1. Navarro got plenty of playing time. He could not defend an NBA guard. He could play neither the 1 or the 2 effectively. He was an extremely mediocre shooter, 40% FG, 36% 3-pt FG, and he turned the ball over at a pretty solid rate. His play was reminiscent of Luther Head. 2. VSpan sucked serious ass. I don't know what in the hell YOU were watching. He quite literally had an Eddy Curry esque assist to turnover in the 272 minutes that he did play, to go with shooting percentages that made Rafer Alston look like Larry Legend... The hilarious thing is that he is averaging 4.3 assists to 3.9 turnovers in 10/11 Euroball through 20 games, while shooting 35% from a WNBA 3 point line. 3. Jeff Van Gundy is a fantastic coach, and his track record speaks for itself.
x100000000 I know there were a number of fans who hated JVG because he was the one 'lucky' enough to replace Rudy. I never realized they would still think he was a bad coach to this day. God speed to the coach who replaces Rick. It's funny to see someone say the Grizzlies didn't give Navarro a chance, then tell us he started 30 games and played 30+ mintues.
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The fact is JVG recognized how much Vag-Span sucked and eventually relegated him to the deep part of the bench. That speaks well for Van Gundy. A lesser coach might have used up more game minutes letting this sub-par waste of a draft pick keep trying to prove himself.
VSpan could not get off of the bench because he could not play defense at an NBA level, was a turn over machine and had a bad attitude. He felt he should come in and start (The Euro TMac) with out ever proving anything. The refs did him no favors either but they rarely do any favors for any rookies. The thing JVG could not tolerate were turnovers and blown defensive assignments. I'm no JVG fan and think a lot of his defensive strategy evolves around slowing the game down and not letting the other team get into any type of rhythm. Having said that, he is as good as there is at defensive rotations and making sure that each player is exactly where they are supposed to be on the defensive side of the floor. I watched every game VSpan ever played as a Rocket. To this day I believe the man has talent and could have been a fine NBA point guard. The fact that he was homesick, sulked, did not learn his defensive assignments and could not protect the ball definitely put him in the dog house with JVG and caused him to leave the NBA. I think Rick Adelman would have loved to try and worked with him and I think RA thought he had talent. Too bad we will never know for sure. Most Rockets fans don't hate VSpan for leaving the NBA, we love him for helping us get Luis Scola. Understand something, the streets of America are filled with kids who have legendary talent and never make it to the NBA for a variety of reasons. Sticking on an NBA roster is rarely just about talent. And if you feel you are being trolled its because most on this board feel like you are trolling. It's ok to have a differing opinion but when the tone of your posts and your attitude are such that only you know what you are talking about and no one who, watches, scouts or plays in the NBA has a clue about real basketball (unless they agree with you) then they are basketball idiots. There is little tolerance on this board for that type of superiority complex from new posters. Most posters on this board grew up playing and coaching organized basketball, and many have played it at a pretty high level of organized ball. I've seen other posters offer an olive branch to you with similar advice about the tone of your posts. Stop posting as if you are on a Crusade to prove all things Euro are superior to the NBA and Americans don't understand Basketball.
The only things I care to know about our stashed euro: Is Llull ready to come to the nba and contribute? What is his contract/buyout situation like? Does he make dragic replaceable?
i have a strong feeling that he might be traded this year Lowry, Dragic at PG K.Martin and C.Lee in SG.... No one for him to play for Rockets...unless trade happens,,
The Spanish League was way more accurate in rating Llull's play this year than the Euroleague (which oddly put him in the All-Euroleague Team without him deserving it in any way at all). The Spanish League did not select him, which is much more fitting because he was pretty average all season. http://www.acb.com/redaccion.php?id=76055 Jaycee Carroll was selected as the All-ACB (Spanish League) shooting guard, not Llull. All-ACB (Spanish League) Team: PG Marcelo Huertas SG Jaycee Caroll SF Fernando San Emeterio PF Nik Caner-Medley C Ante Tomic Quite frankly, that gives a much better and more accurate assessment about Llull's level right now. His selection by the Euroleague was really bizarre.
Navarro is a great player. One of the 2 best in the Spanish League probably. But he did not have a very good season this year. He did not deserve to be in the All-Euroleague Team either, or at least he sure did not deserve the first team. The ACB was a lot more fair in their choices. As for Rubio, he is easily one of the worst point guards in the ACB and the Euroleague. He is an awful player. So for sure he would not be there.
Not with the center, is thought. There are other centers like Gustavo Ayón, Stanko Barac or Joel Freeland who did better seasons than Tomic. But... Valorita, Llull is ready to contribute already (I think), but won't come to the NBA until 2012-13, at the least. Right now the Rockets don't need him. Real Madrid will play the 1st round series against Fuenlabrada, that's Tomic vs Ayón.
Clearly, Barca should have been voted in at center, and not Tomic. Tomic is a great offensive player, but his defense is pathetic. Barac had a really great year overall.
