Geia sou Vasili, I’m half Greek myself and lived over 20 years in Athens. And you know what I think about this mess? That those that called you a baby here (among other things) , well they are spot on. That is what you are acting like, a baby running to your moms lap. In Greece chances are that public opinion and media will not only spare you of any negative critique but most likely will praise you for the love and commitment to your family and country. If you made the statements the media printed today, it shows how unaware you are about certain things outside Greece. Only in Greece being a mommas boy is a good thing, only in Greece people live with their moms until they 40 (then they move next door when they get married) and are proud of that fact. Anywhere else in the world that is seen as a pathological attachment that is not very healthy. When I first heard you going to the NBA I spoke with friends in Greece asking if you will bust the usual Greek style by giving up living away from Greece a year later and I was told that you were different. That you consider of going to the US in first place if you were like everyone else and that you were committed and a warrior. I had no reason to be bias against you and I believed those things. Now a year later I laugh and I’m thinking to myself “I knew it”. Probably people from the US don’t understand what I mean and people from Greece see nothing wrong with your decision. You coming here does more damage to Greece then good, you came here to represent Greek bball and instead you show that we are quitters not able to rise up to challenges. Well done Billy-baby way to be an ambassador of your country. Yeah I know you took a bold step by going to the US to play ball (by Greek standards that is) but soon after you let panic set in. So now you can’t finish what you started like a real man, you showing everyone here that at the first sight of difficulty you run away, I honestly feel sorry for you. I feel sorry because you don’t go far in life when you are a quitter and I don’t care if you have millions or that you are famous, means nothing to me. Going back to Greece and being a good player, like you have been in the past there is nothing special, you know what is? Trying today to set the bar higher then yesterday, explore the unknown, dare to take risks because there are not real rewards without risks. Talent alone means nothings if it not complimented with heart and courage. Of course fans here care that you are letting the Rockets down but to me what you should be concerned about is that you letting yourself down. By going back to Greece for the reasons you stated renders you irrelevant not as a player but as person of character or lack of. By staying and fighting regardless of the outcome makes you relevant, you would be stretching your own limitations and that is key to your maturity. In the US you have a chance to do something special, the platia for coffee the filanada and friends are fun but to quit your dreams for that is not worth it. Living without goals is a life not worth much, same can be said for setting easy goals. You still have a chance to make this right, however I doubt that you will. Kaln tyxn, Mano Ps: At least put a leash on your agent and your mom, hearing the statements they made is really embarrassing for a pro athlete.
Interesting viewpoint dealing with Greek culture. Pretty harsh letter, but I agree. He needs to learn about manning up and following on oaths. I assume that most Greeks are not like him, but he is an embarassment to all Greek athletes.
Copy/Paste from my last post V-Span is a cult classic Rocket now, to me he will be known as the biggest whiner I've ever seen. It seemed he whined and cried over somthing everyother month. "Wah wah wah playing time" "Wah wah wah JVG hurt my feelings" "Wah wah wah I don't need to shoot 3pt range, I'm a passer guy/playmaker" "Wah wah wah I'm not T-Mac here like I was T-Mac in Greece" "Wah wah wah I can't survive here, the high maintence hotels the rockets put me at throughout the season and the 2 million they payed me so I can live in a secluded private and safe suburb aren't enough, I CAN'T SURVIVE!!!!!!! wah" --------------- I say keep the whiner under contract and let him have an entire year in greece to do nothing but catch up on the year he lost, then when his Rockets contract is up he can play ball there I say keep the whiner under contract and let him have an entire year in greece to do nothing but catch up on the year he lost, then when his Rockets contract is up he can play ball there I say keep the whiner under contract and let him have an entire year in greece to do nothing but catch up on the year he lost, then when his Rockets contract is up he can play ball there I say keep the whiner under contract and let him have an entire year in greece to do nothing but catch up on the year he lost, then when his Rockets contract is up he can play ball there I say keep the whiner under contract and let him have an entire year in greece to do nothing but catch up on the year he lost, then when his Rockets contract is up he can play ball there I say keep the whiner under contract and let him have an entire year in greece to do nothing but catch up on the year he lost, then when his Rockets contract is up he can play ball there ----------------------------------------------------- See doesn't that get old when somthing occurs over and over again? Imagine each of those statements were a whine and cry... and you will see how old V-Span's antics get V-Span, with yours and Sura's contracts I hope we get a good AMERICAN pf who not only can CUT IT in the NBA, but is tuff and willed aswell Take that V-Bi*ch and go moan,cry and whine all you want to your momma __________________
Thank the ancient Greek gods that not all Greeks have no spine. But I’m afraid many Greeks cannot handle living outside of Greece for more then a few months at a time. There is history of Greek athletes giving up on international careers due to homesick/mom factor. It is surprising that almost no Greeks are found in the NBA when Greece is one of the most successful bball nations in the world yet countries like France, Italy who get regularly whipped by Greece have had many of their athletes play in the NBA.
It doesn’t take much these days. He has friends that go online and check out this forum. All it takes is one of his friends to get a whiff of this and they could pass on the resume. His behavior is embarrassing period.. Being a momma’s boy is okay when you 15, not okay when you 25-year-old pro athlete playing on the biggest stage in the world. Also even if those are his real feelings/reasons, have some shame and keep them to yourself, going public with all this the way he did? Are you kidding me? What is wrong with you V-BABY? At least make up a story say your sheep died and you used to be lovers and you hurt beyond repair, sounds better then the whole I miss my mom fiasco (whihch I know is the truth, sadly)
bleh...let it go and wish him well it ain't such a good thing to hold such irrational ill- will toward other humans, especially if you aren't walking in their shoes and don't totally understand their situation
Nah, Thomas Hamilton wins out for biggest whiner... he just didn't have as much opportunity to whine as V-Span because we dropped his ass so quick. But take comfort V-Span... you're probably the SECOND-biggest whiner in Rockets history.
No of course not, I don’t wish him anything bad. I know for a fact Billy is very good kid, ultra respectful ect ect. While being good kind respectful soul is great it doesn’t mean has to back away from new challenges the way he has done. Knowing Greek mentality like the back of my palm I know his is going back simply because his mom and gf want him too. It is that simple. And think about it, he has money to bring anyone over to the US, easily. Guess why that wouldn’t happen? Because I’m sure his mom/family/gf would not leave Greece at any price (meaning have money and live like kings with the kind of money he is making), this kind of attachment Greeks have to Greece. The first bad sings for me were from his early days in the US were he was saying in his blog how he was missing this or that from Greece and how he was trying to talk to Greeks eat Greeks food ect I knew then he was not ready and open to his new surroundings. He finally had a chance to learn something new and what did he do? Cling on to whatever he could find that would remind him of home, common he is not 10 years old get over it. It is like traveling from the US to Paris and try to eat only Mc Donald’s, what’s the point? Stay home then if you not willing to expand on your experiences if you only want to do the same things you do at home. That I have no respect for.
I'd having second thoughts myself about living in a land that can spew so much hate and vile as we've seen on this board over something like this. Maybe the guy just wants to live his own life? It speaks volumes about OUR character as Americans, not so much on his. Damn "funrners", come to the land of opportunity, and don't abide by the wishes of fans. Jeez.
I respect his closeness to family. But for his mom to hold him back like he's still her baby because she misses him, that shames him, and is sad ... and for him to let his mom place her life above him, is sad and codependant. He has the opportunity to be in the best league in the world, to be a shining star, but he's sought excuses, not excellence. Why would she rob him of that, just because she is lonely for him? What a horrible mom. Yao is close to his family too. But his parents considered his success important enough to come over here, and support him, and he has been successful in adapting to this culture, in large part, because of their selfless love. His mother or other family should do the same. That's what families should do. Not hold their kids back. There comes a time when a boy becomes a man, and that's when he let's go of his momma's apron strings. You know, its sorta sweet to see a baby cry, go "goo-goo", be helpless, and want their mommy, so you want to take care of it, but its downright embarrassing when someone in their 20s does it. People will feel sorry for him for this, and perhaps let him out of his contract, since it's so HARD for him, dishonoring his contract, after being paid millions of dollars. We will all classify him as a self-centered baby, not a real man. A man would honor his contract, and do what it took to solve the problems he encountered. Even if that meant bringing family over to be a support system with his millions of dollars. Do what it takes. That's what real men do. It's too bad. Like you said, he had a chance to honor not just his family, but his country. I don't consider him like all Greeks, but there's no doubt this is not just an embarrassment to him, his family, the Rockets, and Rocket fans, but on his country, whether they know it or not. And, now, he'll make it harder on any future Greek, who tries to go to the NBA or for other foreign opportunities, for fear they'll do a VBaby and quit.
Nonsense! Please pay more attention to your own signature. You are disappointed because he doesn't seem to be following what YOU want him to be (an honor to his country?). He has to answer to himself. And I don't feel sorry for him at all.
Did you actually read what I wrote? I’m Greek myself, I don’t look at this from a American point of view like you seem to think. The slave comments made by his agent are childish to say the least, I find it pathetic them trying to play that angle, not the least professional. I speak foremost as a Greek fan who is once again disappointed to see another athlete give up on a international career and a chance to promote the right way Greek basketball. I also think that with Adelman coaching Billy has a great chance to turn things around for himself and the team but what does he do? Run away.. It is not like he didn’t talk to people in order to see how Adelman is not Van Gundy. Adelman plays a deep rotation, has no problems with Euros and doesn’t make young players wait for years before they see floor time regularly. All positives for Billy. With the Van Gundy situation I would understand if he wanted out but now it makes no sense. You like his behavior? You praise it then. Me I don’t like it and I will speak my mind.
