He has also destroyed Hayes and Head in their first few games. They played with so much confidence in the NCAA.
Sam if you look at V Span playing in the World Championships and then take a look at him playing for the Rockets - he is two different players. For Greece he plays like a whirling dervish with free spirit and joy. For the Rockets his play is stilted and unsure and he plays almost as though he is unhappy and restricted.
What's the analysis on Sarunas Jasikevicus(sp?)? I never saw him play, but I thought he was supposed to be a great player also. Didn't Dirk and Yao also play with a lot of passion in their old countries? People have said that Yao was always yelling order at his teammates and directing them around. He seemed really unsure of himself in his first year. Was JVG too rough on him that year?
Each one of them is a different case... Dirk played for a second division German league team so the competition wasn't that great. Yao dominated the Chinese league but it has ways to go in terms of competition. Sarunas had a great career overseas before coming back in the US (he had played college ball in U of Maryland where he was pretty good but went undrafted). In the nba he started palying as a 30-year old rookie. He's smart and confident but not that athletic.
For Greece last summer he averaged 11 ppg, 46% shooting but only 25% from the three point line, with 1.3 assists in 26 minutes. If that is all we have to look forward too then I would rather he not play that style. He was far from a finished product then and really he had the one great game vs. the US, otherwise a mediocre tourney overall.
Probably has nothing to do with being a rookie in the NBA, different rules, different styles of play, different teammates, etc... I'm just shocked that every NCAA player doesn't come into the NBA and average 20 points like they did in college. I mean, they did it in the NCAA, so it must be NBA coaches
Sounds a little like Yao when he came into the league doesn't it. I'll take another Yao-like improvement process with VSpan.
JVG was not coaching the Rockets when Yao came into the league. It was Rudy T. Franchise and Mobley doing dribble-shoot-dribble-shoot, giving Yao like 11 shots a game, probably had a lot to do with his failure to begin dominating. Hence, goodbye Franchise and Mobley. Yao is more authoritative on his Chinese team because he's way more dominant there . . . and it's easier for him to yell in Chinese! Jasikevicus and his team tore up Team USA a few years ago, but I think the NBA is a much more physically demanding type of ball and I don't think he is a very physical player.
Since the topic of the day seems to be Yao's entry to the NBA, this has been brought up on a few threads, I will respond to this. I agree that Francis and Mobley didn't help Yao much but I don't think they hurt Yao that much either. Looking at Yao's first season he stumbled, literally and figuratively, several times during that first season that had nothing at all to do with Francis or Mobley. Although people like to blame those two Yao wasn't anywere ready to dominate that first year and it was in the long run probably even helpful that he wasn't the focus of the offense that first season.
JVG probably isn't the best tutor for billy. nash, ginobili, or kidd would be perfect. if he was playing backup to any of those guys, he would be thier successor for sure. JVG won't hold him back. that's a misconception. JVG can mold billy into a great defensive player. one that keeps turnover's down, takes smart shots, and drives into the paint.
