If Rafer doesn't play, the Rockets don't get Lowry and thus don't get Harden..... case closed. I do admire you love of sport, watching minor league basketball.
of course it is "CLOSED LANE" , it prevents foxes and other critters from making off with the chickens as well as the oxen from escaping. Doesn't prevent scorpions though, which can kill an adult hen. And to your second point, V-Span is indeed the leading Fowl-drawer in Euroleague - that boy can pluck a fowl so fast that it's practically 50 cent wings-Wednesday EVERY SINGLE day for his Olympiakos teammates. Unfortunatley 50 cents is beyond the financial means of Olympiakos and most of its players, who have been paid in old shoes for the last 2 years ever since the economic troubles.
Jeremy Lin could not win a Euroleague MVP in a million years of playing in that league. It's an insult to even compare him to Spanoulis. In all honesty I doubt if Lin would even get paying time on Olympiacos. Spanoulis and Sloukas, their two main point guards are both much better players than Lin is.
Case open. If VSpan develops, Rockets may have won a ring in 2007. Using Rafer to attempt to win any argument is futile. He was terrible.
NBA > Euroleague NBA has more talent and more athletic players, but one can honestly not say that it has more complicated defenses. NBA defensive 3s rule limits the number of legal zone defense variations, and as a result also the number of combined and pressing defense variations. FIBA rules permit 6 types of pure zone defense: two of them with players in two lines (2-3; 3-2) and four with players in three lines (1-2-2; 1-3-1; 2-1-2; 2-2-1). More complicated defense is the basic reason for long summer training (usually two months although those often include a couple of weeks of joint conditioning in the mountains)...
Lin is younger, bigger & quicker. One is starting in the NBA at age 24. One is 30 couldn't ply his hind parts off an NBA bench, quit, & went back to what was familiar. Soooo.... Euroleague > NBA?
Spanoulis is 1.93m, Lin 1.91m. I love Lin. He is the reason I joined this forum, and I do believe he can be a star, but he does need to improve a lot of things (shooting, tighter handles, man-to-man defense...). At this point it is not fair to compare him to Spanoulis. Different defensive rules make the offensive game also a bit different, with more set plays and a greater PG responsibility. This has nothing to do with the higher quality of NBA players. I'm not sure whether Spanoulis improved a lot since his Rockets days, or he was always a good player, but not mentally strong to be in a foreign country and on the bench. I love Lin. He is the reason I joined this forum, and I do believe he can be a star, but he does need to improve a lot of things (shooting, tighter handles, man-to-man defense...). At this point it is not fair to compare him to Spanoulis. Different defensive rules make the offensive game also a bit different, with more set plays and a greater PG responsibility. This has nothing to do with the higher quality of NBA players. I'm not sure whether Spanoulis improved a lot since his Rockets days, or he was always a good player, but not mentally strong to be in a foreign country and on the bench. If latter, he probably improved in that aspect as well. One thing is sure, he is a great player now.
LMAO. I'm comparing your definition of the word quit. Magic wanted out of his situation because he couldn't play for his coach. You say VSpan quit. Gotta say the same thing about Magic.
Lol. No coach ever had Magic playing behind anyone. The man won NBA titles & multiple MVPs in the best league in the world. I'm not going to go do it for you. The data is all there. Look it up. When Spanoulis wins an NBA title then get back with me. The guy hasn't played in the NBA in years, get over it. We had better players on the team then and we have better players on the team now.Spanoulis DID NOT GET IT DONE IN THE NBA. I'm not going to go do it for you. The data is all there. Look it up.
^ VSpan himself readily admits that he wasn't suited for the NBA and that he had extreme difficulty dealing with the culture which made matters even worse. He also particularly didn't like our city. If his failure was really all JVG's fault, then he should have some lingering doubts about never proving himself under a different coach, right? But nope, unlike his fans he's at peace with the situation and just accepts that he wasn't good enough for the NBA. Even though I’m no fan of VSpan's whining, mopey attitude when he was a Rocket, I do respect that he's honest with himself about his abilities instead of just using JVG as a scapegoat for his failures. At least he’s not delusional unlike some of his fans in this thread.
Magic wanted out because his coach wast not playing the way he wanted to play. THERE IS NO CONCLUSIVE DATA ON WHAT VSPAN WOULD HAVE BECOME IN THE NBA....UNLESS YOU CONSIDER THE MOUNDS OF DATA FROM EUROLEAGUE.
Can accept that, how Spanoulis HIMSELF gave specific reasons for not being an NBA player. Spanoulis was basically TOO MATURELY developed in THE EUROPEAN life by the time he came to the league. If he was 20-22 itd be A LITTLE different, he'd still be a little more green and impressionable. But by mid 20's he was "set" in his way, he was already getting all the star treatment ADULATION and didnt like starting back lowest on the ladder on up. (And THAT is the whole contentious issue right THERE, if you work in a player FULL, or if he has to EARN his way like any other BEGINNER. It goes back and forth) The only iffy thing Spanoulis said there is how the NBA is 2-3 stars and run and gun. I'm assuming he's talking about the league overall. But if Spanoulis considers Rockets version VAN GUNDY and YAO MING as "run & gun" in the same way, its even more damning that he couldnt adjust to that snail's pace. And its what I've been saying, he couldnt adjust his ATTITUDE to the NBA/American culture. And he ended up sulking too much in his on-court performance and looking back home instead of taking on the challenge more. The culture element itself I think factors in a little more than how we acknowledge, it might can make or break some players (And Texas has PLENTY BARNS and livestock, that shoulda been even MORE FAMILIARITY....) Give credit for Europe in at least being more ENGLISH-ready. If even America is a "melting pot", whats it matter if you can't even speak the languages Oh well. Back to the drawing boards, other posting boards and sheep cutting boards.
I should explain myself better.... NBA offenses are extremely complicated right now, more so than ever before and as a result defenses have become more disciplined and have had to follow suit. I played in college in the late 90's, we uses zone off and on.... but nothing like what some teams are running now.
#1 I am sure VSpan enjoys the wonderful economy in Greece, and the smell of piss and burning tires that overwhelms that **** hole. #2 VSpan quit on the Van Gundy and the best basketball coach in the world, Greg Popovich. #3 VSpan was a poor match for the NBA, the rules and style of game are different. #4 He seems at peace being the best minor league player in the world, if that is good enough for him, it should be for his fans too. #5 I remember a few years ago at the SL, being in attendance and VSpan's name came up and Morey just smiled and snickered... that was enough for me.
