Anyone else have a feeling that the infatuation with Vspan, despite his actual play is similar to the accomplishments of Rodrick Rhodes? I recall R. Rhodes picking MJ's pocket once.... and then it all went to crap.
I made this comment a couple of weeks ago, both talented players that will probably never reach their potential because of their fragile egos...and mindset. DD
and their inability to actually make a jump shot forgot about RR...he was going to be the next great thing.
Add Moochie Norris... and Bryce Drew... and Kelvin Cato... and Maurice Taylor... and Eddie Griffin.... and Matt Maloney... and Stromile Swift. Any more CD/management casulties? At least he didn't get a 6 year deal like some of the nobody's above.
What talent did either guy really have? And even if you call whatever they have "talent", what good is it if they don't posess things that are MORE VITAL to succeeding (like "mindset"). Plenty of "un-talented" players suceed because of mindset/confidence/hustle. I've yet to see any player succeed without those things. Thus, take all those qualities you consider "talent" and disregard ALL of it... if a player doesn't posses the intestinal fortitude to make it in this league, nothing else matters (and as I said above, its a good thing he didn't get a bigger contract based on the dreaded "potential").
These guys don't quite fit; I don't believe there was as much fan adoration for these players... Matt Maloney, Maurice taylor, Moochie Norris, Kelvin Cato and Stromile definitely got enough PT to show their stuff. However, everyone still had hopes after Vspan's first season that he could still become the 6'4" pass-intercepting, steve nash guard. Now we'll chalk this one up his fragile mental nature.
I'll tell you how they fit... they all got guaranteed deals for which the Rockets didn't get much in return. Hell, in some cases, they got HUGE money deals... for which their "increased playing time" played a part in them getting (they show some flashes, the Rockets like what they see in the small sample size, and BOOM... big money deal on the table). Frankly, management screwing up this much over players that aren't worth it is a much bigger deal than simply "misplaced fan adoration."
Fine-- blame it on the management. But I'm still thinking we should re-examine what we, as fans, even saw in his talent to make the BBS fanboard so intrigued by his abilities: none of it ever translated on the court. 1) He couldn't hit a shot to save his life (much less than even, Rafer). 2) He couldn't complete a simple pass to make an assist, he'd dribble around and maybe end up taking the shot. I will credit him with his abilities to play the passing lanes.. even got a few steals in the limited minutes that he did play.
Man Rodrick Rhodes was awesome! I remember that game where he picked MJ's pocket. On another play he got called for reaching in, and Barkley got a tech for saying to the Refs, "He didn't touch him, I know he's Michael Jordan and all...." I also remember him being the Payton-stopper. As far as I could remember we always had trouble guarding Payton until we put Rhodes on him. I thought he was our athletic savior.
I support the Rockets, if Span is a Rocket he is my guy, if he is not then the Rockets should use him as an asset to get better. I believe that Span can play in the NBA, and play well, but if he is not going to do it......so be it. The Talent of being able to play the game, but you are correct in that mindset is part of talent.....hard to seperate the two. DD
That's because his fan club became absolutely enamored with him to the point of absurdity and was too myopic to see that all white guys with foreign names are not automatically good, just like guys from Duke are not automatically successful in the NBA. The Steve Nash call illustrates this. The guy is absolutey nothing like Nash. Nash is a deadeye shooter and always has been, as well as an expert ball handler. Spanoulis is not and never has been. The only similarity is that they are both white. Moochie Norris is probably a better comparison
He has zero trade value, especially after the stupid and immature comments that came out of his camp.
I thought the problem with Roderick was that he got injured and never made his potential as a result. The games I saw him play, he was a great defender and was twinkling fast at getting to the basket but couldn't finish. Roderick wasn't much of a scorer (understatement) but as a defensive specialist he was pretty good until his injury. VSpan, never saw him play to leave any impression.