Following the Spurs' 99-79 victory over the Kings on Friday night, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan shared their thoughts on the progress Isaiah Thomas and DeMarcus Cousins have made so far in their NBA careers.
The Spurs are going to Spur.
The Kings are going to King.
That is how Friday night's game went down at Sleep Train Arena.
The Spurs had six players in double-digit scoring and only nine turnovers; that is going to get you a win on most nights. In the fourth quarter, the Spurs got stops, set great screens and ran their sets to perfection. They would methodically come down the floor, have five to six players touch the ball and then take an easy shot.
And repeat.
The Kings on the other hand, would take the ball back down to the other end of the floor and take the first or second contested shot they could find. In the end, the Spurs would hold the Kings to a season-low 79 points on their way to putting up 99 points themselves.
It was a perfect example of where these two teams are at.
Following the game, DeMarcus Cousins said the Spurs are a team the Kings could learn a lot from, citing the way they "trust one another" and how they "communicate with one another."
You can't argue with that.
Two of the guys who have been leading the Spurs train for years are Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. After the Spurs' victory over the Kings, the two perennial All-Stars shared their thoughts on their counterparts on the Kings - Isaiah Thomas and DeMarcus Cousins.
Specifically, they discussed what Thomas and Cousins need to do to take their games to the next level. They both hinted at facilitating more of a team approach.
Tony Parker on Isaiah Thomas
"He's definitely improving … He's got pretty much the whole package right now, he's playing with a lot of confidence and now it's all about winning, I guess, you know, because once you want to improve and you're established in the league, then you don't even care about yourself. You want to win, you want to win championships because that's all people care about at the end of the day."
How he elevated his game: "I wanted to be a better point guard. I wanted to be a point guard who can do everything, and not just scoring and over the years, I improved decision-making, when to shoot, when to pass, good shots ... that's the mentality with the Spurs, you know, we're a very unselfish team, everybody touches the ball, everybody's got equal opportunities."
Tim Duncan on DeMarcus Cousins
Said he has seen major growth from Cousins: "He's improved every year and has become more and more steady … they're asking him to do more and he's definitely gotten better and better."
On what type of player Cousins can eventually become: "He's continued to improve and I think that's up to him. That's up to him and it's up to the team that's going to be around him. This isn't a one-man game, this isn't a one-man situation. You put a team around him that can do something and make him the centerpiece or two or three other pieces and we'll see what happens, but this isn't a one-man game."
Cousins and Thomas are both having career years. Cousins already has his big contract and Thomas will next season (either with the Kings or not), so they have many years ahead of them to focus on taking their games to the next level.
Hopefully, they take a page out of the Duncan-Parker playbook.