[Chron]Gundy: Players should enjoy win + Spanoulis wasn't good

If VSpan's turnovers could drop to zero in ten games on the bench, then they were never a fundamental problem with him in the first place. Let's face it, the TO "problem" was just an excuse for JVG to neglect his rookies. JVG has made the same excuses about his rookies for seven years in NY; I'm not giving him any more slack.

Hah, JVG didn't want VSpan at all! Remember all those comments in the summer? They were clearly intended to discourage CD from bringing VSpan over.

No, VSpan is in the rotation only because Snyder's injury has finally forced our genius coach to admit the obvious.

Because he sucks as a strategist and talent evaluator? Because we remember the devastation he left behind in NY and don't want to give him enough time to repeat that here?

 

LOL

Almost as funny is the thought that the one player JVG didn't want (VSpan) could be the player that saves JVG's job.

 

Who was the last coach to take the NY Knicks to the NBA Finals?

That's right.....Jeff Van Gundy!

After Jeff left, the Knicks haven't had a .500 season. I think that's testimont to how great of a coach he is. He inherited a team in disarray from Don Nelson, turned it into a playoff team, and made the playoffs ever since.

He has succeeded not only where Don Nelson failed, but his replacement, Don Chaney failed miserably. Then Lenny Wilkens failed horribly. Then Herb Williams failed. Then of course, Larry Brown failed, and now Isiah Thomas is failing. The knicks have been +.500 since JVG.

I give JVG credit for VSPAN's success, other coaches would have just thrown the player in there and let them lose confidence. You want to know why VSPAN doesn't have any TO's? It's because JVG put him in at the 2 guard instead of the point. That's absolutely brilliant.

Man, you guys have no idea what a great coach is. You think someone who just panics and tries anything, and someone who tries to coach very creatively is going to be a winner. Well, no - it doesn't work that way. A great coach takes a team and forges it into a winner over time.

Thank goodness we have JVG working as our metal smith.

 

uuhhh

JVG took over when Riley left.

not to take away from your posts in here...I think you have a good grasp pn what is going on.

just goes to show ya that you never know what to expect from a poster from one subforum to another.

 

I dont agree with u on this one..Vspan's benching was everything but justified..

I mean, do u really think that Vspan improved his TOs in 15 days??

there is no way in heck Vspan could improve his TOs in 15 days.. improving TOs comes only from playing Games and experiencing various situations and mistakes that could be avoided in the future.. not by being benched for 10 games and forced to work on it in a very short period of time..

 

Actually, I think its a valid point, given Kobe's talent level. Unless, of course, you're saying that VSpan has the potential to become a Kobe-like talent (who is arguably, as much as I dislike the guy, the best player in the NBA as of now).

 

VSpan will never be Kobe like. Kobe is an elite player and one of the best to ever play. Vspan has the potential to be a very good role player and an energizer.

The discussion was about when they both came to the league.

When Kobe first came in the league he was talented but not ready at all. He was mentally not there. I was a big Kobe fan and supported him but I knew it would take some time. You might wanna go back and watch some of the games where he would play couple of minutes and airball most of the shots.

Again, Vspan will never even come close to being a Kobe. That's just laughable. But he is more ready to contribute than Kobe when he first came into the league.

 

I will buy a VSpan jersey at TC when I get see them play the Clippers in March. I will also add the Kill Bill nickname on it somewhere on the Jersey or the initials KB.

 

Actually, JVG took over from Don Nelson....Nelson had a short stint after Riley left.

Thanks I guess...that's a compliment right??????

 

There are two reasons why VSPAN TO's are down.

1. He is being played at the two instead of the one.
2. JVG sent him a message even in preseason - you turn the ball over and you are on the bench. VSPAN's TO's were more mental sloppiness and a lack of discipline then anything to do with skills. By making him watch for a long time on the bench with no idea when he could play, JVG made sure VSPAN understood that he better make the most of his chance and not turn the ball over on silly stuff.

That's how you teach a young guy a lesson. Other coaches coddle players and then wonder why they can't get them to change.

This coach knows how to get his players in the right frame of mind from the get-go.

Why do you think Bonzi isn't playing???? When Bonzi shows, we'll have no trouble from him. There's a reason why JVG's teams are so harmonious. Think about it....

 

But the fact remains, that since Kobe was brought in for the franchise, he arguably has a stronger case for more minutes his first year, since he needed to develop quicker. However, he did not get them. Dirk, who was proven didn't get very many minutes his first year. Peja Stojakovic, who was also proven, didn't play very minutes his first year. Very few players enter the league, no matter how much experience they've had in other leagues, and get a lot of minutes unless they are enormously talented, such as Michael Jordan.

 

Again, you are missing the point. If you are not ready to contribute to team wins, you dont get minutes.

Kobe was brought in to Lakers by Jerry West at the same time as Shaq. At the time Lakers had Shaq, Eddie Jones, and Nick van Exel in their prime. They werent exactly a bad team to be giving Kobe, a raw talent, major minutes. They were playing to get into the playoffs and cause some damage. Jerry West chose to team Kobe with Shaq but let Kobe develop slowly and that's exactly how it went. A 18 year old kid is just not the same mentally as a 25 year old!

VSpan is not in the same situation. He is older and more experienced and will be just another role player added to the team. Since he is ready to play at the NBA level as evidenced by past 2 games, he should be given minutes. Espcialy considering he energizes this somewhat lethargic team at times.

You keep brining in star player's names. As much as I am big Vspan fan, I have to be realistic. He is not going to be superstar! He will be solid role player and again....as evidenced, he is ready! He will make his share of mistakes but he will improve.

 

I'll not attribute this to JVG, I'm sure there were reasons for him not to play Spanoulis, even if out of mistrust, which could be thought of as rational, however the little bon-bon everyone brought up, about pre-season and TO machines and blah-blah, was and is obviously silly(like I said before)

There is no way someone can improve from an ALLEGED(again from a FEW games)TO machine, to zero TO. Even if the problem was mentality, unless we're talking a monster player that should become a starter in the next 10 games. Since basketball is about mentality more than everything and equally to skill.

It's nice to come up with reasons, AFTER the problem is seemingly eradicated. It would be even nicer, if those reasons were brought up BEFORE the problem was eradicated, they would seem far more credible.

That said, we're talking about two games only, though I'm sure he's on the right track. However I'm also sure the denouncers are waiting in the corner for every possible bad performance.

The guy earned respect, that's what's important to me. In the end, it's good for the team when players are playing well.

 

Yawn. JVG made it to the finals in a weird, strike-shortened, 50-game season. It was a fluke; he never made it back again.

The Knicks were just 10-9 when JVG quit. If there had been any hope for the future, he would have stayed on. To me, that year and all the following dismal years are testimony to how much damage JVG did with his "win now and damn the future" philosophy.

Heh, can anybody imagine VSpan losing confidence? He is 25 years old, a veteran of the playoff wars in Europe. He is already battle-tested.

What is so brilliant about playing VSpan at his normal position?

Let's face it, JVG threw VSpan out there cold, without warming him up in previous games. JVG probably fully expected the rookie to fall flat on his face, after which the coach would have some excuse to do what he wanted to do anyway, which was to bench the unwanted and presumptious rookie for the rest of the season. You could almost hear the shock in JVG's voice when VSpan did well. ("Outstanding!", said the coach. Well, Coach, if he is such an outstanding player, why have you been benching him?)

 

I'm not bringing up those star player names because I think VSpan can be that good. What I was pointing out was that those were people who were supposedly ready when they came into the league. They were successful in their previous leagues and yet still did not get very many minutes. Therefore, why are we so upset when we see that VSpan has not received that many minutes only 12 games into the year.

 

The players you mentioned were all young. They were not mentally there yet. They lacked the experience and mental toughness.

Most of us are upset with the Vspan situation because he brings exactly what this team is missing. Unlike the other big names you mentioned he does not need to bring in 25 ppg, 10 rebs pg. All he needs to do is bring some toughness at the PG position which we sorely lack and bring some energy to this often times lethargic team. VSpan brings them both so we say bring him on!

If Vspan was expected to be star for the Rockets like those other players, then yeah we would have a problem. It takes time in this league to reach a star level, but it shouldnt take too much of a time for an experienced 25 year old to contribute as a role player.

 

vspan has potential to be ginobli like... although they are somewhat different in size and style.

ENERGY, INTELLIGENCE, POISE.

 

Minimize the Enemy: Dismiss his accomplishments...even though no one thought the Knicks team without Ewing had a chance....yet somehow he made it to the finals...as an 8th seed. The lowest seed to ever make to the finals. Fluke? How about brilliant coaching? Let's see, was the Rockets magical run from the 6th seed to the championship a fluke or something to credit Rudy-T - who thought us not to underestimate the heart of a champion?????

The spin: Neglects to mention the Knicks went on to go 26-37 the rest of the way under Don Chaney, 10-9 looks fantastic compared to that and suggest Van Gundy was doing more with less once again.

The uplifting of the righteous upon the pedestal: Our hero has super abilities that make him immune from losing confidence. And yet so many mere mortal players end up losing confidence after making critical errors. Sometims, pressure and making mistakes can crush a career ala Nick Andreson. Nick Anderson was just as battle tested as VSPAN except more.

The final devestating blow: Attack JVG as an evil tyrant who actually deliberately wanted to see VSPAN fail so he could bury the guy forever at the ned of the bench. The irrationality of such a posposterous thought can only mean...yes....we have a YOF-JVG8R.

Model: YOF-JVG8R
Make: Generally ethnically Chinese, but can be from anywhere
Year: Circa 1985, but can appear to be 1995
Miles: Generally under 100 posts.
Contributor: No
0-60: Instantaneous
Milage: Varies, but rarely insightful, often inciteful

Description: Very over sensitive ego that tends to shake at high speeds. Many come without brakes - so once they get started, the will keep going and going and going. They can explode and may have to be recalled. Requires constant and close supervision. Will often attack other models as racists or blind lovers of JVG if they get in their way. Tend to perform best in traffic where they can cause the most damage. Also travel in wolf packs.

Key identifications: Often have screen names with many letters and numbers. Can often find "x's" and "z's", missing vowels, and low-post counts.

What to do if you see coming towards you: Run. Get away. Avoid at all costs. Doing this before the YOF-JVG8R crashes may result in an entertaining spectacle...but if you are too close you could end up burning up in a fireball.

 

I don't think so.
Vspan might still sit on the bench all day if Snyder's hand wasn't broken.

 

Save it NewYorker. No matter how hard you try to defame a certain group of posters here, no one will buy what you say simply because you are a broken record. Everyone here knows you are a well-known liar and hypocrite on this bbs. You have been caught lying time after time after time here. No matter how hard you try to create racial tension on this board, you are just wasting your time. Because you can't rally anyone to your cause. Do you honestly believe any of us here would believe what is said by a pathetic liar and hypocrite like you? Really, it's an insult to the intelligence of everyone here if you do. You are delusioned if you think anyone will take what you say seriously. You are a joke and a toy to some of the posters here who are having tremendous fun to expose your lies. Yes you are fun to toy with... I have to admit.