First off, I would like to say...this is a pretty silly collection of stories. I pulled this off of another message board. I'm not posting a link, so if that's not cool, please lock it up. This comes from a poster's brother that lives in Greece. It's pretty ridiculous, but I thought it was a fun read. I went through and bolded what I considered most ridiculous.
I actually think a lot of it could be true. He hasn't really said his side of the story much, so I'm just curious if he'll say more. He said early on that the GM had guaranteed him minutes and then JVG said he didn't know anything about that. If that's true, I think he had a legitimate gripe. Also, if what he said about being McGrady in Greece wasn't true, I don't blame him for being really ticked. Even if he did say something like that that JVG leaked private conversations with him to the press. I'm sure there's a number of things JVG has said over the years in private conversations that would make him look pretty bad if they were taken out of context. I'm disappointed VSpan didn't want to come back to the Rockets, but I bet there's a lot more to the story than we've heard so far for him to be so adamant about not returning after coming here and being so eager to play.
spanV go back to greece, read some of the Heroic Myths of Athens, try to obtain some of heracles, odysseus, or theseus's bravery and manliness before you enbark on a journey to NBA againnn plzz
Well actually V-Span did speak about the T-Mac in Greece Statement in the Greek newspapers. I did a babelfish translation of it awhile back. What V-Span actually said is that he wanted playing time and went to Jeff Van Gundy and told him that his role on the Greek team was more like T-Mac's scoring role on the Rockets rather than the spot up shooter role he had with the Rockets. He never said he was T-Mac in Greece. Jeff Van Gundy twisted his words so that V-Span came out looking like an arse. So when I read this story, I can see a legitimacy to most if not all of it.
And if that isn't enough...Steve Francis's comment about Van Gundy should make you a believer. S. Francis from the Orlando Magic "The coach here treats you like you're a player; he treats you like a man," Francis said, comparing Davis with Van Gundy. "He doesn't try to walk around like he's hot stuff. In Houston, that was a problem. He thought he was bigger than the players."
jvg is a hotrod in a way. If he doesn't like you, then ur buried in the bench: novak, synder, wells, vspan, etc. But if he likes you, scrubs like ryan bowen, alston, charlie ward, weatherspoon, jL3 sees unlimited opportunities
Exactly and he puts the worst talent on the floor and plays favorites. Even putting old washed up New York Knick cronies on his staff and bringing in washed up Knick players who can't carry Ryan Bowen's jockstrap just so he can do em a favor an pay em some Rockets money..which by the way is coming out of our pockets since "WE" The fans actually buy the tickets and watch the games. Here's another example of an Ex- Rockets player commenting on Van Gundy Cuttino Mobley Clippers - Take this for what it's worth. Inteview from 2004 Cuttino Mobley: I mean, I'm not really going to say... I always have fun playing basketball, but this year is a lot of fun. When Rudy [Tomjanovich] was there [in Houston], it was a lot of fun. Running up and down, that's what people want to see. We're just getting to show our talent a little more. And everybody love each other. We all go out with each other, restaurants. We pull together, just like our boys in Houston, Yao and Mo, Jimmy, we're close, too. We miss those dudes, but we're over here, we've having fun. That's what basketball is about. Not no dictatorship, know what I mean? InsideHoops.com: Is that what it felt like over there (in Houston under Van Gundy), a dictatorship? Cuttino Mobley: Yeah, I mean, people try to control you because they think it's to the best, but sometimes it's right, and sometimes it's not, but, whatever the case is.
No V-Span's father passed away earlier - V-Span Trivia Because of his long name, fans have dubbed him V-Span and Kill Bill. The correct pronunciation of his name is Va-SILL-is spa-NOO-lis. He is the first Greek player to play for the Houston Rockets. The premature death of his father (in 1996 or 1997??), pressured his brother Dimitris, who is 3 years older than him, to take up the role of protector. For this reason the two brothers share a special bond with each other, although they both agree that their biggest weakness is their mother who has never stood in the way of their choices in life. His brother Dimitrios is also a basketball player and has a tattoo of his father's likeness on his arm. He is also responsible for bringing the basketball "bug" into the Spanoulis family. Vassilis speaks Greek, English and Italian. His hobbies are watching television, listening to music, playing pool and social relations. Best friends with Nikos Zisis (fellow national Greek team player), formerly with AEK Athens BC and with Pallacanestro Treviso also commonly known as "Benetton" Treviso and Rodrick Blackney, with whom he played at Maroussi BC. Dubbed "The Greek Steve Nash" in many FIBA basketball circles. Dubbed "The Chosen One" by Panathinaikos head basketball coach Željko Obradović. His great rookie Euroleague season combined with his having already been acquired by the Houston Rockets led to him being called "The Rocket Man" by his Panathinaikos BC teammates. When Spanoulis signed his contract with the Houston Rockets in July of 2006, the deal he signed, which was worth $5,832,000 [[4]] over 3 years was at the time the largest contract ever for an NBA 2nd round draft pick. Almost one year later to the week, Spanoulis was traded by the Rockets to the San Antonio Spurs for center Jackie Butler and the rights to power forward Luis Scola . About a week later, Scola then signed a 3 year contract with Houston that was worth $7,452,000 [[5]]. Scola was also a 2nd round draft pick, which meant that the player with the biggest contract ever for a 2nd round draft pick, was traded for the player who would then become the new highest paid 2nd round draft pick ever. By the way, I find this very interesting especially the amount of money he turned down for the opportunity to be screwed by JVG. During Spanoulis' first NBA season there was a dispute between him and the team's head coach Jeff Van Gundy over playing time. There was an issue between the team's management, Spanoulis, and the coach as well over the contract that Spanoulis had signed. In order to sign with the Rockets and fulfill his dreams of playing in the NBA, Spanoulis took a considerably smaller contract than the one that was being offered to him by his Greek team Panathinaikos. He still had one year under his contract with Panathinaikos, but his buyout was small and could be paid by the Rockets. Panathinkaikos countered the Rockets contract offer of US $5,832,000 over 3 years with an offer of 13,200,000 Euros over 5 years, a contract that at the time (July 18, 2006) was worth the equivalent of $16,500,000. This meant that Spanoulis essentially agreed to play for Houston at a price of $1,944,000 per season for 3 years, passing up on Panathinaikos's offer of $3,300,000 per season over 5 years, just for a chance of playing in the NBA. Eventually, there was a falling out between Spanoulis and the team's coach Van Gundy, after Van Gundy benched Spanoulis after he played poorly, citing that rookie players are dangerous for coaches that are in contract years and that Spanoulis was too foul prone and lacking in outside shooting touch to be a good fit in Van Gundy's offensive system.
so do you think V-span will play for the Spurs next season or will he just go back to Greece?If let's say V-span changed his mind and decided he will play again for the Rockets, would you still trade him for Scola? Personally I think Scola will help us more than V-span.
Although I doubt much of the stuff written in the original post, I do believe that JVG was quite an *******. So if it all somehow turned out to be true, as unlikely as that is, I would not be surprised.
Hmm man I never liked Jeff Van Dumby!But Span could say something but now it is the end of the story.We got Luis Scola,Jackie Butler and traded V-Span who wouldn't play again.And it's sad to end this way.
So Van Gundy didn't play V-Span because it would cost the Rockets some games and potentially his job, yet he agreed that V-Span was better than Alston and didn't play him to make a point to the front office? Does not compute.
