Just wanted to add a bit to this... Vspan is very, very insulated from criticism here. His mother came over from Greece to help him with the transition, he has surrounded himself with fellow Greeks, and he almost constantly is at 2 or 3 Greek owned establishments. When he does venture out to non-Greek owned clubs, bars, etc. he is always with the same group of Greeks. Sounds a lot like how Yao ran when he first got here, right? It does. However, most people know that only an idiot would compare the two situations. Those that Vspan hangs around with are not "most people." Essentially, he is (whether by his own choice or not) surrounded by sycophants who constantly tell him that he is great, can do no wrong, and that he should be starting at PG for the Rockets. So... I can't speak as to what his teammates tell him, but I can definitely speak as to what the people who constantly surround him do. They are definitely not telling him to be patient, learn from the bench, take his rookie knocks, and work his ass off. They do not tell him that he commits way too many turnovers. They dog his coach and his teammates - especially after any losses - and tell him that the organization is full of idiots for not putting the offense in his hands. He seems like a decent kid, but he's essentially just that - a kid. Even if he's level-headed though, this constant bombradment of praise, along with a "you're being wronged!" sentiment has to have some effect on him. As someone of the same ethnicity as Vspan, I would love to see him succeed here. I would love to see him take the reigns at PG - IF HE PAYS HIS DUES & THEN PROVES HIMSELF! Hell, I wanted to punch Rafer in the mouth after he took that horrible 3 against the Jazz at the end, but I can objectively look at the team and understand that right now the Rockets are better served overall with Rafer running the floor. I really want to believe that these rumors are all just crap generated by his agent. Thing is that I no longer think that's completely true. Even if it's all just a ploy to get him more playing time, it's still bush-league. Vspan was the source of the original blow-up (and Tmac of Greece) brouhaha a few months ago. The people around him constantly blow smoke up his ass... I'm just tired of it. Between this crap & the Bonzi BS, the team has way too many distractions affecting it. Despite my being Greek, my loyalty goes to the Rockets as a team - not to any Rockets players who also happen to be Greek.
Do you mean from this site? Or from the Rockets in general? So V-Span has a posse that is telling him he is great? Oh, man that does not help matters. I think he has loads of talent but he still has to prove it on the floor. It just sounds like too much for him, and he has set himself up for failure.....man, I hope he grows up fast....or they will get rid of him. DD
Yes, if the V-SPAN jockers will agree not to post anything in support of him if he misses 1 of his next three shots.
Same could be said for those who critize him when he misses 1 of the next three shots. I don't think we can critize him for the misses when we somewhat tolerate rafer and t-mac bricking jumpers.
DD, I don't know how insulated he is from this site. I know that some of those who hang around him at the coffee shops, etc do read up on it. Whether they pass the criticism along... Doubtful. You think those guys turn to him and say, "This guy on CF.net, DaDakota, says that for your MPG, your Assists-to-TO ratio is garbage. He says you need to work on slowing the pace down and on ball control?" Seriously, I mean, all the times I've been around there/them I haven't heard anyone say, anything like that or "this is the way the NBA works." It's usually "WTF don't they play you? The PG sucks! You would be so much better!" I don't think he runs with anyone from the team - almost always he's just with fellow Greeks - but that doesn't mean that he's insulated from criticism/coaching the team. Hell, he probably gets that daily. It's just that he gets a huge amount of opposite feedback from those who surround him away from the team. Let me add here that I have never once heard one ounce of criticism come out of VSpan's mouth towards the team, any of his teammates or for that matter ever even heard any stories from others about him saying anything bad. Again, he seems like a level-headed, solid kid - albeit one surrounded by people who kiss his ass constantly. And to the other comments about a "gang" lol. Not really. You have to understand, the Greek community here is a bit strange. It's very tight knit, but also very gossipy/jealous. So when Vspan hit Houston, it became one of those situations where all the Greek guys who follow sports wanted to hang with him, all the Greek girls wanted to date him (or at least their parents wanted to have their daughters meet him), and all the Greek business owners wanted him in their places/associated with them. To be associated with Vspan "ups" your status to some in the Greek community here. This really says more about the Greek community here than it does Vspan. It was probably only natural for him to gravitate to fellow Greeks - being young, in the US for the first time, and in the top basketball league on Earth. He needed that familiarity and support to ease the transition. Again, probably akin to what happened with the Chinese community when Yao hit town. I don't recall any Chinese sponsorships of the Rockets pre-Yao, as I don't recall any Greek sponsorships before Vspan either. So again, I'm sure the team is tellin him to be patient and work on some things. At the same time, he has a bunch of people telling him he should be running the offense of an NBA playoff team during his rookie year... I'm sure that boils over when that talk as well as his natural desire to play gets the best of him, and then we get the crap like these news reports.
I agree with most of what you said, I am pretty sure Span an Novak are pretty tight. As far as the Greek people in this town go you nailed it and if your not Greek you have no clue how true it is. I have only seen Span in passing and only spoken to him a handfull of times and while I know "his boys" I run with a different group but we all know each other in a round about way so while some are "pumping him up" others I can promise are not or not to the extent you make it out to be. Too bad the Rockets are out of town Sunday or we could just ask Span at church on Sunday.
He'd be our 3rd best scorer off the bench (Luther, Juwan), and in all likelihood, 4th player off the bench (Deke). Basically, he'd take Snyder's minutes and be a marginal upgrade. I think I just felt a tear drop that the Rockets gave away a potential 9th man to add a guy who contributed to a playoff run.
V-SPAN is last on the team in FG and 3pt shooting (well, actually ahead of Yao in 3pt shooting), so I don't think it is out of line to call someone on saying he is a better shooter than ANYBODY on the team.
No, just tell VSpan not waste time to read those useless posts, I do not think Yao would ever read them. VSpan is a nice young man, has lots of skills. What he need do is waiting for a chance, and working hard just like Yao. The most of people I know in my area like VSpan as a NBA player.
Stats wise this year? Not yet 3 more shots hehehhehe If we're talking actual ability I'd say he's a lot better than the stats from his limited minutes show.... Hopefully he'll prove it on the court soon (for the record, his euroleague stats are much better than the euroleague stats of other ex-euroleague players that moved to the nba such as bargnani, parker, ginobili, garbajosa etc.)
DD?????? If Vspan, who won't even be on the playoff roster, is a distraction to the team, then the entire organization is mentally weak and needs to be revamped head to toe. No way a 13th/14th man should be a distraction to any team, whether they're 82-0 or 0-82. I don't see Bonzi as much of a distraction. We got him for the low, so anything he gives us is a positive. If he's out, so be it.
Agreed... To be honest, I dont think he is a distraction to the team... There was one incident in the season where Span "complained" NOT about the minutes he's getting outright but about the role he's asked to play... JVG publically stated his own opinions etc about how he can't really be that kind of player in Houston cause it's not what they need , and that's about it.... Then there were a few JVG comments/"stabs" at the greek guard but to be perfectly honest I really doubt they were "malicious"...It's more likely that they joke about it.... The rest is hearsay and journalists' opinions etc. Like the article which was the cause of this thread and to be honest, since nothing further was mentioned probably was mostly made up... Yes, he doesnt get any minutes anymore really but at this point in the season, I can't really blame jvg and I guess we'll have to wait till next year. Only if , god forbid, we end up going to Utah with no chance of getting the homecourt advantage might he get some minutes simply because the outcome of the game won't change anything in the team's status. Even then, it's more than likely that he wont see the court because a win there even under those circumstances would be a good psychological advantage for the series.. The only way it is a distraction is in this message board because his situation is basis for heavy discussion and arguments because some people believe he has ****loads of potential and others think he is a talentless no-good scrub. I believe that if we distanced ourselves from the discussions about him, non-confirmed reports, and forgot anything we all might have read about him in here and tried to look at the situation from the outside it would seem pretty simple and minor...
Maybe we can ask him at church Friday night if he goes after the game, lol! If there are Greeks who are straight up with him, I'm really happy for it. I just haven't run into any yet... I'll take your word for it though. I would be shocked, b/c again, I have never heard anyone tell him, "You have skills but you're impatient, turn the ball over too much, and committ stupid fouls. Bust your ass and bide your time. Sit there and just WATCH AND LEARN" Anyway, my own opinion is, again, that he's a good guy. I also think he has the potential to be a sparkplug on this team, a la Cuttino & Sam when they started. I doubt he has the athletic ability to build the kind of NBA career they have, but he can still have a nice one, and like they did early on, provide energy off the bench. And to whoever said that the Vspan & Bonzi situations are not distractions - please. You think the guys ahead of Vspan in the rotation don't take note of "chatter" that he should be playing ahead of them? You think that they are not bothered by the fact that the guy who should be our 3rd option on this team is not playing due to a stupid feud with the head coach - most likely affecting the team's overall strength? Please. Just tired of the stupidity surrounding this team. We have enough problems on the court as it is...
Man me being Greek I can really see this taking place. However Vspan being Greek himself realizes that that's how the community is and wont get affected too much. He knows his skills better than anyone so I seriously doubt that the fans support will get him thinking "yeah I'm best". He is a professional basketball player so he is used to people thinking he is a star or thinking he is a scrub. as far as hanging with team-mates go,he has stated in his blog a few times that he hangs out with Novac and Battier quite a bit and of course Jake.
