What's Wrong with Tony Parker?

The San Antonio Spurs wouldn't have all those title banners in the rafters if it weren't for Tony Parker. That has to be noted at the outset.

But the six-time All-Star hasn't been himself lately, failing to tally double-figure points four times in five games—a stretch during which he made just 5 of 34 field-goal attempts. The 32-year-old is posting his lowest per-game scoring average (13.8) since his rookie campaign, and his ordinarily electric scoring ability hasn't found consistent rhythm.

Parker's struggles have become emblematic of his team's, one of several explanations for a 36-23 record and an enduring attachment to that No. 7 seed.

"It's tough right now," he told reporters after San Antonio's fourth straight loss, a 111-95 meeting with the Portland Trail Blazers. "It's tough. Since I've been with the Spurs, I've never experienced that in a 3-game, 4-game stretch. We're not making shots. It starts with me. I'm not making shots. Our three-point shooters are not making shots, and everything is tough. We just have to stay positive."

To whatever extent the Spurs offense remains capable of great things, its floor general has a lot to do with it.

Instead, San Antonio is actually scoring 3.1 more points per 100 possessions when Parker isn't on the floor, according to NBA.com—a sign that scoring isn't the only thing missing from the maestro's repertoire. His 28.7 minutes and 4.8 assists per contest also rank as the lowest marks since his rookie output, and there's no doubting the broader impact.

After scoring 108.2 points per 100 possessions a season ago (sixth best according to Hollinger Team Stats), the Spurs now rank 18th with just 103.5 points per 100 possessions.

Something has clearly gone awry.

Pointing the Finger

It's not all Parker's fault. He can't be blamed for the missed three-pointers or uneven effort.

If San Antonio's to correct course in the wake of a four-game losing streak, however, it all starts with the point guard. 

Sidelined for 14 games this season primarily because of hamstring issues, one might suspect rust at first glance. Unfortunately, it might not be so simple. Parker had one of his best games of the season (21 points, 13 assists) in a 119-115 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers before he began bottoming out. And that was his sixth consecutive game scoring in double figures.

Season	PPG	FG%	APG
2010-11	17.5	51.9	6.6
2011-12	18.3	48.0	7.7
2012-13	20.3	52.2	7.6
2013-14	16.7	49.9	5.7
2014-15	13.8	45.6	4.8

Whatever happened next can't be attributed to rust exactly. 

To hear Parker explain it, though, the hamstring hasn't been 100 percent.

"I don't even want to use that as an excuse," he told reporters amid his downturn last month. "I don't feel great. Everybody knows it. Coaches know it. But hey, that's everybody. Everybody's got nagging stuff. It's been a tough year for me since I got back from the nagging injury.

"I have not been the same since my injury. But I'm not going to use that as an excuse. Everybody knows me better than that. I just have to find a solution, even if I'm not feeling great."

Excuse or not, it's certainly the easiest explanation. From short tear-drops to an anemic mid-range game, there could very well be something wrong with Parker's lift and explosiveness. 

Parker went on to describe that in-between game as "the whole key," saying, "It feels good when I shot it. But I miss my first five or six shots, and then you know the defense, waits until I make that shot. Once I make that shot, everything will open up. The last three games, I haven't been hitting that shot."

Overall, Parker's 45.6 percent success rate from the field is down markedly from the 49.9 percent of field-goal attempts he made last season.

A regression in his mid-range game is largely responsible.

BballBreakdown.com

Per NBA.com, Parker is only making 34.5 percent of his buckets from 10 to 14 feet out and 38.7 percent from 15 to 19 feet—down from respective marks of 48.1 and 43.9 percent in 2013-14. When his shot chart is compared against the league average, you'll note several cold spots near the left elbow—ordinarily an area that falls well within his wheelhouse.

BballBreakdown.com

Tony Parker's issue is also the Spurs'. As FOX Sports Southwest's Jeff Caplan recently put it, "If he can't regain his explosiveness and shooting touch, the Spurs' dreams of repeating for the first time after this remarkable run of success could come to a crashing halt in the first round."

Getting Right

Still deep enough to muster wins on some nights, this isn't even close to the dominant offense to which we were treated in last season's playoffs.

It wouldn't be fair to make a scapegoat out of Parker. The much relied upon three-point shooting is down across the board. Kawhi Leonard isn't yet capable of consistently carrying the team like he did in those Finals. Nor is the eternally solid Tim Duncan. It's a problem, and it's not Parker's alone.

For now, however, he's the easiest of targets. We know San Antonio's system works. We know head coach Gregg Popovich's team can hang with anybody when Parker's at his best. Now it's a question of getting him there.

"On our team, when we win it's us, and when we lose it's us," Parker told media after the Portland game. "We're not going to pinpoint anybody individually. It's us as a team. Obviously, I have a big part of that. I have to do my part. I know it. I've struggled before, but never like that."

He went on to note that he'd built some confidence in the games leading up to his recent battles, so there's some hope the former Finals MVP can pick up where he left off. There's really nowhere to go but up at the moment.

And to whatever extent that mid-range J is broken, maybe famed shooting coach Chip Engelland can help Parker make the adjustment.

Maybe some additional rest could do wonders for his health. Though Popovich can ill afford resting his best players too much given San Antonio's precarious spot in the standings, there may be little choice when it comes to this offense's closest thing to an engine. Without Parker firing on all cylinders, it's hard to imagine the rest of the Spurs doing much better—or doing enough.

Last week's 19-point outing against the Sacramento Kings was a sign of life. And we'll almost certainly see similar signs between now and mid-April.

The danger, however, is that they remain the exception amid a new normal. Individually and collectively, this team has played a lot of basketball—particularly over the last three seasons.

"He has lots of miles over the last two years and he is one of the guys that only rests if he is hurt," one NBA advance scout told Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears this month. "He has not been making a lot of the layups and in-the-paint shots that he has in the past at a higher percentage.

"I don't think there is anything too dramatic in a drop-off of skills. I just think they are going big picture. His assists are down, too. His team is not shooting as well as we are used to."

Correcting that starts with Parker, but it certainly won't end there. Regardless of how well he recovers from these woes, he'll need plenty of help.