Anthony Parker update

[Da Coach]

One last update on Anthony Parker.
For those who missed it, back on April 30, Maccabi Tel Aviv lost in the championship game of the Euroleague and just missed their 3rd consecutive Euroleague title. Anthony had another great year and was named MVP of the Euroleague- for the second year in a row!--

http://www.euroleague.net/finalfour06/noticia.jsp?temporada=E05&jornada=25&id=954

AP's bio page-

http://www.euroleague.net/plantillas/jugador.jsp?id=AOW

More current news-
After the end of the Euroleague playoffs, Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to Israel, and finished in 1st place in the Israeli Super League regular season.
Final league standings-

http://www.maccabi.co.il/MaccabiMainPremierLeague.Asp?SeasonYear=200506&language=english

They then cruised through the playoffs to win the Super League Championship for the 46th time - more than double the number of all other teams combined.
The MVP of the Super League for 2005-2006 was named, and it is none other than Anthony Parker.

http://www.maccabi.co.il/GameSummary.asp?ID=35&Type=1&SeasonYear=200506&language=english

Congratulations Anthony!

[AB99]

Any updates on Dick Versace?
Wasn't there a rumor he was going to move back to Peoria when he retired?

[Braveman]

Dick has a home in the area.. out near Canton and has remarried a local woman....

[romar]

Re: Anthony Parker update

One last update on Anthony Parker.
For those who missed it, back on April 30, Maccabi Tel Aviv lost in the championship game of the Euroleague and just missed their 3rd consecutive Euroleague title. Anthony had another great year and was named MVP of the Euroleague- for the second year in a row!--

http://www.euroleague.net/finalfour06/noticia.jsp?temporada=E05&jornada=25&id=954

AP's bio page-

http://www.euroleague.net/plantillas/jugador.jsp?id=AOW

More current news-
After the end of the Euroleague playoffs, Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to Israel, and finished in 1st place in the Israeli Super League regular season.
Final league standings-

http://www.maccabi.co.il/MaccabiMainPremierLeague.Asp?SeasonYear=200506&language=english

They then cruised through the playoffs to win the Super League Championship for the 46th time - more than double the number of all other teams combined.
The MVP of the Super League for 2005-2006 was named, and it is none other than Anthony Parker.

http://www.maccabi.co.il/GameSummary.asp?ID=35&Type=1&SeasonYear=200506&language=english

Congratulations Anthony!

I have a question - When it comes to international play (Olympics, Goodwill games, etc.) - why do we never see AP on the US team? You'd think he could not only provide a quality player, but some insight into the strengths and weaknesses of most of their opponents.

[Da Coach]

The officials who make the decisions concerning the US teams that play in international tournaments have always ignored these guys playing out of the country. I don't know why they have never considered them.

Anthony now has his own page on Wikipedia--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Parker

According to Wikipedia, he also apparently had his own website, but it is no longer working--

http://www.anthonyparker.net/

Here are a couple AP sites--

http://www.interbasket.net/players/usa/anthonyparker.htm

http://www.euroleague.net/plantillas/jugador.jsp?id=AOW

I notice next Monday will be AP's 31st birthday. Happy Birthday Anthony!

[Biff]

Maybe the Peoria Journal Star could pick up on the Anthony Parker story and do some kind of a feature on him. He still has a lot of fans around Peoria. He has become one of the best players in the world, and there are very few players in basketball history that have won as many awards and titles as AP.
Come on PJS, I would like to see that!

[it's boogie time]

Is his contract up now?

[Lakeview Brave]

Maybe the Peoria Journal Star could pick up on the Anthony Parker story and do some kind of a feature on him. He still has a lot of fans around Peoria. He has become one of the best players in the world, and there are very few players in basketball history that have won as many awards and titles as AP.
Come on PJS, I would like to see that!

I think AP is a great basketball player but to say he is one of the best in the world is simply not true. I dont think he would be an all-star in the NBA and probably wouldnt start on most NBA teams. There is a reason he is dominating Europe and not the NBA.

[brainiac]

Maybe the Peoria Journal Star could pick up on the Anthony Parker story and do some kind of a feature on him. He still has a lot of fans around Peoria. He has become one of the best players in the world, and there are very few players in basketball history that have won as many awards and titles as AP.
Come on PJS, I would like to see that!

I think AP is a great basketball player but to say he is one of the best in the world is simply not true. I dont think he would be an all-star in the NBA and probably wouldnt start on most NBA teams. There is a reason he is dominating Europe and not the NBA.

I disagree. Practically every team has at least one international player who is invaluable to them, and some teams more.
The top tier players in Europe (and other countries) do often come over to the US and play, and guess what?
Many become outstanding players, starters, All Stars, and even dominating players. I'll give you just a short list.
Dirk Nowitski
Andres Nocioni
Tony Parker
Pau Gasol
Boris Diaw
Toni Kukoc
Manu Ginobli
Leandro Barbosa
Peja Stojakovic
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Andrew Bogut
Yao Ming
Udonis Haslem
Anderson Varejao
Vladimir Radmanovic
Rasho Nesterovic
Jake Tsakalidis
Nenad Krstic

all of whom have started at least a dozen or more games and some of whom were or are very important players in the playoff so far.
and this list doesn't even include the Europeans et al that come and play here in college such as Najera, Deng, Kleiza, Diop, etc.

AP chooses to play in Europe for reasons that he selects. But he has received offers and would make a fine NBA player along the lines of Nocioni and Ginobli.

[mike radigan]

I could be wrong, but I think AP's contract was through this past season. If I'm correct, it will be interesting to see where he chooses to play next season. I, too, think he would make a nice NBA player.

[Lakeview Brave]

Maybe the Peoria Journal Star could pick up on the Anthony Parker story and do some kind of a feature on him. He still has a lot of fans around Peoria. He has become one of the best players in the world, and there are very few players in basketball history that have won as many awards and titles as AP.
Come on PJS, I would like to see that!

I think AP is a great basketball player but to say he is one of the best in the world is simply not true. I dont think he would be an all-star in the NBA and probably wouldnt start on most NBA teams. There is a reason he is dominating Europe and not the NBA.

I disagree. Practically every team has at least one international player who is invaluable to them, and some teams more.
The top tier players in Europe (and other countries) do often come over to the US and play, and guess what?
Many become outstanding players, starters, All Stars, and even dominating players. I'll give you just a short list.
Dirk Nowitski
Andres Nocioni
Tony Parker
Pau Gasol
Boris Diaw
Toni Kukoc
Manu Ginobli
Leandro Barbosa
Peja Stojakovic
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Andrew Bogut
Yao Ming
Udonis Haslem
Anderson Varejao
Vladimir Radmanovic
Rasho Nesterovic
Jake Tsakalidis
Nenad Krstic

all of whom have started at least a dozen or more games and some of whom were or are very important players in the playoff so far.
and this list doesn't even include the Europeans et al that come and play here in college such as Najera, Deng, Kleiza, Diop, etc.

AP chooses to play in Europe for reasons that he selects. But he has received offers and would make a fine NBA player along the lines of Nocioni and Ginobli.

AP played in the NBA and averaged less then 5 points per game he also could not guard other shooting guards. Like I said AP is a great player but the original post said he was "one of the best in the world" not he could make and impact or contribute.

[MacabreMob]

I believe that politics also plays a role in the NBA. Maybe not so much today as it was back in the Jordan years. Hawkins could have and definitely would have contributed more for Seattle back when he played w/ Gary Payton - if Payton would've only given up the ball. But I believe back then, franchises had their 'franchise' player that was told 'he was the man' and he had the green light to shoot at will.

With that said, maybe Parker didn't flourish because of a little of that.

Maybe Parker was younger and less developed and refined back then.

Maybe Parker's injury caused him to come back slowly - too slow for a very fast league.

But maybe in the past 3 years and today, Parker could be a 'star' in the NBA.

[tornado]

AP played in the NBA and averaged less then 5 points per game he also could not guard other shooting guards. Like I said AP is a great player but the original post said he was "one of the best in the world" not he could make and impact or contribute.

Hardly a fair comparison, as Kobe, Arenas, Dumars, and several other similar players to AP didn't always look that good their first year or two in the NBA, and AP never really had a decent shot to show his stuff.
AP is one of the best in the world right now, and nobody ever said he was when he played as a rookie.
Could it just be possible that the NBA people do drop the ball with some players, and AP is one example.

[flipper]

AP played in the NBA and averaged less then 5 points per game he also could not guard other shooting guards. Like I said AP is a great player but the original post said he was "one of the best in the world" not he could make and impact or contribute.

AP is one of the best in the world right now,

is ap in the same class as kobe, lebron and dwayne wade? to me they are the best in the world right now.

[Braves4Life]

No Way!

No way is AP in the Elite class of NBA superstars! He would be no more than an effective role player on most teams. I believe that he'd have the talent to be 6th Man of the Year, at best. Certainly would not have a better pro career than Hersey had. Now, saying this, I have not seen him play since college and rookie year so it is possible that I could be wrong. However, he would have to have improved incredibly to alter my opinion. I've never seen anyone improve as much as AP would have had to. So, I guess I'm kinda giving a critique without reading the book.

Speaking of Hawk, MacabreMob............I saw him play in Charlotte and his skills were deteriorating fast. This was before he went to Seattle. He could no longer consistently get around screens to get his shot off, and when he did he did not make it with the consistency of prior years. In addition, the skill and quickness level of the NBA game accelerated rapidly in Hawk's later years (though the fundamentals of the game went to he#l!) He did not have the ball-handling skills to score off the dribble.

Don't take this as Hawk criticism. I love the guy and loved watching him in college. He was and is a credit to the University and is a class act. But facts are facts.

Oh, and by the way Flips, how 'bout another swimsuit change for the boys