about Tony Parker's season, Tim Duncan credited Eva Longoria, whose
presence initially concerned the Spurs. "When you're happy," Duncan
told the SA Express-News, "you play good basketball."
ESPN.com - NBA - SPECIAL WEEKEND EDITION Enjoying life in the fast lane
By Marc Stein, ESPN.com
note: ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein supplies each item for this
around-the-league notebook edition of the Daily Dime.
No one really catches up with Tony Parker. Not this season.
Moving faster than ever, and finally shaking what even he describes as
"my not being consistent," Parker has already realized one goal with
his season-long flurry of layups.
"The challenge," he told me back in December, "is to do this for the whole year."
It started early and has lasted for 75 games. We've gotten only
occasional looks at Parker's improving jump shot because he continues
to rack up points in the paint at a ridiculous rate for a point guard.
Yet when you ask Parker to stop and sit down for a chat, you learn that
the Frenchman -- who also has managed somehow to domesticate a
"Desperate Housewives" wild child -- isn't terribly impressed by all
this. He confesses a need to do this throughout the playoffs, too, to
validate his rise to All-Star status.
For himself.
Parker hasn't forgotten his late-round struggles in the past three postseasons ... or the Spurs' flirtations with Jason Kidd
before awarding him a six-year, $66 million contract ... or the fact
that San Antonio failed in its first two attempts to repeat as NBA
champion.
"There's still another level to this," Parker says.
He spoke openly about his plans to get there in a recent chat in Los Angeles. Nine highlights of that conversation with No. 9:
Parker on how closely the Spurs have followed the Mavericks in the chase for the West's No. 1 seed:
"Every day. Basically every day. Every day we talk about Dallas and see
what they did the game before, how they're playing, what's the ranking,
are we still ahead? It's just fun. It's a good race."
On which of the two Texas rivals needs home-court advantage more in their forthcoming second-round showdown:
"I think Dallas. We proved in the past that we can win big games on the
road. ... [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] always says, 'If we get it,
fine.' But the main thing for us is that we stay healthy. If we can
stay healthy, I think we can win big games on the road."
On being described by Popovich and Tim Duncan as San Antonio's most consistent player after four up-and-down seasons:
"I think I'm just getting more mature. I think that's the only reason.
I know everybody now. I feel comfortable in the system. I feel
comfortable with Pop. I just knew that, after we won the championship
last year, the next level for me was the All-Star level. ... The Spurs,
they didn't know if I can go to that next level. So I wanted to show
them that they can have a lot of confidence in me, that I was not
satisfied with my contract or [that] we've got two championships. I
wanted to get their respect as a player."
On improving his jump shot with new shooting coach Chip Engelland:
"It's going to be a learning process. I did a lot of good stuff this
year, [but] I still think I can do better to try to get to that Chauncey Billups level or that Steve Nash
level. That's where I want to get and that's going to take, I think,
three or four years. So when I'll be 26 or 27, I think that's when my
shot's going to mature. But I feel more comfortable. Every shot I'm
taking at least has a chance to make it."
On whether people forget that he's only 23:
"I think even Pop sometimes forgets. They want me to improve so fast,
and sometimes you can't go [faster than] experience. [But] Pop did a
great job with me, pushing me when I first came, [at] 19, being hard on
me. So now we're seeing the results of it."
On how much he still has to prove to himself in the playoffs after
poor showings in the late stages of San Antonio's last three postseason
runs:
"There's always a lot of people [who are] going to criticize me for
what I did [before]. ... I know a lot of people can't wait to see if
I'm going to do the same thing I did in [past] playoffs. And I'll be
ready. It's a good challenge for me."
On how much pressure the Spurs feel to win their first back-to-back championships after failing to do so twice before:
"I think Pop, he just told us right at the beginning [of the season],
'We need to repeat.' We're the only team that won a championship [that]
didn't repeat, basically."
On how much grief he gets from teammates for the tabloid coverage of his relationship with Eva Longoria:
"My teammates never say nothing. They never tease me. They see her [all
the] time, so they don't care that she travels with us. We're one of
the only teams in the NBA [that] lets us travel with wives or
girlfriends. They all talk to her, so they know she's not a crazy
woman."
On his ability to shrug at the increased scrutiny that comes with his newfound celebrity ... on and off the floor:
"How do you want me to complain? I got a great life. Great basketball
team, great teammates, winning championships and a great girlfriend. I
can't complain."
*******************************************************
One more question for No. 9: How far away from 100 percent is Tim Duncan?
"I think he's getting better and better," Tony Parker
says. "The last couple games, he started dunking again. I think he's
feeling better. I'd say he's, like, 85 percent. I don't see him going
as fast as he used to with his pump fakes and when he's doing his
moves. But I think he's improving. I think he's starting to get in
playoff mode."
Actually...
We've got one more: Can
San Antonio win it all if Duncan, plagued by a season-long bout with
plantar fasciitis, is only 85 percent?
"That's a tough question," Parker said. "We need Timmy. We're going
nowhere if Timmy's not 100 percent. If he's 85 percent, I don't know.
It's going to be tough."
Duncan's 11 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's loss to Sacramento marked the sixth
time this season that he was held below 15 points and 10 boards in a
game in which he logged at least 30 minutes. It happened to Duncan only
once in the five previous seasons.
Of course, as the Spurs are relieved to know, there are no
back-to-backs in the playoffs, and Duncan's troubles are generally seen
in the second half of back-to-backs.
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