Parker says playing time won't come easy for De Colo
If anyone on the current San Antonio Spurs roster knows Nando De Colo, it's fellow French teammate Tony Parker, who has played on the national team with De Colo for several years.
De Colo also often backs up Parker and they see plenty of each other in practices with the national team.
While Spurs fans have awaited his arrival in San Antonio since he was drafted with the 53rd pick of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Spurs, both parties agreed it was time for De Colo to leave Valencia and come stateside with the Spurs.
I'd be lying if i didn't say De Colo has shown marked improvement since he was originally drafted, but when the announcement of his signing was made public, there was just one questions Spurs fans pondered.
How is he going to break the rotation or does the signing signify an express delivery to Austin to play with the Toros. Parker told L'Equipe recently that competition at both guard positions will be rough for De Colo.
"It will be difficult. Patty Mills used to play more than Nando at point guard, and if he plays at shooting guard, there are Manu Ginobili and Gary Neal! The competition is tough. That's the problem Nando is a super talented player that can do lots of things, but sometimes you say what is his position?'
Aside from competition, Cory Joseph made a case for him staying in San Antonio when he showed poise and confidence leading the summer league squad.
Regardless, it should be a very fun and competitive training camp deciding where players will play and who will be on the bubble during preseason.
Aside from De Colo, Parker also talked about the Spurs' chances against a much-improved Lakers team.
"We have as much chance as the Lakers. (...) The stability is the hallmark of Spurs. And you can not change our team. It was 20 straight wins with the best basketball in the NBA. Boris Diaw with throughout the year, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green have one more year, we have our role to play even if Miami, the Lakers and OKC will be very strong.'
Parker and the Spurs will get a chance to prove that when the Spurs travel to LA for their first game of the regular season series against the Lakers on November 13.
I really do see the signing of Nando as a sign that someone is gonna get traded. Whether it's Cory, Patty or Gary.
You forgot Tony, if he continues to lead the team in shot attempts, he can leave. TP needs to take notes from Paul,Nash,Rondo etc.TP is playing on the best shooting TEAM in the nba his assist average should be leading or in the top 3 every year. instead he wants to take all the shots when he's not the best shooter on the TEAM. If you know of a championship team that their leading scorer and leading shot taker was their point guard PLEASE let me know, anybody. The Spurs can run with anybody, they can shot with anybody, all they really need is a point guard that wants to play TEAM ball everynight, not every ten games. I,m the biggest Spurs fan there is, but I deal with reality,and the reality is Tony Parker is not the answer for a ring. He needs to understand that he has the best TEAM in the game and they need him to let everyone touch the ball.If anyone has a problem with what I've said ,check the stats.
@Mr. compton spur Also, I'm pretty sure Pops instructs TP on exactly how HE wants him to execute offense.
1 Like
@Mr. compton spur While I can see where you are coming from on this, I seriously doubt Tony is on the trade block. Say what you will about him, can you picture how the season would go in the toilet if he got injured? He may not be the answer in the playoffs (when it matters), but he's done a heck of a job carrying us through regular seasons as of late.
If TP got hurt, we'd have a HUGE gap at the PG position. Patty is great, but he's not TP good. So...liken that to if he got traded. Trade him for a big? Wonderful. That problem is solved. Now we don't have a all-star caliber PG. Which you need nowadays, if you don't have a LeBron, a Dirk in 2011, a Kobe, etc on your team.
2 Like
@dannyholloway Sure seems so..I think its GN then MAYBE CJ. I would think if someone wanted PM they would have gone for him this summer. And the fact that GN will be a FA this summer and will have to be guaranteed before POs, I think it points to him being the one. Plus there have been rumors that teams want him
1 Like
@Spursfan66 Or possibly a combination of two. Lets face it. Danny Green coming into himself last year kinda made GN expendable. And those last few games that Patty played starting PG at the end of the season, showed that he's able to QB the team. At least better than Neal. His efforts are appreciated, but those moments where he'd run the point made me nervous. So, I think Patty made him expendable as well.
Gary's salary alone isn't gonna be a tradeable asset tho. He's making like 890K next season. But Corey is on a 1st round rookie contract scale, which is just over 1 mil. And Nando is at 1.5 mil.
I think the spurs could ship one of them and Neal. Which would also explain their due diligence w/T-Mac, Kapono and now Josh Howard. I wouldn't mind that. Cutting ties with two undersized guards with limited abilities and adding a wing with the length of McGrady or Howard? I'd say that's an upgrade.
@dannyholloway ya, in fact I think its likely to be some sort of combo. I just feel like its more likely going to involve GN with jax and/or Blair..although it seems like if jax were to go it would be more toward the deadline. Whatever the case, it's certainly interesting and thought provoking. Just hard to believe with all the reports of Spurs looking at 1st for PGs then maybe SGs and SF types, that something isn't possibly cooking. My list of possible Spurs players that could be traded are GN, DJB, Jax, CJ, Bonner, and obviously any of our overseas guys as throw ins. To a lesser degree I would include TS and MAYBE Diaw.
I don't see Manu playing as much this season and he'll get a lot more resting time. De Colo will get some of Manu's regular minutes.
1 Like
@kmgospurs I cant imagine that NDC and PM wouldnt also at least split the time GN played b/u PG last year. That was an utter failure, and having NDCs height against some PGs we will see could help us out as well over GN's terrible D and small size. If GN sees any more PG time, I will seriously start to have my doubts about pops.
3 Like
This is exactly the point, no pun intended but playing time is tight. It is a long season 82 games you never know what will happen. I hope Nando Patty and Corey get there playing time during the season. I trust Coach Pop to figure out the rest going into the playoffs.
