and another thing please stop posting stats, they don't mean **** in VSpans case he did not play the minutes other guys got...it does not make sense
With more minutes, that tends to lower a player's FG% not improve it. For example, Luther was shooting like 60% at the beginning of the season and now hes back down to 40ish% VSpan played a lot when TMac went out. He just sucked. Don't make excuses for him please... the guy can't shoot 3s and with Yao in the paint there is not much room for him to drive and dish.
there's only so many ways it can be explained that VSpan sucks...if you can't accept stats or the words of an actual NBA coach that has a track history of winning, then go ahead and gnash your teeth and keep thinking VSpan is whatever you think he is...to me he's a guy who justifiably sits at the end of the bench... Seriously, I want VSpan to succeed as a Rocket just like any of us Rox fans...but the guy hasn't really shown that much when he does get PT, and JVG sees him more then any of us, I'll take his word over the average schmoe fan...
You're way off the rails here. No one denies JVG wins. There is a contingent that questions the worth of how he does it, and there's another group that seriously questions whether he can be a part of building a team that can win it all. And upper-echelon coaches do help build their teams. JVG disavows the draft and pretends personnel is not anywhere in his sphere of influence. Yeah, right. Props to DD and Amel in this thread, there are a some things I've disagreed with, but I believe they're at least asking logical questions. It boils down to how close do you feel to a ring (commemorative freebies, of course )? We seem further and further away every year. I'm ready to slug it out with the anti-CD guys, but wait, oh he's a GM and as such he knows much more than the coach and me. Brilliant!
It's not even just the stats, its the teams they are on. Tony Parker started as a rookie -- that is not about potential, he was already the best PG they had! The only other point guard on the team was a Terry Porter that was playing in his last year in the NBA -- and they still split their time on the court. And oh yeah, when he played, he played well. Sam Cassell played the same garbage duty minutes that V-Span and JLIII see when he first got in the league. It took an injury to Kenny Smith for Sammy to get any minutes -- and guess what, he took advantage of those minutes! He won the back-up PG spot from Scott Brooks due to his play -- and even lost it and won it back later in the season, again due to his play. You play the players that will win you the game. V-Span is on a team where there are THREE guards who have earned their time over him. Rafer is the best package at the point that we have, Luther is one of the deadliest three point shooters in the league (and despite his flaws, if you question his shooting's worth after the last few games, you are insane), and JLIII is both shooting better and turning the ball over less than V-Span. There is no coach in the world that is going to play four guards a game and take away minutes from two guys who have earned their play just to develop a few scrubs. Earn your time, take advantage of it what you are given, and let your play dictate the rest. F*** "developing," this is the NBA -- not some pee-wee league, winning actually matters.
I've seen the same games that JVG has seen VSpan played in and I still don't have a problem of him sitting...what makes you think I'm just "blindly" accepting JVG's decisions? What is it again that the VSpan sympathizers see in VSpan that the rest aren't? I see a guy who can't hit the 3 consistently and is TO prone. I also see a bunch of fans who want to give him PT because they think he will get better, I happen to side with JVG with this. Playing time is earned, he needs to get better on his own time. When JVG sees that in practice that he has improved, he'll get PT, and then he better not screw up. I believe we weren't in the playoffs last year...what's your point again?
Why don't we just trade Vspan, JLIII and oru 1st round pick for a higher pick in the draft and draft Acie Law and make him god like just like Vspan seems to be on the board. As for me personally, Vspan has played minutes and never impressed with what I've read (Rox games are hardly shown over here) but I think JL3 brings energy to the side when he comes in, Head is our best 3pt shooter and Rafer is our best option at PG. Vspan needs to earn minutes, which he didn't this season, if he is still here next season he will have to earn the minutes again, but this time he will have at least 1 NBA season under his belt.
I don't think games are where you improve... it's practice where you can work on things to get better... There are not enough opportunities during the games to allow for mistakes that practice does. I'm sure Van Gundy instructs his players how he wants them to play just like any other coach during practice... so I wouldn't say he's incapable of developing a player. In a point guard, he wants someone who can distribute the ball to the two stars on the team so they can create the offense. Span turns it over too much to do that, so he doesn't play. It's not that JVG hates him... he just makes way too many turnovers... "you make 0% of the shots you never take"... if Span turned it over less and still sucked as a shooter, I promise you he'd play more... I mean, 33% FG is better than 0%. Sometimes during garbage time I feel that he should give his bench players a bit more play... it might help their confidence a bit more, and lessen their anxiety. It's often quoted from players than confidence is a huge part of their games... (I think I vaguely remember a recent Adidas commercial with Arenas where he said something to that effect)... but the way you earn those garbage minutes and eventually the key minutes is from working your ass off in practice, and actually improving and being effective. Span might be working his ass off... but maybe he just isn't effective. I really don't think JVG is a stupid coach... he's quite intelligent and considered one of the best. He knows what's best for this team, and I think we can all agree it's not Span playing an extra 10 minutes a night so he can turn it over 4 times during that span and shoot 2-7.
Concerning the rest of our schedule, what do you guys think we should do in Utah for the last regular season game, if we would have the HCA nailed by then (very likely IMO, Utah would suffer a 7L streak before they take Portland)? Should we tank that game to rest our starters, or should we try to roar for a win like we did in Philly to send a message? And despite your own expectation, how do you think JVG would deal with a situation like that?
It's a good thing that V-Span was left in Greece to "develop" before the Rox brought him over. I remember CD having concerns about him being turnover prone....guess what....he still is.
Concerning Rafer, I agree with what JVG said. As far as a playmaker goes, Tmac is our best playmaker. Rafer takes care of the ball, and does ok with 3 pters, and getting the offense set. But it's Tmac that is the playmaker, just ask Chuck Hayes.
Well I thought this was about the PG position- Lampe and Frahm are tangential to this discussion. No one doubt JVG's knowledge of the game- but you cant tell me that coaches have blind spots. Do you agree with all the JVG proteges we brought along- just because he liked them, where do I start with the list?
Did you listen to the podcast at all? It wasn't that Bonzi necessarily didn't fit, it had a lot more to do with lingering problem with us NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND THE APPROPRIATE POWER FORWARD!!! We wanted to play Battier at the PF position, but he doesn't have the body type of a PF. So we had to assign the SF perimeter role to Shane, which automatically takes playing time away from Bonzi. So instead of Shane, we had to put in Hayes at PF because he fit well with Yao. However, since Hayes can't shoot at all and stretch the defense, it was critical that our guards could shoot well. Bonzi is a great post player but not a good enough shooter. That's why we played Head more. So again, you are technically right about Bonzi not fitting, but you were right for all the wrong reasons. You blamed Bonzi like it was all his fault, even though the real problem is the PF position.
For the delusional Spanoulis fans, ask yourself this: There is this super wonderful player who only makes $2 mil a year, how come the Rockets were not offered one single useful player in exhcange for him? Cuz you know, JVG supposedly hates him and probably would have taken any useful vet for him...
