Spurs Dominate Southwest Thanks to Parker and Co.

The San Antonio Spurs fell out of first place in the Western Conference on Wednesday night after losing to Oklahoma City 111-105 at home. Not only did the Spurs lose at home, but also they lost Kawhi Leonard their sharpshooting guard who broke one of his fingers on his right hand. His return is unknown.

San Antonio nevertheless continues toward another NBA Southwest title with its three veterans – Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili leading the way.

Tony Parker the 31-year old point guard and court general for the Spurs has never received the consistent court minutes to challenge for the MVP, due to the unique method Gregg Popovich rests his players to prepare for the NBA postseason.

The Spurs have a veteran team and health is of the utmost importance but this season he is only averaging 31 minutes each game, which is the least amount of minutes per game amongst the top 35 players in scoring in the league.

In comparison, other stars around the league, for instance Golden State’s Stephen Curry average nearly 38 minutes a game. Parker however, at the peak of his career is underplayed. However, he would not change that and looks to end his NBA career where he started, in San Antonio.

Tim Duncan, who is the elder statesman on the team at 37, has also seen his numbers dwindle as his age has increased. He sits more than many other players with his talent, but when he plays, he has given the Spurs All Star quality minutes.

Parker still has the highest average on the team. Part of his low minutes compared to other stars in the league is due the depth of the Spurs bench. Parker has never enjoyed playing time like Duncan did in his early years when the superstar played 40 minutes per game.

Parker nevertheless is the catalyst on the club, has had two straight MVP-caliber seasons and is having another this season.

Even though Parker gets less minutes his workload is as much as or more than other point guards. He carries his team at times as a scorer and always as the leader in assists. He is constantly driving to the hoop more so than any other star guard in the NBA with the exception of possibly Monta Ellis from Dallas.

Because of Popovich controlling Parker’s minutes, the guard’s injuries have been minimal and normally are not serious.

However, going into the second half of the season, the Spurs have had their share of injuries and on Wednesday lost Leonard for an undetermined amount of time. That means Parker’s minutes could increase at a time when his coach wishes he were sitting next to him resting more often.

Parker’s stats show that even with the unique system that Popovich uses to rest his players Parker does much more per minute than most of his peers.

Parker is averaging 18.4 points, 6.3 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game and at age 31 his legs are like those of someone years younger thanks to Pops.