Parker will stay in S.A. for ankle rehab

[Dasher]

Web Posted: 08/01/2009 11:23 CDT
Parker will stay in S.A. for ankle rehab
By Mike Monroe - Express-News

Tony Parker’s return to San Antonio over the weekend cost the Spurs a round-trip airfare from France for their All-NBA point guard, but it could cost France a spot in the European basketball championship tournament next month.

Results of a Saturday examination of Parker’s right ankle by the team’s medical staff confirmed a mild sprain. The three-time NBA All-Star suffered the injury on July 23 in a game the French national team played against Austria as a warmup for a qualifying tournament that is to begin this week to determine the final entrant in Eurobasket 2009, the European championship.

Parker is to begin rehabilitating the injury in San Antonio before returning to France to rejoin Les Bleus, for whom he is the starting point guard.

“We want to thank Tony for returning to San Antonio to allow our medical staff to examine him,” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. “It shows his maturity and his dedication to the Spurs organization.”

The timeline for Parker’s return will be determined by his progress in the rehab process, but it won’t be in time to rejoin the team for an important game in Italy on Wednesday against the Italian national team, which features NBA players Andrea Bargnani and Marco Belinelli.

France is trying to gain the final berth in the Eurobasket tournament, which will determine qualifiers for next summer’s World Championships in Turkey. The Eurobasket tournament is to begin on Sept. 7 in Poland.

The format for the qualifying tournament in which France is competing calls for Les Bleus to play two games each against Italy and Finland, home and away. The winner of the three-team group will face the other group’s winner — Portugal, Belgium or Bosnia and Herzegovina — to claim the last spot in Poland.

Without Parker, France must play the Wednesday game without a true point guard. Backup Rodrigue Beaubois, selected in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Mavericks, was injured during NBA Summer League, in Las Vegas, and also is unavailable.

Nando De Colo, a 22-year-old shooting guard from Sainte-Catherine, France, whom the Spurs selected in the second round of the 2009 draft, may end up starting at the point guard position against Italy.

Parker will stay in S.A. for ankle rehab

[Guapo]

Looks like the P.R. plan (Parker questions Spurs decision) is playing out perfectly.

[Dasher]

[Uwe Blab]

I agree with this decision. The rehab he would get from the Spurs would be much more than in France, where they would rush to get him to play, much like Argentina did with Manu.

[joballer]

Originally Posted by Uwe Blab

I agree with this decision. The rehab he would get from the Spurs would be much more than in France, where they would rush to get him to play, much like Argentina did with Manu.

+1

[miguelito]

House arrest is not always a bad thing. Especially if Eva is feeding you grapes on the couch. Life could be a tad worse, right?

[SAGA]

House arrest -