It "demystified"? LMFAO that 30% field goal percentage says otherwise Billy... Always good for a laugh though...
I always liked the way he played, I definitely think he can play in the nba, just was not given a chance Lol at these jvg fanatics, great commentator, bad coach
Big fish in a smaller pond. Can safely talk about the huge fish out in the lake without any fear of being eaten.
This comment does not even make sense, because Europe is bigger in both geographical area and population than the USA is. Europe's area = 3,930,000 square miles USA's area = 3,794,000 square miles Europe's population = 740 million USA's population = 316 million Europe is the bigger pond.
He's a very good prospect back then. Rough start as expected, but didn't gert a chance under JVG. Yao really struggled in preseason and first few games rookie year, but Rudy T was very patient with him...
Spanoulis officially calls out Jeff Van Gundy and sets the record straight. http://www.eurohoops.net/2013/06/one-on-one/26907 “Coach Van Gundy didn’t know me” By Nikos Varlas / varlas@eurohoops.net Vassilis Spanoulis has won Euroleague three times, the last two in a row, three Final Four MVP awards, and one season MVP award. After all this success, the question posed to him by the Spanish magazine “Gigantes” in June’s edition was why he didn’t have a solid career in the NBA. “Eurohoops” helped in getting the answers, and despite this being a really old story, since he played in Houston back in the 2006-07 season, here's what he had to say: “I believe that I was at the wrong time in the wrong place. Unfortunately, I had never spoken with coach Van Gundy before signing with Houston. I only had conversations with the GM, who was really interested in me. When I arrived, the first thing I was told was that I am a rookie, so I will not play at all and they are not counting on me! I wasn’t in the plans of the coach. I was left on the bench. It was just a bad situation. The team leader was T-Mac, there was also Rafer Alston, and the coach didn’t believe that I could have some minutes in the rotation. He didn’t know me as a player. To be exact, the coach didn’t have the slightest clue about European basketball and European players. I felt really bad, like I was tricked. I was already a pretty good player in Europe. The first thing the coach said to me in my very first day in Houston was: “I don’t know you, you will not play, you are out”. I felt let let down. The next summer, coach Adelman came to the team. He called me three times, and we had some good conversations. I appreciated his gesture”. Spanoulis elaborated on the details of his NBA misfortune by talking to “Eurohoops”. - Do you consider going to Houston a bad choice? “I had just won a silver medal with the Greek national team in the World Championship, and I decided to play in the NBA. It turned out that what I had agreed upon, never happened. Coach Adelman wanted me, he asked me to stay, to cooperate with him and start playing. I said to him that I appreciated this, but my decision was already made. The rest was easy, the adjustment to the American way of life and the NBA lifestyle. When I don’t feel good on the basketball court, then everything is wrong and everything is bothering me. When I am full of basketball, then I can adjust, no matter the environment”. - Would things have been different with another coach? “They definitely would be. Coach Van Gundy didn’t know who I was. As I said before, coach Adelman called me and tried to be supportive. But at that point, I had lost my trust. I was angry, I was enraged, and I said to myself that I will not allow myself to be involved in such a situation again”. - Your rights were traded to the Spurs, before you were released and signed with Panathinaikos. What happened with the people of San Antonio? “I had met Tony Parker in a pre-Eurobasket warm up tournament in France. We know each other pretty well, since we were really young and competing with the junior national teams. He said to me that it would be good for me to stay with the Spurs and play together with him. However, I was not in the mood to think about it. I had decided that I wanted to play again in Europe. Coach Popovich called, and he seemed sincere about believing in me, but my mood was fixed and my gut was telling me to return”. - Would you consider a second chance in the NBA? “I don’t know under which conditions I would try my luck again in the NBA. For sure, I would like to play for a team with lofty goals. At this point, I am not thinking anything about it, but you can never say never! I am not closing the door to the NBA, but until the season in Greece is over, I am not allowing myself to think about anything else”.
Okay Billy.... It is all JVG's fault you shot 30%... And he held you back... But you were a Spur and choose to quit and be a big fish in a small pond.. So you are out of excuses Billy.
Jeff Van Gundy apologists are now out of excuses. They have been denying here for the last 7 years that Van Gundy mistreated Spanoulis and calling anyone that said he did a liar. Now Spanoulis said it himself. Van Gundy mistreated him and had it in for him from the very beginning. The Van Gundy apologists just permanently got officially exposed as FRAUDS here on the Spanoulis issue. You have all been officially outed for trolling this forum for the last 7 years on this issue. If you had any shame at all, you would admit it and move on.
V-Span was told he would have to earn playing time. He was unable to earn playing time. He got upset. He went home, where he would get playing time and would be a star. Nothing wrong with that. He just didn't want to have to prove himself in the NBA; he had already proven himself in Europe, and dagnabbit that should have been good enough. I don't know why he is still talked about on this site, to be honest. Had he gone to the Spurs and succeeded, that would be different. As it stands now, IDGAF.
FALSE. The Jeff Van Gundy apologists can't make these false claims anymore. He was not given a chance to earn playing time. As he said, he was told the day he got to Houston that he would be on the bench all year no matter what he did. Jeff Van Gundy apologists have been lying about this for 7 years, but they can't get away with those lies anymore.
The Interview above makes him sound like a weak person without focus and determination. Adelman and Pop wanted to give him a chance and he still backs out because of frustration over the little time with JVG? Sounds like he's the type of person that doesn't work for his fortune and prefers the easy way, weak minded. Would've never made it big in the NBA with that behaviour.
What V-Span says only proves that at least two other hall-of-fame coaches thought enough of his game that they wanted him to play/try-out for their teams. So while we will never know whether those were JVG's exact words to VSpan (you will not play), some of the posters here that says VSpan could have never made it as a role player to potential starter in the NBA based on one year in the NBA, some 3pt shooting stats based on a couple of hundred minutes in the NBA or scrimmage stat sheets are clearly biased. I doubt any of you are better judges of talent than RA and Pop. I don't agree with Rocket Booster saying VSpan would be a 1st tier PG to all-star player, but I certainly felt he had great potential and many rough edges to his game during his first season, and that he could potentially be a solid starter or at least a significant role player in the NBA if he had stayed.
I think you're taking his comments too literally. He meant NBA vs. other leagues. He can talk trash about the NBA when he's not in it and the star in a less talented league without fear of being humiliated or "eaten alive".
