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Career paths of Parker, Harris have been night and day
Posted May 4 2012 11:21AM
SALT LAKE CITY -- The official roster says Devin Harris is bigger than Tony Parker, taller by an inch. There was a time not so long ago when a lot of wise observers believed the growth spurt was going to continue on the court as well.
That was the spring of 2006 when Parker had already collected a pair of championship rings with the Spurs, but then Harris shot up like a flare into the night sky and made everyone turn and notice.
Harris had missed half the Mavericks' regular season with a leg injury, but jumped into the starting in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Spurs. In three straight games, he averaged just under 21 points a game, Dallas went on to win the series in seven and went all the way to the NBA Finals, while the Spurs went home early after their league-leading 63 wins.
In the what-have-you-done-lately sports world, Parker was suddenly as unappealing as a week-old baguette, prone to crumble, or so it was thought.
The fact is Parker did get harder and smarter and craftier and better. But even he couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief when the Mavs traded the nemesis Harris to New Jersey in February 2008.
"To be honest with you, I'm really happy for that trade," Parker said back then.
To be brutally honest, the two point guards did go in different directions with their careers. Nowhere has that been more evident than the current first-round series, where the first thing on the Jazz' minds when they wake up in the morning and the last thing that haunts them at night is how to handle Parker. All while Harris has struggled to make even the slightest impact against the Spurs.
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The trouble is that the Jazz have been unable to score either from the backcourt or what was supposed to be an advantage with the big front line, because the Spurs have shrunk the floor and simply not allowed them to run their offense.
It's easy to think back to those days in '06 when a younger Harris was able to use his raw speed and darting quickness against Parker and get into the paint and the heart of the Spurs' defense to create havoc. And it's tempting to wonder what might have become of the rivalry between the pair if Harris had remained in Texas.