Southwest Notes: Parker, Pelicans, Selden, Mavs

Tony Parker spoke about his role on the Spurs with Jabari Young of MySanAntonio.com, saying he’s “blessed” to still have fun playing the game.

“Guys have worse (injuries); you know? Knees, Achilles, stuff like that,” Parker said. “I’ve been playing for 16 years. All season long for the Spurs, and then all summer internationally. And the way I play, with speed and going into the trees (the paint), getting hit so many times and going to the ground so many times, I feel very blessed to still be out there.”

Parker realizes his limitations at 34 years old, unable to fill the stat sheet the way he did in 2008/09, when he averaged 22 PPG with 6.9 APG. Nevertheless, Parker occupies an important spot in Gregg Popovich‘s rotation, and will be relied upon as San Antonio continues its march toward the postseason.

“It obviously helps if I play well,” said Parker. “I love it. I think the evolution in anybody’s career is, as you get older, you have to adjust to who is the main guys on your team. Try to be a factor just like Manu (Ginobili) did. Just like Timmy (Duncan] did. I just try and do the same thing.”

More from around the Southwest…

• Having now won four of their last five, the Pelicans are starting to gel offensively, William Guillory of NOLA.com writes. The Pels have reason for optimism following their winning stretch, but must keep up their pace with only 12 games left in the regular season. “When all three of us are playing well like that, we’re tough to beat,” said Anthony Davis, referring to himself, DeMarcus Cousins, and Jrue Holiday. “Guys are stepping up and making big plays, especially at the right time. Guys are doing things that we need them to do. I just feel like we’re gelling and clicking at the right time.”
• Grizzlies coach David Fizdale told Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal that Memphis’ signing of Wayne Selden was a result of Chandler Parsons‘ season-ending injury. Selden, who had most recently received NBA minutes with the Pelicans, was signed to a multiyear contract.
• While there’s no “magic wand” to fix the Mavericks‘ problems, there are adjustments Rick Carlisle can make, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas News writes. “Philly’s a team you can learn from,” Carlisle said of Dallas’ recent blowout loss to the Sixers. “They win their games on sheer persistence and hard play. And that’s what’s gotten us wins when we’ve been successful over the last two months. We took a pretty significant step back last night. We watched film. We saw the nightmare of last night. It’s pretty clear we’ve got to adjust our disposition. And we’ve got to move the ball better.”