Fouls don't bother me when they are playing clean up minutes. All it shows is how aggressive VSpan is out there. One of the calls was a phantom call anyways. That same aggressiveness that gets VSpan in foul trouble is the same aggressiveness he uses to get to the hole relentlessly and draw fouls. You can always tone down aggression. It's a lot better problem to have to fix than having to get a guy to be more aggressive.
I completely disagree. When you are up big, late in a game, what is the LAST thing you want to do? Stop the clock, that's what. The clock got stopped twice, courtesy of VSpan. If he can't play disciplined, fundamental, smart basketball then he should not be on the court. There was no need to "be agressive." He failed to play smart ball, and did nothing to inspire any confidence that he is ready for more minutes. And whether you like it or not - VSpan is finished for the year. He will get no significant playing time. Head must get more minutes at the 1 with Bonzi and Snyder coming into the rotation.
Do you mean to tell me that in those garbage 2-3 minutes that he (and any other player that hasnt cracked the rotaion) ONLY gets when we're up big in a game he should have dribbled out the clock? What would be the point of that? I'm quite positive he can dribble a ball....
At all times, you do what is best for the team. IF not fouling in the final seconds of a game will serve the best interests of the team, then that is what you do. I didn't say anything about dribbling out the clock, that would not have be possible since he entered the game with more than 2 minutes remaining. But even the most ardent fan of VSpan can not argue that fouling in that game was smart basketball. It wasn't, and Billy wasted another chance.
Obviously, you have no idea about Euroleague basketball: Spanoulis averaged 15 ppg last year in his first season in the Euroleague. He was the best scorer, best passer and the guy with the most drawn fouls in the best European Team. Besides, he was elected into the All-Euroleague-2nd-team, just behind veteran pg Papaloukas. I think this was quite an impressive achivement, if you consider that this was his first season in the Euroleague...
One further commenton Spanoulis: Maybe he will get more pt after the allstar game, when the Rockets have secured their place in the po. If he is really working so hard, as he claims then he should take this chance. I hope with hard training during the off-season and a good performance during the european championships he will further improve and finally gain JVGs confidence.
Yes, this is the point I have been waiting for. I would much rather have all of the guys you mention play these 9-12 minutes somehow someway. When is Snyder going to play some more?
I heard the commentary and there were right on...I would love for Vspan to be an all-star, but it'll take some time...I mean, Dirk wasn't Dirk until a few seasons in... Plus we have too many guards...V-Mac can't be T-mac until he gets more PT...
I know Snyder has some game, but when he bumps Vspan out of minutes you do realize you have a guy shooting .178% 3p's bumping out a guy shooting 20%? Oh yeah, he also drives to the hoop and defends well. Same things Vspan can do. His +/- stats, etc. are not really very good either. They were good last year with the Hornets but even before his injury he really had not jelled at all.
I meant that the way I see it, players in this situation are not supposed to play as if you're winning by a big margin but rather the way they would play if it was mid-game and close so you can see what theyre capable of in "real" circumstances. The large winning margin is just a cushion so you dont lose the game if they dont do very well. I'm not saying that it would be smart basketball in any circumstances. I didnt see the specific fouls to have an opinion on that. But basing judgement on the fact that it was a blow out win is a bit pointless in my opionion. Judgement for those players in garbage time should really be made on a per-play basis IMHO... That is all... Also, someone mentioned Span's Euroleague achievements. I posted this in another thread but it got lost in all the replies and most people seemed to have missed it. The FIBA Europe experts' panel voted Spanoulis as the 7th best European player of 2006, ahead of Tony Parker. This is not just an internet/fan/popularity vote (He also came in 7th in the fan vote). The final standings were: 1 Theo Papaloukas (GRE) 2 Pau Gasol (ESP) 3 Dirk Nowitzki (GER) 4 Jorge Garbajosa(ESP) 5 Juan Carlos Navarro (ESP) 6 Boris Diaw (FRA) 7 Vasileios Spanoulis (GRE) 8 Tony Parker (FRA) 9 JR Holden (RUS) 10 Jaka Lakovic (SLO)
