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vspan: NBA nearly destroyed me, but I no longer hate Van Gundy's lies

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by newplayer, Sep 21, 2007.

  1. leroy

    leroy Contributing Member

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    Can we really just stop talking about this. The dude wasn't cut out for the NBA. It isn't JVG's fault. It isn't the Rockets fault. The guy didn't want to adjust his game and play defense. That's not going to get you on the court with many teams.

    Move to the dish...
     
  2. Barkley

    Barkley Member

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    I agree with VSpan but:

    "Novak and I even regularly beat the first stringers including T-mac and Yao."

    was really stupid and funny:)
     
  3. denniscd

    denniscd Contributing Member

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    what were the specific lies that jvg told billy? where is novak's outrage and where is the outrage on the board now to play novak?
     
  4. Tracy McIverson

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    v span is a huge chauchbag
     
  5. IC2000

    IC2000 Contributing Member

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    Exactly, that is a flat out lie. He never outplayed alston either.
     
  6. Angkor Wat

    Angkor Wat Member

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    I don't think JVG told any lies to V-Spam. The thread title is misleading. According to him, management was the one who promised him playing time or whatever. JVG said he never promised him anything regardless of what he was promised by others.
     
  7. durvasa

    durvasa Contributing Member

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    It's the players responsibility to perform how the coach instructs on the court. It's unfortunate that Spanoulis's skills weren't a great match for JVG's system, but he can't expect the coach to compromise how he wants to do things for a first year player.

    In the NBA, there's much greater emphasis on man defense than helping zone defenses on the perimeter. That's something he would have to adjust to in pretty much any team. As for his role on offense, I think JVG's main goal was to devise a system that maximized Yao and Tracy's game and get everyone else to fall in a specific role. Spanoulis wanted to "control the ball", but how can you control the ball when you keep giving it up to the other team?

    Wait ... Spanoulis is maintaining that JVG lied to him. But then he says it was the "managers" who said he'd get sufficient court time to prove himself. Unless that includes JVG, you can't say he was the one who lied.


    It's kind of hard to trust what Spanoulis is saying about the scrimmages, when he's gotten the verifiable parts wrong. "Pretty good form" in the preseason? In 141 preseason minutes, Spanoulis averaged 10.2 pts and 5.7 asts per 40 minutes with a 50.1 TS%. Not abominable ... but he also averaged 8.2 turnovers per 40 minutes. And somehow he thinks he played well? No wonder there's a disconnect. Like his fans, he remembers the nice looking plays but forgets about the many bad ones.

    Then he says he never got to play after that preseason until March/April. From 11/20-12/14 he was playing every game (12 games). He logged 165 minutes in that time, or about 13.5 min/g. He averaged 9.9 pts, 4.4 asts, 3.9 turnovers, and 41.6 TS% in that time (per 40 min). Now -- he's saying that he should have been controlling the ball more? If a guy is turning it over that frequently without getting to control the ball, how bad might it be if he could actually control it? Well, we can look at the preseason for an indication (he played so well, after all). It's not pretty.

    Except he can't guard other PGs without help, apparently. And he needs to control the ball (and, correspondingly, lose the ball) to be comfortable.
     
  8. jopatmc

    jopatmc Contributing Member

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    Bottom line:

    1. VSpan was a rookie.
    2. JVG mismanaged the rookie.
    3. They're both gone.
    4. The Rox wanted VSpan back.
    5. The Rox did not want JVG back without changes JVG was unwilling to make.

    Make of it what you will.
     
  9. zilches

    zilches Member

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    it seems like this messy episode in Rocket history stems primarily from a miscommunication from the get-go about opportunity/playing time

    Rocket mgmt must've been saying what they needed to say to lure v-span over and v-span must've been hearing what he wanted to hear

    perhaps, to avoid this in the future, it should be explicity stated in the contract that no playing time is guaranteed??
     
  10. jo mama

    jo mama Contributing Member

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    what a whiney little douchebag!

    this guys either a total moron or egomaniac. he's the t-mac of europe and he regularly beat t-mac and yao in practice. if this is his attitude no wonder he never got on the court. i wouldnt want someone like that either.

    if they guy was capable, he would have been playing. obviously he wasnt, and thats why he sat on the bench the whole season.

    good riddance.
     
  11. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    FALSE

    [​IMG]
     
  12. ReD_1

    ReD_1 Rookie

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    Don't be so hard on VSPAN guys....
    If it wasn't for VSPAN we wouldn't see Luiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis Scola :D
    VSpan=VMac seemed like nice guy,i'm sorry that it had to be like this way...
    but guy just didn't want to accept his rookie role and thats it...
    who cares...
    Brooks is dozen times better and hopefuly he'll know his ROOKIE role in first season...
     
  13. durvasa

    durvasa Contributing Member

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    2 is an opinion. 4 should be qualified (V-Span was unable to get a guarantee that he'd play a regular role, if he is to be believed). And I need a source on 5. My understanding is the Rockets offered JVG an extension during the season, and immediately after the playoffs. After he stalled, the Rocket chose to switch directions.

    Also, do you really think that the Rockets wouldn't have preferred to trade Spanoulis for Scola even if he wanted to return to the Rockets? Losing JVG and gaining Adelman was effectively a coaching trade.
     
    #33 durvasa, Sep 21, 2007
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2007
  14. lost_ball

    lost_ball Member

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    Now I know why they called him European... Kobe
     
  15. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    You're forgetting another key fact that jopatmc omitted:

    1. jopatmc had mad greek love for spanoulis and was crestfallen when he a) sucked ass, and b) quit, so now has to save face.
     
  16. RocketsPimp

    RocketsPimp Contributing Member

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    I wonder if v-quitten realizes that he just admitted to being a sorry defender.

    I'm glad he's gone. They guy was exactly where he belonged on this team.....at the end of the bench.
     
  17. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"

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    It is as if V-Span was a bloated, wayward weather balloon. Each day he floats overhead and people call the police talking about an amazing spaceship sighting "!!!11!1!" But no, the police explain, it's just the same old useless weather balloon. But the callers call their friends and get all excited again.

    "Maybe the spaceship will land in my backyard! Maybe aliens will come out of it! Maybe they will give me a raygun! Or maybe they will abduct me and probe my rectum! I bet it will happen! If not me, they will probe the Spurs at least!"

    Poor V-Span, floating back to the barn league, where a mediocre career awaits, with halftimes spent cleaning sheep dung from his chuck taylors.
     
  18. Drexlerfan22

    Drexlerfan22 Contributing Member

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    How does this constitute a lie by Van Gundy again? Management were the ones making the promises, not JVG.
     
  19. Barkley

    Barkley Member

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    Alston's quicker so not a big suprise for me but thanks for the info. Maybe VSpan wanted to be "BIG":)
     
  20. superden

    superden Contributing Member

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    I love Vspan! He got us Scola :D
     

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