho, Turk, Bowen > GP + Karka + Trash + Fisher + George > JJ + Cato + Mo + Cat + Bar It will be a major upset if Rockets had beat Lakers in the first round. And the only way that the Rockets become a contender is that 1) Yao gets better each year; and 2) the team gets a major upgrade in talent level.
SERIOUSLY?????? ________________________ No they would not break their continuity for such a deal. The point I was trying to make is that they would do such a deal in a New York second.
The Spurs management team will be fired the day they trade TP for SF3. TP is on his way to be one of the top 2-3 PGs in the league while SF3 might be a very good SG, but definitely a top PG in the league.
Flash vs. Substance; Entertainment vs. Fundamentals; Losing vs. Winning. Dribbling between his (Francis) legs, dipsy-doodle shots (usually for break aways at the other end), "fancy" passes (usually for turnovers), and skipping down the court (when the team was down 20) never really impressed me. I wonder why it impressed some of you? And I wonder why you saw no potential in Tony Parker? I wonder.
They seem to believe that athletic abilities = potential and failed to understand that some of the best PGs (Stockton, Jackson) never had any athletic abilities to begin with.
[QUOTE by solid] Flash vs. Substance; Entertainment vs. Fundamentals; Losing vs. Winning. Dribbling between his (Francis) legs, dipsy-doodle shots (usually for break aways at the other end), "fancy" passes (usually for turnovers), and skipping down the court (when the team was down 20) never really impressed me. I wonder why it impressed some of you? And I wonder why you saw no potential in Tony Parker? I wonder. __________________ I guess the fact that SA was desparately trying to acquire Kidd should have been an indicator that SA did not have supreme confidence in TP. If they really thought that TP was going to be one of the top 2-3 PG's in the league, they wouldn't have been going after Kidd. Again, put TP on the Rockets and lets see if he is your all world PG.
[QUOTE by fa7999] They seem to believe that athletic abilities = potential and failed to understand that some of the best PGs (Stockton, Jackson) never had any athletic abilities to begin with. ___________________________ Seems to me that the thread is titled "Tony Parker better than SF", not who is the best PG, or who is more athletic, or how good is Stockton or Jackson. One-on-one, SF smokes TP like Cheech & Chong burning blunts in their youth.
Steve Francis would not win a ring in San Antonio. He would disrupt the flow of the game by dribbling the ball until there was only 3 seconds on the clock and shooting a wild shot. He would not be able to get the ball into Tim Duncan because Duncan would be double-teamed. Steve would cause a turnover in a crucial situation causing Pop to pop a blood vessel in his brain. You cannot take a point guard with poor fundamentals and a low basketball IQ and expect him to lead you to a championship, even if he is placed on a great team.
[QUOTE by wheelmi] Good point. Apparently the Spurs didn't even see the potential in Parker, and if you infering that there are more problems on the Rockets than Francis, you are correct. Yes, I think that Francis is more of a problem than a solution. I believe his contribution can be more easily replaced than generally believed, and that the subtraction of his mistakes will make a significant difference.
Unfortunately basketball is not a one-on-one game. I am sure that SF3 will be in the finals for each ONE-ON-ONE world basketball championship finals for the forseeable future. Case closed.
