So what? The comparison here is NCAA and Euroleague. If you put Vspan in the NCAA he would dominate more than Rafer Alston did. By your logic Adam Morrison and Hasheem Thabeet also destroyed the NBA after dominating the NCAA
V-span was better than todays Teodosić by a wide margin. He didn't really get a fair shot or time to adapt + it was different NBA. With that being said both don't have nothing on Luka. He is european LeBron
V-span got exposed for the same reason many elite eurohoop players have failed in the NBA: his deficiencies were perniciously masked by the style and level of talent in european leagues. Dirk, Stojakovic, Divac, Petrovic and Porzingis suceeded due to unique abilities that can carry over to any league and era.
Are we talking about prime Spanoulis that still flopped in the NBA or teenage V-Span that rode the bench in Larissa ?
Lol, if V-Span was put into a Lonzo or Trae Young situation when he came into the league, it'd be a different story. Also Thanasis is a better defender than Paul George.
V-Span was not put into their situations because he was not deemed good enough to be a lotto pick and proved to be not good enough as a niche role player. Paul George is a better perimeter defender than Giannis in the NBA.
Lonzo wouldn't have too. Without NBA training and with that broken shot... man there are a lot of Patrick Beverleys out there who would not let him shoot. And courts are smaller so his transition wouldn't be that special. Luka is way better halfcourt passer than Lonzo who just push the ball
Why was Lonzo deemed a better lotto pick than Vspan? The NBA hype machine. Giannis is a way better defender, George plays in a better defensive scheme, he is nothing special defensively. Replace him with Thanasis and he's better. George has the benefit of funneling players into Steven Adams at the rim. Don't fall for the superstar ****, be better.
Not let him shoot ? Why on earth would a defender prevent Lonzo from shooting the ball? Lonzo is not good in the half-court in the NBA for the same reason I have some skepticism with regards to Luka: opponents don't respect his 3-point shot enough for the passing lanes to open up and he does not have the explosive first-step to force defenders to overhelp. Then why was Lonzo so highly rated by many respected scouts? Because of his other redeeming qualities that V-span can only dream to have: elite defense and rebounding at his position and off the chart passing ability which he can showcase more in a full-court offense than in a half-court setting for reasons already discussed. If Lonzo had a legit three-point shot or was a credible threat to get to the rim (be it through sheer speed or crafty ball handling), he would already be considered as one of the best passers in the league. Incidentally, the only player in this draft to have the total package as a playmaker in either transition or half-court offense is Trae Young.
I meant they would not let him breath and he would shrink. Btw Luka for me has shot making ability. He has good form and 19 years old. Its waaaaaay different to shoot threes while being guarded as a top guy by euroleague top talent than ncaa. With DSJ and DJ i think rookoe Luka will be superior to rookie Lonzo. Thete will be times of adjusting, probably couple of times someone will shut him down but he will have his moments im sure. He kinda reminds me of old aged CP in terms of playing style. No explosiveness but smart enough to do his thing. While CP has elite ballhandling then Luka isnt midget.
Defenders were letting him settle for threes and step-back jumpers at the end of the season for a reason. They did not care as long as they kept their shape and stayed home on Luka's teammates. They consistently prevented him from turning the corner by blitzing everytime Doncic tried to do so.
We are talking about MVP Spanoulis, you think he wouldnt have made a splash in the NCAA against scrubs who wont even be in the NBA? Why do y'all keep pointing out his NBA record? So what if Vspan flopped in the NBA? It doesn't mean because the Euroleague mvp flopped in the NBA the Euroleague is weaker than the NCAA wtf. How many no 1 picks from the NCAA have flopped in the NBA? Every single person who knows anything about international bball agrees the Euroleague is harder than the NCAA. If Luka played in the NCAA hr would have dominated just like Bagley, Trae Young etc. I mean Luka is way more athletic and bigger than Trae Young to begin with if Trae Young can dominate the NCAA why can't Luka?
Defenders in Euroleague are way better than defenders in the NCAA. Defenders in the Eurleague have lots of experience and they are smarter than college freshmen just starting to figure things out. Sure maybe NCAA more athletic but the best defenders in the league aren't the most athletic see guys like Bruce Bowen, Shane Battier etc. Remember Beasley as a freshman averaging 20 20? He wont be able to do that in Euroleague cuz he would be up against players in the prime of their lives instead rookies his age.
Trae Young dominated in the NCAA because he is a generational shooter that can pull-up as soon as he crosses half-court and have to be defended from 30 yards out. His passing chops (which are nearly as good as Doncic) would have been useless if he did not have his ridiculous jumpshot to open up passing lanes for him in the half-court as he is often the least athletic player on the court. Doncic does have the advantage to see above a defense but such an advantage can be nullified if the passing lanes are clogged up or if his teammates are straight trash. Doncic played on a loaded roster in a historically dominant team while Young played on a trash team in one of the better NCAA conferences. Think again if you are entertaining the idea that Doncic would have automatically been as dominant as Young (he had a 48% assist rate meaning that approximately 70% of his team's point can be accounted to him scoring or dishing) if the roles were reversed. NCAA defenders would have been able to send a hard double team to Doncic every time he brought up the ball without having to pay for it (just as they did with Young and to a lesser degree Ayton).
Is it now a thing to claim that so and so players from years back were not athletic when they were clearly so ? Bruce Bowen and Shane Battier were long wings with extreme lateral mobility. Seriously wtf?
Generational shooter you've got to be kidding me. I wonder how many shots he makes in practice. This guy is a Robert Covington case, not a good shooter, but has put up so many attempts in game that they started going in. He is by no means a pure shooter. Doncic is way more pure. His high assist rate is because of his high usage rate, compare his usage rate and that of his teammates and then compare it to other teams. Cause and effect. His usage is unprecedented and it's not a case of him being a generational talent, moreso a case of a team adopting a progressive offensive scheme. There is a major difference between Euroleague players and NBA players. There's a lot more showmanship in the NBA. It's not unusual for old school Euroleague players molded by team play and actual coaching to not feel at home in the NBA, where the media is always reaching for narratives, where guys will buy into it and prioritize it over everything else, where superstars hold their teams hostage. Probably why Bjelica decided to return to Europe and why V-span never worked out. I don't even know why I'm responding to someone who thinks NCAA defense is better than Euroleague defense.
when you compare them to a guy like KJ McDaniels, they don't really stand out. The point he was trying to make is that their good defense isn't primarily attributed to their athleticism.
