Parker says Spurs ready for playoffs

MANILA, Philippines - San Antonio point guard Tony Parker said yesterday he’s looking forward to the Spurs making a splash in the NBA playoffs starting Saturday and dismissed speculation of an implosion like what happened last year when the top-seeded team was eliminated by Memphis in the first round.

“I like our chances this year because we’re healthy and fresh,” said Parker in a 45-minute conference call arranged by NBA Asia with media from Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia and the Philippines, including The Philippine STAR. “Our goal is to be healthy. We weren’t healthy in the playoffs last year. There was a lot of frustration when we lost to Memphis in the first round. We were disappointed. Definitely, we want to do better and it’s our motivation.”

Parker, 29, singled out Oklahoma City, the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami and Chicago as the top title contenders this season, aside from the Spurs. It’s possible that the Spurs and the Thunder could match up in the Western Conference finals. “I hope so,” said Parker. “I’d love to reach the conference finals. Playing the Thunder will be a great match-up for us.”

Now the Spurs leading scorer, Parker said the responsibility of taking charge came naturally. “Timmy (Duncan) and Manu (Ginobili) are getting older,” he said. “There’s more responsibility on me this season with the ball in my hands a lot more. Pop (coach Gregg Popovich) wants me to be more aggressive, to be on attack-mode and I appreciate this responsibility.”

Parker is averaging 18.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, career-high 7.7 assists and 32 minutes. He’s hitting 48 percent from the floor and a career-high 80 percent from the line. “I’ve been working a lot with (assistant coach) Chip (Engelland),” he said referring to his stroke. “Free throw shooting is one part of my game I want to improve. It’s practice and repetition. You trust your shot when the pressure comes.”

Parker said the NBA is enjoying a golden age of point guards. “They’re all very talented and I don’t have a particular favorite among the young guys,” he said. “But my toughest match-ups are Derrick Rose, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.”

As for the Spurs’ new pieces, Parker said he expects Boris Diaw, Stephen Jackson and Danny Green to play huge roles in the playoffs. “Boris is a very intelligent player and Stephen was with us when we won the title in 2003 so he’s been there,” he said. “They’ll get even better in the playoffs. The guy who has been a surprise is Danny. We didn’t expect anything from him at the start but when Manu went down, he stepped up and got it together. We had a slow start because we brought in a lot of young guys. Manu was injured after five games and missed 35. Guys like Green and (Kawhi) Leonard stepped up. It took a while before we got our new and young guys together.”

On being considered as an MVP candidate, Parker said it’s an honor but LeBron James deserves the award. “LeBron and (Kevin) Durant are the prime candidates,” he said. “LeBron deserves it. He’s been playing great basketball all season long.”

Parker said Popovich and Duncan remain hungry for another title. “Pop is the best coach in the NBA and should be Coach of the Year,” he said. “We’ve got a father and son relationship. We’ve had a special relationship since he took me in at 19. He’s not satisfied with four championships. He wants more. As for Timmy, he’s the best power forward ever to play the game. He’s a two-time MVP. He’s got four titles. He’s definitely the No. 1 power forward over Karl Malone and Charles Barkley.”

Parker said he’s not worried about undersized 6-8 DeJuan Blair matching up against bigger centers deep in the playoffs. “We’ll be fine,” he said. “When we played the Lakers, we started with Timmy and Tiago (Splitter) to match up against Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. It won’t be a problem.”

Parker said the big difference between this year’s Spurs and previous lineups is Popovich’s focus on becoming more offense-oriented. “We’re not as good defensively as before but we’re more aggressive, we’re scoring more,” he said. The Spurs have now won 22 of their previous 25, including the last eight with an average winning margin of 20.8 points. They’ve clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

As for his patented teardrop shot, Parker said he never practices it. “The shot came naturally for me because I’m a small guy,” he said. “I started shooting it when I was nine. I’ve got to do it to shoot over bigs.”

The Filipinos invited by the NBA to participate in the conference call were Solar Sports’ Carlo Pamintuan, Business Mirror’s Anthony Suntay and this writer. Parker was asked where in San Antonio to find him and he replied, “If you want to hang out with me, go to my lounge.” Last March, Parker, his brothers T. J. and Pierre and business partner Jimi Ellis opened a 4,500 square foot upscale nightclub called “Nueve (nine is Parker’s jersey number) Lounge” on Boerne and Interstate 10 West in San Antonio.