Buck Harvey: Beaten down, Parker faces some history

[Babyface(보영짱!!)]

Buck Harvey: Beaten down, Parker faces some history

Web Posted: 04/25/2005 12:00 AM CDT

San Antonio Express-News

Don't blame it on the ankle.

Spurs-Nuggets Game 1

Denver draws first blood, shuts down Spurs' offense

Buck Harvey: Beaten down, Parker faces some history

Video: Joe Reinagel interviews Nazr Mohammed after Game 1

Career day means nothing to Mohammed

Nuggets bring attitude, winning formula

Notebook: Injured Spurs suit up for show of strength

Game 1 analysis

Box: Nuggets 93, Spurs 87

Game 1 photos

Manu Ginobili

Manu Ginobili

Manu Ginobili

Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan

Nazr Mohammed, Marcus Camby

Nazr Mohammed

Tony Parker, Earl Boykins

Robert Horry, Tony Parker

Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony, Bruce Bowen

Doug Moe

Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria

Tony Parker doesn't have a sore ankle.

Blame it, instead, on what happens when one point guard takes over a game, and the other picks up where he left off against the Lakers a year ago.

Blame it on one point guard having the kind of game that changes a series, and the other having the kind of game that changes reputations.

Blame it on this reality: Against Camby, K-Mart and Karl, the Spurs can't win this series if Parker is outplayed by Andre Miller.

The blame can be passed around, all right, beginning with the ankle. It's clearly a terrible joint.

Tim Duncan has missed shots before, and he's struggled at times as he did Sunday. But when he had to go a full 35 minutes, more than he has in a month because of the ankle, is there any wonder he didn't have any touch at the end?

The Nuggets should be blamed, too. They played Spurs-like defense, they rebounded and they generally acted like the league's hottest team. Now they have another reason to be confident.

And blame Parker for sitting down, too. When Gregg Popovich subbed Beno Udrih for Parker with 27.4 seconds left in the first half, the Spurs were ahead by eight points. Popovich wanted to make sure Parker didn't add to his two fouls. Udrih then lost his dribble, giving the Nuggets a breakaway and a three-point play.

Parker checked back in, just in time to see Miller throw in a half-court heave as the first half expired. The score was tied, and Popovich admitted an emotional letdown followed.

"A real killer," he called it.

But there were killer moments before that. Then Miller leaned inside for jumpers, taking over a Denver offense not known for working well in the half-court, setting the tone for the upset.

At halftime Miller had 24 points, and Parker eight. "He put us on his back in the first half," Carmelo Anthony said.

In the playoffs, this put-us-on-his-back stuff works. In 1995, against the previous Spurs team that should have won a title and didn't, Sam Cassell came up with a couple of 30-point games when the Rockets upset the Spurs.

And Parker has seen this firsthand. Stephon Marbury once tortured Parker in the playoffs, and Marbury then came up with the same shot that Miller threw at the Spurs.

The running 3-pointer, just as time expires, is always great fun.

Miller's spectacular shot, as it was with Marbury's years ago, wasn't Parker's fault. No one gets blamed for allowing the 41-footer.

Besides, the Spurs tried three defenders on Miller, meaning he didn't only score on Parker.

But this loss still hangs on Parker more than the rest, because this is supposed to be his team. He's in his fourth playoffs, and he should be on top of the learning curve by now. The way he ended the season, leading the Spurs to back-to-back, double-overtime wins, suggested as much.

Parker suggested it, too. "If Timmy has a couple of down moments in the playoffs," Parker said last week, "I think me and Manu will show we can carry the team at certain moments."

Ginobili certainly did his part Sunday. He had 18 points at half and ended with his career playoff high.

But Parker? A sequence late in the third quarter summed up his night. He first tried to drive on Marcus Camby, as if Camby wasn't swatting everything, and Parker forced up a bad shot. He then traveled heading for a layup. And he ended the quarter by being up-faked by Earl Boykins, fouling.

He was worse in the fourth quarter. He not only went scoreless, he also went assist-less. Just for emphasis, Boykins arced a critical jumper over Parker for the lead Denver never lost.

Afterward, Parker sat at his locker and said the right things. "I can't believe I missed four or five teardrops," he said. "That's my shot."

But it was more than that. Parker sometimes rushed and sometimes hesitated. After Miller went at him, Parker spent the rest of the evening reacting.

Again, Parker has been through it. So does he recover as he did against Marbury two years ago, or is he pressed to react, as what happened last year against the Lakers?

Blame comes now.

Then Wednesday does.

발목 핑계 대지 말라네요. 파커에게 좀 화가 난 모양입니다.ㅋㅋㅋ

그래도 파커의 출장 시간을 늘리라고 하는군요. 그나마 밀러를 막을 수 있는 선수는 파커 뿐이라고... 이렇게 되면 베노는 상당히 뻘쯤해지겠군요.-_-;

전체적인 글 분위기는 상당히 빡 돈 모습입니다. 다소 감정적인 면도 보이고요.

유감스럽게, 밀러가 폭발한 이날 파커의 컨디션이 상당히 난조였나 봅니다. 

골든과의 경기 때 받은 만큼 돌려주는 모습은 이 날 없었죠.

사실 다운 받아서 전반만 봤습니다. 그냥 다 볼려니, 귀찮아서.... 전번의 던컨 모습은 그런 대로 훌륭했습니다. 특히나 걱정하던 백코트 때의 스피드는 예전 만큼 힘 있게 뛰지는 못 하더라도, 느리지는 않았으니깐요. 더욱이 누구 처럼 힘것 뛰어서 슛을 쏘는 선수가 아닌, 간결하게 플레이를 하는 선수이니 수비를 달고서도 가볍게 가볍게 득점을 하는 모습이었습니다.

오늘 경기를 보기 전 까진 다소 불안하던 마음이 사라졌습니다. 물론 다음 경기 역시도 질 수도 있으나, 막연하게 느꼈던 던컨의 부상에 대한, 그리고 덴버란 팀에 대한 불안감은 상당 부분 사라졌다란 것이죠.

파커가 두 경기 연속 삽질을 할 가능성? 파커는 시즌 내내 득점에 있어서는 상당히 꾸준한 모습이었습니다. 슛 성공률도 40%를 상회하죠. 그에 반해서 밀러는 일곱 번의 경기를 갖을 시리즈 중에서 두어번 터지면 많이 터졌을 경기를 보여줬기에, 다음 경기 때도 밀러에게 모습을 바랄 순 없을 것입니다. 특히나 스퍼스는 전 경기에서 실패한 슛을 다음 경기에서 성공시킬 능력은 없어도, 전 경기에서 뚫린 선수에게 다음 경기에도 뚫리는 경우는 드문 팀이니깐요.

더욱이 멜로는 지난 플옵 때 미네를 상대 해서 상당히 부진한 모습이었고, 이번 1차전에서도 눈에 띄는 활약은 없었습다. 대학 때엔 어땠는지 몰라도, 프로에 와선 큰 경기에서 그다지 위력을 발휘하지 못 하는....

특히나 이날 덴버는 자신들의 주특기인 트렌지션 게임을 펼치지도 못 했고, 셋트 오펜스에선 상 밀러 혼자서 골 밑을 헤집고 다니면서 득점한 것에 절대적으로 의존하는 모습이었습니다. 앞에서도 말씀 드렸지만, 밀러가 같은 활약을 두 경기 연속으로 펼쳐줄 것이란 생각이 안 들고, 스퍼스도 후반에, 특히 4쿼터에 보여준 삽질을 두 경기 연속으로 보여줄 거란 생각이 안 듭니다.

덴버로선 최상의 경우가, 스퍼스로선 최악의 경우가 서로 만나서 이뤄낸 결과라고 하면 지나친 스퍼스 팬의 자기 편할 대로의 해석일까요?

[V3 마누2티모시]

2차전은 반드시 잡아주리라 믿습니다!! 고고 스퍼스!!!

[Babyface(보영짱!!)]

아, 네... 발목 부상이 당한 건 던컨이지, 파커 너가 아니잖냐, 팀의 패배와 자신의 부진에 던컨의 발목 부상을 핑계로 삼지 말라는 뜻이죠.