For the first time during game play, Bill and Clyde talk for a couple of minutes about Spanoulis and compare his situation to other Euros and relay what they know about him from talking to the ROckets. I hope maybe this will spark a more mature discussion about his game in relation to those that came before him. <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DKTYcQYvFzo"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DKTYcQYvFzo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" height="350"></embed></object> Discuss.
ringing endorsement from Clyde but ... only time will tell. i luv ambitious players. so, i have no problem with a player wanting the spotlight. hope he's patient enough to jes' chill and await the inevitable opportunity.
I think what Clyde and Bill said is 100% true. every European player needs a season or two to adjust to the NBA. it's not easy, it has a whole different pace, intesity, and speed. however, in order to make the adjustment, a player needs some PT even if it's very little, just to get acclimated to the way the game is played. I think a lot of people seem to overhype Spanoulis and want him to "develop" here, while at the same time, a lot of others underestimate Spanoulis and call him a "scrub". my stance is right in between: I really dont think Spanoulis will turn out to be a Tony Parker or a Ginobili, and I am not really looking forward to seeing him "develop" into a superstar. despite my disgareement with JVG on countless issues, I kinda agree with his principal of playing veterans ahead of rookies and not placing so much attention on rookies in order for them to "develop" and reach tier potential. afterall, since when do rookies develop into great players on winning teams? rookies that usually turnout to be superstars usually start out on a sorry team that went to the lottery the year before. the get extended minutes and instant NBA experience, the mature very fast and become superstars IF they had the potential. this is not the case on the rockets; we have a great team, we have a lot of quality veterans and 2 elite players, this is not the perfect place for rookies to develop. that's why I am not dying to see Novak on the court, it's because we have a lot of quality players ahead of him that will make the team better. however, when it comes to the PG position, I have a different view. I dont exactly hate Alston, I think he is a below average PG with a low IQ, which makes him a quality backup guard. in our case, we have Alston starting. Alston isn't exactly a quality starter, but he is obviously the best PG we have, so I dont have a problem with him starting. but what I am concerned about is the fact that he is playing extended minutes and it might be a partial cuase of his struggles. considering our situation, I would really like to see Vspan play 8-10 minutes a game, just to give Alston his rest. this is not because I want to see him become the next Tony Parker, it's because he is all we have right now. we all now that JL3 cant handle the PG position and he hurts the team when he is on the court, and I dont know if anyone agrees with me on this one, but I really dont like seeing Luther Head running the PG. he has mediocre handles and playing PG is definately not his strength, not only that, but it also takes away from other aspects of his game. Tmac might run the PG pretty well, but he desperately need every minute of his rest. so all we are left with is Vspan, just 8 minutes a game, that's all I am asking for. Span can pick up 8, Tmac can play PG for 5 minutes, that's 13 minutes, enough rest for Alston to keep him running smoothly. I really dont think 8 minutes for Vspan would hurt the team. now in special situations when Alston is exceptionally struggling, it wouldn't hurt to put in Vspan. but that's the main idea; it all depends on matchups and game situations. once again, dont get me wrong, I am not one of the Spanoulis homers who think he will be the next Tony Parker. if Sura was starting and Alston is his backup, I wouldn't even mention Span's name. but this is the situation right now and u gotta do what u have to do.
Wow. Clyde said there is no doubt Bily will make the All Star game some day! Also noted that VSpan is thinking that he sees players have sucess in the NBA that he "killed" over in Europe and knows he is better than them. Anyone know specific players that Clyde may be mentioning? Thanks R2K.
Since when did JL3 hurt the team? I can only recall one game where he was jacking up shots, and he hasn't really played since. Other than that one game, he did a fine job coming in for Rafer. He didn't turn the ball over, brought energy to the team and was hitting his shots. I've think hes helped our team when hes in there more than he hurts us. He's definitely more ready than V-Span. A little too small on the defensive side, but at least he isn't crying and moaning about playing time.
I'd like to see vspan in the summer league. It'll help us gauge his abilities against other young nba players. But he hasn't earned PT in the regular season, those minutes belong to Head and JL3 now.
Did you notice that JL3 becomes a ballhog whenever hes on the floor? He never passes to anybody else, well, except one, the hoop... My impression is that he is trying everything he can to build up his statistics but then, the other guys (normally bench players like Novak, Bill) are just running up and down. He gets a basket or 2 sometimes but the other guys are totally not involved in the offense whatsoever. That is probably hurting the team.
Lucas' plus/minus is just off the charts, and the offense is just a notch below when he's on the floor. Given he's played the majority of his minutes without TMac (or Yao), that should be expected. He played poorly against Phoenix, but to say he's hurt the team (on the season) is not really a defensible statement. Spanoulis isn't playing because he's been outplayed on the court by both Head and Lucas, and apparently is outplayed in practice, too. There really isn't much more too it than that.
we all know clyde doesn't have a clue. but hey, i can see it, too, one day there will be alston and spanoulis in the all star game. spanoulis didn't kill anybody in europe and there's a good chance he would not even make an euroleague all star team. i'm not a spanoulis basher, i even think he could be a solid contributor one day and he has the talent. but right now spanoulis is where he belongs - on our bench. at the end of it. a dose of reality here and there is very much appreciated.
If VSpan can improve like Yao has, he'll be a good player. With Yao, I could see that he had the skills and that it would take time for adjustment, same with VSpan. He may not be great, but he'll get better.
I have noticed that. He rarely passes the ball while he is out there. I personall have not seen what JLII has done to be proven better than Vspan.
The most "immature" part of the discussion is saying that Spanoulis will no doubt be an All-Star. That just makes Clyde into being like one of the guys on this board who pump him up and overhype him more than he should be. Besides that, all the other things Bill and Clyde mentioned was sensible and insightful. from http://www.eurobasket.com/awards2006.asp Eurobasket.com All-Europe Honorable Mention: Mike Batiste (203-F-77) of Panathinaikos Athens (GRE), American Nikos Zisis (195-G-83) of Benetton Treviso (ITA), Greek Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82) of Houston Rockets (USA), Greek Kenny Gregory (197-G/F-78) of Le Mans Sarthe Basket (FRA), American Andrea Bargnani (209-F/C-85) of Toronto Raptors (USA), Italian Rudy Fernandez (197-G-85) of DKV Joventut Badalona (ESP), Spanish Sofocles Schortsianitis (206-F-85) of Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus (GRE), Greek Terrell Castle (182-G-72) of Aris Thessaloniki (GRE), American-Bosnian Also Eurobasket.com All-Europeans Honorable Mention: (for ALL EUROPEANS that played in Europe or NBA, anywhere else) Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) of Panathinaikos Athens (GRE), Greek Mehmet Okur (210-C/F-79) of Utah Jazz (NBA), Turkish Nikola Vujcic (211-C-78) of Maccabi Elite Tel-Aviv (ISR), Croatian Jorge Garbajosa (205-C/F-77) ex Malaga (ESP), Spanish-Argentinean Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82) of Houston Rockets (NBA), Greek Andres Nocioni (199-F-79) of Chicago Bulls (NBA), Italian-Argentinean Sarunas Jasikevicius (192-G-76) of Indiana Pacers (NBA), Lithuanian Jose Manuel Calderon (190-G-81) of Toronto Raptors (NBA), Spanish Emanuel Ginobili (198-G-77) of San Antonio Spurs (NBA), Italian-Argentinean Antonis Fotsis (210-F-81) of Dynamo Moscow (RUS), Greek Zydrunas Ilgauskas (218-C-75) of Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA), Lithuanian It was just about giving it a look, not about knocking the stance on him. He's fairly well thought-of by Europeans at least, and could make their All-Star teams. Not everyone on these lists are NBA material but thats where scouts come in and pick out the best. That doesn't mean he's ready to play, still many holes in Spanoulis's game. Just looking off that, can understand why some people would say hey, if he's even in the neighborhood of those other guys why NOT see him get even a little time behind an AWFUL shooting point guard?
Bottom line.....He just needs to see the floor and be allowed to play his game. I'm sure Jeff understands this quite well,but the formula and margin of error is what it is....and it's getting to the halfway point now.The sum total of the Rockets could be so much more with an integrated Spanoulis this year,but either way I believe he will have a great career here.AND either way,we are BIGTIME Title contenders now when healthy.It just sucks when you have a guy with that kind of talent and we're seeing this square peg round hole thing going on now,splinters,and lashing out in the media...When VSpan plays the 1 and has the ball in his hands a bit the Rockets will flourish even more. As far as Clyde..I love him but he's a company man,so you have to take it with a grain of salt.I think he was sincere about wanting to help UH at the time,but found himself over his head (falling asleep in film sessions).Everybody knows his heart was in the right place...PR for the school too.Anyway the Coogs are on their way.Lanny was really going to excel in this offense that was geared towards him.Past that you have no size on the front line this year..We're set up after this year though. Anyway,this is a teamporary deal that Spanoulis is just going to have to deal with.It'll happen for him and us,but not until JVG says so.
He turns the ball over less despite handling the ball a lot more. And he connects on a higher percentage. What does vspan do?
Before VSpan gets any significant playing time. He will have to go through what Bonzi went through -- getting his attitude straighten out! He needs to realize he has to improve on the area he does not do well but is needed for Rockets as a team.
Plays defense makes passes. A lot of his turnovers are do to guys not being able to handle his passes.
