Progress Report

It really above all made me wonder why we couldn't get a decent game out of VSpan. Greece was all VSpan and yet we couldn't get anywhere near that performance from him...

Oh, and Scola is a certified pimp now. I am officially voting for Scola in everything I vote on now. UA class president, Luis Scola, Mayer of Tucson, Luis Scola, President of the USA, Luis Scola... The list goes on.

 

regarding v-span:

can't help but wonder how he would've played under adelman. jvg didn't exactly give the guy a chance to play to his skills.

 

The guy was given his chance, but kept thinking too highly of himself. T-mac of Greece needed to limit his turnovers and learn to shoot the damn rock. He failed in both categories.

 

a lot of v-span's impact comes from his use of the pick and roll. and regardless of who's coaching adelman or jvg, they wouldn't call plays for v-span. i mean, who would you rather have running the pnr: tmac or vspan?

 

First let me say I am a huge Scola fan and think his insertion into the starting lineup is a primary reason our season turned around. We all know what he can do in his role here on the Rockets. I am also someone who detests Ron Artest but am willing to let the past go (for now) because he's a Rocket.

That all said, Artest is more of an impact NBA player than Scola by a wide margin. If his head is on straight the entire season, his addition makes us a championship favorite. Few players can impact the game like Artest. He's a very special talent far beyond Scola. His talent is in the Yao/Tracy level when he's sane.

I'm very excited about Scola being improved over last year, especially since he will start from day one. But the Artest trade gives the Rocets the ability to just crush teams, night in, night out and win a bunch of games just by showing up.

Oh, and what in the world does V-Span have to do with anything? Thankfully the guy is gone. Get over it! Pleeeeease. Why bother bringing him up?

 

oh Lordie. Not another VSpan thread.

Please get over it people.

 

Vspan ruined the chemistry.

 

I recall V-Span committing roughly 8,000 turnovers per minute.

 

I can't exactly regret VSpan not turning out since we got Scola for him, plus, he didn't play for the Spurs; but, I may as well indulge...

VSpan, like Scola, went here because of the competition - you know his club there gave him a contract where he could decide how much he should be paid, right? In all his interviews when he got here, he always made it clear that Carroll Dawson invited him over because of his skills; and, let me make this clear, it's not the same "skills" people refer when talking about kids out from one year of college - VSpan was a bonafide basketball player, Euroleague star, even. What the Rockets asked of him was to change his game completely by becoming a spot-up shooter to compliment T-mac's PnR (and, I'm personally in the group that believes VSpan is better than Tracy at that play). This was well beyond letting a guy "adapt" to the NBA game. So, and I'm saying this for the slow people out there, Spanoulis was offended and felt betrayed - they disrespected him as a pro.

Well, the affair didn't turn out well; but, nobody should be blamed. The Rockets weren't able to handle the situation - you can't blame people for their faults - and VSpan chose to go back to Europe over choosing to make it in the NBA - that's his choice.

In the end, Scola came Houston.

 

V Span is gone. Lets not talk about him anymore and move on. The Spurs must be kicking themselves for trading Scola to a division rival for a player who wanted out of the NBA. Their loss our gain.

 

I was on the Spurs fansite and on one of the threads a Mavericks fan was going on about how Brandon Bass was better than Scola. I think Mavs fans are in denial that their team is going down the drain.

 

Are you talking about this thread?

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102302

It's so fun to look at other forums to see what everyone else thinks about the Rockets.

 

Bass is a better athlete. People were going off on how amazing and improved Scola was in the olympics. But what I saw was the same old Scola pull the same crafty moves and daring anyone to stop him. He didn't become more athletic are smarter or develop any super moves. He showed flashes of brillance with the Rockets and just played smart as he always does and perhaps played with a little more confidence and definitely alot more passion for his country. He just had more opportunities and felt the team needed he more so he took advantage and did what he could.

SO I don't necessarily think the Olympic experience showed any major improvement that wouldn't have naturally occured between a players 1st and 2nd year. But actually I think his first year NBA experience gave him the confidence to believe he could play with anyone and improved his Olympic experience. Perhaps his successful Olympics experience boost his already very high confidence. But I expected alot more from Scola anyway and it wasn't because I thought he became more athletic and brilliant.

So some Mav fan saying Bass is better is not so outrageous but the reality is what Scola may lack in athleticism is far more outweighed in his ability to do whatever it takes to help his team.

 

I was gonna reply about Bass earlier but decided not to. Agree with you completely. Bass is a better player than most here want to admit but Scola is better skillwise.

 

Vspan was tailor-made for the FIBA rules. When that 3pt line moves out another couple feet, watch his game tail off badly.

 

I'm not sure the Olympics proved anything other than Yao is big and slow and Scola is inconsistent. Can these guys finish around the rim??

 

You and Da Dakota can't really be considered a group, per se, more of a pairing.

 

Thank you very much, Sir! I have to quote the whole post to just repost it.