V-Span might join Spurs after friendship with Parker

If Vspan was good enough to school Team USA like he did he sure as hell is better than Rafer. Too bad we will never know what could have been.

 

Not to mention that BBall Plumber's assertion that "so many fans claim" Spanclueless "never ever deserved a shot in NBA" is absurd. I have NEVER seen a posting on Clutchfans saying that he didn't deserve a shot. He absolutely deserved a shot, but he came up woefully short.

 

I also think its hard to say someone who was offered 6 million dollars to play in the NBA never got a shot to play in the NBA. You are right he definitely deserved a shot, got one, walked away from it, and now wants back in Greece.

 

He did not "school" team USA - that is the biggest myth going around. I have posted this before but I heard about his totals before I got to watch the game. When I got home from vacation I watched it and was disappointed by the way he got his points. I don't remember all but I do remember this:

He shot 3-5 from 3 point range - one he jacked from far away. Being that he has never been a great shooter (and he had shot something like 25% from 3 before) it was really just a matter of having an "on" night = 9 points

7-9 free throws. That is a lot but they were not because he was driving pas people like crazy - he was fouled repeatedly on 3 point attempts and that was just an example of stupid US team play = 7 points.

Those 16 points were not typical of VSpan's game because it was basically generated from the 3 point shot...and even he has repeatedly said he is not a good 3 shooter - especially from the farther NBA line.

So that leaves 6 points. I know two of those were from a steal where he beat the US down the court but I don't remember the remaining 4.

So, again, I was disappointed when I saw it because I was hoping he had schooled Team USA and instead he had a lucky night where 3's fell and he was fouled stupidly when he was set shooting. None of that was going to translate to the NBA. The rest of his line was 1 assist, 1 turnover, 3 rebounds, 4 fouls, 0 steals.

 

Sarunas Jasekavecious (no idea how to spell it) also dominated team USA. He got his shot in the NBA and has yet to prove he is anything more then a mediocre player. Of course I blame his coaches in Indiana and GS, because they are holding back probably the greatest PG in the world besides Vspan.

 

Did you watch any of the games Vspan played in, especially early on. It seemed everytime he had the ball he dribbled 100 mph, then jumped in the air, realized he had no one to pass to, and threw the ball away. Even you can not say that didnt happen. I will agree JVG was not a good coach for Vspan, but its hard to play a guy at PG who constantly turned the ball over. Plus if all Vspan did was spot up and take jumpshots a la Steve Kerr, how did he turn it over so much.

As for being frustrated for being asked to do something other then your skills, I remember a guy named Yao Ming whose strengths were not playing down low with power. If anything he relied heavily on jump shots and finesse moves. His coach demanded he play down low where he would get hammered. He didnt whine, he didnt go back to China, he learned to play down low and became a beast.

 

pounding the ball inside is what you're supposed to do if you're 7'6" It's a lot harder to transform a weak shooting guard with a 25% 3 point average into a spot up shooter like Kerr.

 

I dunno..looks to me like these Greek dudes can play

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His pro career began in in 1999-2000 season, this is a myth constantly put on this forum that he "was a bad 3 point shooter in Europe." I've seen Sam Fisher call him "historically bad" "bad on a historical level" on 3 point shooting in Europe. It's a lie and another manipulation that so many fans here repeat.

If people are going to say things here at least have courtesy to say things that are not blatantly false.

Vassilis Spanoulis Pro Career
3 point shooting

1999-2000 Greek season age 17 23.5%
2000-2001 Greek season age 18 25.8%
2001-2002 Greek season age 19 16.7%
2002-2003 Greek season age 20 27.8%

2003-2004 Greek season age 21 36.1%

2004-2005 Greek season age 22 37.8%

2004-2005 EuroCup (2nd highest level outside NBA) season age 22 40.0%

2004-2005 Greek season/EuroCup season total age 22 38.3%

2005-2006 Greek season age 23 36.7%

2005-2006 Euroleague (highest level outside NBA) season age 23 36.8%

2005-2006 Greek/Euroleague season total age 23 36.7%

European Pro Career 34.3%


In fact he was ONLY a bad 3 point shooter from age 17 to age 20. During that time which for American comparison is high school junior age to college sophomore age, he shot 23.5% from 3 point range.

Then from age 21 to age 23, or for American comparison from college junior age to NBA rookie age he made a great improvement.

During that time, 3 seasons worth, he shot 37.5% from 3 point range against the best competition level outside the NBA.

Against MUCH SUPERIOR competition to NCAA I majors level and the international line is a lot further back than the college line is.

So let me ask these people that keep spreading this myth that he was "so awful in 3 point shooting in Europe" this.

Have you EVER heard of a player starting at junior year in college improving their outside shot? Have you ever heard of anyone from age 21 onward actually getting a better outside shot? Or have you never been aware this had happened?

Now 3 years worth of play he shoots 37.5% from 3 point range against competition much better than NCAA I majors and with a line considerably further back, and yet a college player with that percentage is on this board "a good 3 point shooter" and Spanoulis on this board is a "bad 3 point shooter in Europe."

Sam Fisher when I pointed this out in a different thread countered with an argument that because he had a bad percentage in NBA it means his percentage in Europe was also bad, the 37.5% 3 point shooting simply didn't happen.

Fact is always >>>>>> than opinion. Lots of posts on this forum fail to grasp this.

 

I never said what you claim. I said that he got the vast majority of his points outside of his normal game. Yes, he improved his shooting during his career but he was never a shooter. The tourney was a good example of his career - some nights he is on some he is off. I have looked through his boxscores. It was always 2/3 one night, 0/3 the next. His game is driving and not volume (pure) distance shooting. Further I said that the way he scored in that game was not indicitative of how he could do in the NBA - longer range and people won't be fouling him on set 3's multiple times during a game.

Finally, I pointed out that VSpan has said more than once that he was not really a shooter and that he needed to improve for the NBA (hey - this is a fact! What do I win?). His words, not mine. Does that mean that you need to stop him from spreading the myth that he doesn't have great range?

 

Manute Bol was 7'7, Shawn Bradley was 7'6, Rick Smits was 7'4, Arvydas Sabonis was 7'3, and none of them pounded the ball inside. So dont just assume that because Yao is 7'6 he has to pound the ball to be successful. If you truly believe that, then you should not think he will be as successful with Rick Adelman since he will play more up high.

Yao was asked to develop a skill. He worked relentlessly for years to not just become a good post player but a great one.

As for Vspan, no one wanted him to become Steve Kerr, and if you honestly think that was what the Rockets were trying to accomplish, you dont know basketball. He struggled with his dribble, he struggled with his penetration, he struggled with his turnovers, and he struggled with his jump shot.

 

I dont really care how he shot in Europe. All I know is he was a bad three point shooter, and a bad two point shooter during his season in the NBA.

 

Sorry but Smits pounded the ball inside when he could. The other two are just plain stiffs.

 

Look,

Other than the tired arguments being discussed here, the one point I think people are missing is that if he does come back and plays for the Spurs it pretty much validates that his big problem was NOT the NBA and not quitting but was with the Rockets and the organization.

He clearly hates what happened to him in Houston.....Management and coach last year were not in line.....

I am SOOOO glad they are now.

DD

 

Have we lost sight of the fact that this article came from h**psworld? When's the last time h**psworld has been right about anything?

 

Sarunas Jasikevicius also schooled team USA, and was a star in Europe, in fact he was a far greater star than Spanoulis; look at where he is now.

 

And if he doesn't come back and play for the Spurs does that validate that HE was the problem and that JVG may have been right about something.? Or is it JVG sucks and you are going home with your ball?

 

I would be shocked if CD really promised VSpan guaranteed minutes to sign a contract.

I think CD probably offered VSpan a chance to compete for minutes.

 

I never said V-Span was not part of the problem, as an adult who signed a contract, he clearly has to honor it, and he didn't, especially after the team dumped JVG.

As for JVG, he was one of the biggest problems on the team last year, and that has nothing to do with V-Span, I just think he is too stubborn and is good for the regular season, but gets outcoached in the playoffs.

You know, I am not so sure, we get conflicting reports about CD etc, for instance did he promise to draft Rashard? I believe he did......

IMHO, I think CD liked V-Spans game and probably was upset with JVG for not developing him at all last year.

I do understand what JVG was doing, he knew that he was on his last tether with Rocket management, and he knew that in order to keep his job he had to win as many games as possible, so he went with what he knew best, he ran his dogs......and no one else......

Not surprisingly his dogs were tired, and the team had no plan B when plan A failed.

JVG was a failure as a Rockets coach....let's hope Adelman is better suited to take this team further.

DD

 

Just read the initial V-Span interview on coming to the Houston Rockets. Boy his expectations were sky high and when you read this and realize what he went through last season, it's like having your hopes and dreams dashed. No wonder he's not coming back to the Rockets. Maybe the NBA but definately not the Rockets.


Rockets aquire Greek player, Spanoulis If Vasilis Spanoulis sat behind the wheel of a car for a living, it wouldn't be a Formula One racer hugging the curves gracefully or a sleek Ferrari hitting top speeds out on the autobahn.

He'd be a taxi driver, just barreling his way into places and not worrying about picking up a few dents or scrapes. Spanoulis wouldn't follow the road, but make his own path, zigging, zagging, jumping curbs and getting around or going through the pedestrians who got in his path.

His nickname with Panathinaikos in Athens is "Kill Bill," taken from the Quentin Tarantino movie and it only takes a few trips up and down the basketball court to understand why. He takes no prisoners.

One of the first times he got his hands on the ball in Greece's opening elimination game against China, he head-faked once, dribbled to his left and then took off straight for the basket against 7-6 Yao Ming. Then there were his assaults on the hoop in the win over Team USA.


Aggressive style
"Yes, yes, yes. Aggressive," Spanoulis said, nodding. "That's something that I like. It's how I play — aggressive and fast. It's my style."


One that he says he'll bring in a few more weeks to Rockets training camp to blend with Yao and Tracy McGrady.

"I think those two, obviously, are the superstars on the team and in the league," Spanoulis said. "Great offensive players. I will put my aggressiveness to the team to make them something better."

Oh yes, he's confident.

"Adjustments to my game?" he said. "None. This is the basketball I would like to play in the NBA. I think I will be ready for the league from the first days. I believe I will not have a problem. No worries. I believe so much in myself and I'm ready to play there. It's why I'm making this step in my career."

The 6-4 guard looks like a fire hydrant, plays like a fullback and attacks the hoop like a pit bull going after the postman's ankle. He squeezes through cracks in the defense that others don't see or he creates openings.


Playing hardball
He bumps and bangs people all over the floor. That is, when he's not diving onto the floor to chase a loose ball.


"In Greece, we have a term for him," said Yiannis Fileris, a journalist who writes for the website Sport 24. "We call him a 'basketball maniac.' All he ever thinks about is the game and how to win it. He is crazy on the court.

"He is wild. I'll tell you, people in Houston will love him."

Whenever, eventually, he gets onto the court. Spanoulis is not Yao, a No. 1 overall draft choice who had all of the tools to be an NBA All-Star. This is a second-round pick, No. 50 overall, trying to break into a league where few players taken that low succeed.

"I just worry a little about the expectation level that people might have for Vasilis when he first gets here," said Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, who's been following the World Basketball Championship on TV from Houston.


Making adjustments

"He's got to adapt to a new culture, a new role and new teammates. He's got to find out if the things he's done over there in Greece can carry over to the NBA. You know, this is a very, very hard, tough league."

For every tale of a Manu Ginobili or Andres Nocioni coming from abroad to stake a spot and claim a measure of stardom in the NBA, there is an Arvydas Macijauskas of Lithuania, who wasted away all of last season at the end of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets bench.

Spanoulis shrugs. He went from a nice guard playing for second-tier Greek club Maroussi into a star player for Panathinaikos and the national team in a little more than a year.


Plays with passion
"I have passion," Spanoulis said.


And he wears it on his sleeve. Along with an air of imperviousness.

Spanoulis talked about the fun he had playing against the U.S. team. He spoke of the gold-medal game against Spain as a day in the park.

"I am always happy to play in these types of games," he said. "There is no stress. No pressure. Just confidence and you play."

Van Gundy cringes every time he hears big things predicted so early and had to know that everything just got ratcheted up another notch when Spanoulis led Greece with 22 points and made so many big plays to beat the U.S. team.

That was Spanoulis going end-to-end for driving layups. That was Spanoulis pulling up to hit three 3-pointers and twice drawing fouls on long jumpers, then going to the line and burying six straight free throws.

He ran the pick-and-roll offense and whipped slick passes inside to his big men for layups.

"I am very happy he leaves Europe, so I don't have to guard him this year," said Greek teammate Theo Papaloukas, who plays for Moscow CSKA in the Russian Superleague. "He's very strong. He has a winning mentality and deserves to go to the NBA. I think he's going to fight for this."

Spanoulis practically crackles and pops like a downed power line and can be just as dangerous.

"There are many ways to succeed and fail in the NBA," Van Gundy said. "One of the ways is to be in the ballpark talent-wise and make up for what you lack with a love for the game and competition. I'd always bet on guys with passion."

In the first telephone conversation that the player had with his new coach, Spanoulis told Van Gundy, "It's just basketball."


Culture shock
It is and it isn't. It's culture shock and a new league and new teammates and so many different things that maybe only Yao — who went through it at warp speed under a much greater microscope — can clue him into.


"Basketball is the same everywhere, in Europe and the States," Spanoulis said. "Now it's up to me to play the same basketball. When you have better teammates, you can play much better.

"This is what I expect."

You watch him bounce around the court like a pinball against the Americans, finding ways and making plays. You stand next to him and practically feel the electric current.

"I watch a lot of NBA on TV," Spanoulis said. "I know most of the players and how they play. I know the league. I like this type of basketball. I am ready to go to Houston and start with the games. This will be fun."

That's "Kill Bill," coming soon to a theater near you.