http://www.nba.com/rockets/mailbox/Matt_Bullardrsquos_Blog-207472-34.html Bullard's Blog Matt Bullard, Rockets Television Analyst January 31, 2007 This week has been a big week for the Rockets on the court. Three wins with back-to-back blowouts have gone a long way towards building the confidence of the players. The rotation looks solid. Bonzi Wells has looked sharp and the rest of the guys who play a lot have really seemed to find a groove that has been impressive. The offense is clicking and the defense is stifling. Unfortunately, the reserves that don't get much playing time looked awful in the fourth quarter of the win against the 76ers. They got outscored 33-16 in that quarter. Being a former bench player myself, I felt bad for those guys. I know that when you sit on the bench, game after game, you really want to play well when you get your chance. The key is, if you want to get more minutes, you have to play well when you get your chance. That is one of the most difficult things about being a professional basketball player. You have to stay in game-shape and stay game-sharp, without game-minutes. If you are able to do that, then you can have a long career as a bench player. A lot of guys aren't able to make that adjustment. One thing you can't do is blame the coach for not playing you. Something I’ve learned about the NBA is that the coach is being held responsible for wins and losses. If the team does not win, the coach loses his job, not the players. Therefore, the coach has to play the players that give him the best chance to win. If you get on the court, play well and help your team win. Then, the coach will play you. As a former player, I am well aware that the more playing time you get, the better you will play. And, you can't get into the game unless the coach puts you in. It looks like a vicious circle. And it is. But if you realize that the player's job is to play, and the coach's job is to win (or else), you can see that the coach is doing everything he can to keep his job. The player must do what he can to help his coach win, and sometimes, that means being a good teammate from the bench. The team has a few more home games before two on the road next week. The Rockets can continue this climb up the Western Conference ladder as long as they continue to play both ends of the floor like they have over the last three games
thanks for posting, nothing really new here. he used a few JVG quotes (play the players who give you the best chance to win). so i can see that JVG's influence reaches beyond the players. that's a good sign for a coach. bull is right. billy needs to understand that in practice and in garbage time, if he plays well then he will get in the game. he can't complain about minutes and then suck during garbage time.
Again, JL3 blew all their chances. It all affected the other bench players. I hope JVG realizes this.
I agree with what Matt said, but it was clear from the get go that Matt would never be more than a bench player....so he had an easier time adjusting to that role. Players like V-Mac are used to being on the floor, and it is a much bigger adjustment for them. V-Mac will learn..... DD
Coming to the States from Greece compounds the difficulty of the adjustment. It may be in everyone's interest to go their separate ways, which is what I think will happen. But that's for the offseason.
An NBA point guard has to be able to set up the offense, but it's also critical that an NBA point guard be able to shoot. That's even more true for the Rockets where Tmac is really the defacto point guard and the actual point guard has to be able to bring the ball up the floor and shoot. One think Vspan can't do, is he can't SHOOT IF you are not able to space the floor for Tmac and Yao, you are a liability out there. You clog the offfensive flow and their ability to go one on one. Anybody can bring it up the floor and dump it to Yao or Tmac, but that player has to be able to shoot when open and Vspan is a one of the worst shooting point guards I have ever seen. He has no consistent shot to speak off. That's why Luther, even though he's not a good ballhandler, gets the nod over Spanoulis for backup PG. Luther can rebound at the PG position and he can knock doewn shots. The other thing is Rafer is super quick, he plays with an intensity and tenacity that Spanoulis simply does not have, he doesn't turn the ball over and he a good shooter from distance. I still don't understand how anybody who has watched the Rockets for the last 3 years, can argue that Spanoulis has a place in the rotation. He doesn't do any of the things conducive to winning in our system (defend, rebound or shoot) plus he makes a lot of mistakes. Bob Sura shot it pretty well for us in 04-05 and he was tenacious on defense. Vspan is neither. The best way to treat this situation is TRADE him to a team that values his potential and possibly get a rotation player. Carrol Dawson will probably be looking to ship him and Sura's expiring before the deadline. Or perhaps he's keeping Spanoulis just in case things don't go well this year with the Rockets and they decide to blow the team up (in which case Spanoulis would play, but that's extremely unlikely)
The problem is, despite the horrendous performance by JL3, JVG will still play the midget ahead of VSpan just for the heck of teaching the rookie from Greece a lesson. So in the end, a talk is just a talk.
I seriously doubt they trade V-Mac anywhere. The Rockets believe he is going to be a good player, and JVG has to love his tenacity and competitive fire. It is just going to take some time. DD
If any of this were true, then signing him was a worse move than trading for EG. For real now, is there any other player more unfairly picked on for a few turnovers or missed shots in 1 or 2 minutes of garbage time? You make it sound like the guy would get cut from a high school squad or get picked last at a local pickup game. He's already better than Lucas, and he's more talented than Rafer, and already much more of a PG than Head is. If your post is true than CD and Morey and Lindsey overrated him more than any player they ever scouted.
They didn't overrate him. They overrated his abilty to play for our team. He can be very good with a team like Phoenix or Dallas who have finishers. Our system needs shooters. Our model is very similar to the 95 team with shooters around Hakeem (Maxwell, Horry, Cassel, Smith) Every player around Yao and Tmac has to be able to shoot. He can't shoot and judging from most Euros he probably can't rebound and lacks the confidence and intensity to grind for 82 games in the most cuthroat and competitive league in the world.
He's probably the top competitor on the team, he's a warrior in the Sura mold and he can shoot just fine. The board has gone bonkers with this he is totally crap nonsense.
I am sure if he actually was on the trading block a team like SA or Phoenix would grab in a heartbeat. He should at least be the #2 PG, in reality he should be starting now IMO. And endlessly arguing with people that base his game on the oppurtunity he has had now is not only futile but totally pointless because it just shows how many people don't understand the nature of playing the game. No one can produce in those types of situations.
