V-Span will be in the doghouse as long as JVG is our head coach, but he could either get playing time with next coach or end up being a good player on another team. Cause even when we are up by 18 -30 pts. JVG refuses to play VSpan.
he's played in 27 games. have the Rockets won by 18-30 points more then 27 times this year? I posted this somewhere else right before the post died so I'll post it again: I keep hearing everyone's excuse that the reason V-Span plays so poorly or the reason he hasn't been able to progress is because he is put in during "scrub minutes". While it is true that he has played a lot during garbage time, that isn't an excuse for poor play and lack of development. What some people here don't realize is that most players play their asses off during garbage time. The reason being that it may be the only time they get to see the court for a couple games and they want to impress their coach enough to get more minutes. Usually during garbage time the scrubs get in and they obviously don't want to continue being scrubs on the end of the bench. A lot of people think that V-Span would be contributing greatly and developing more if he got minutes when it counted. The fact that he can't seem to ever play well against scrubs is troubling. If he was so skilled wouldn't he be running circles around the scrubs that were out there? People claim that he is playing with bad players, which can be true, but if he's out there with a bunch of fellow scrubs on his team shouldn't he be the one that sticks out (well sometimes he sticks out in a bad way)? Maybe his assists will be down a little bit because guys won't make shots that the regulars would hit, but V-Span hasn't even showed that he is confident enough with the ball to do anything positive with it to free players up. If he's such a great slasher why can't he take it to the rack against a fellow scrub and lay it in? He looks totally lost out there against scrubs who are working their asses off, because they want more minutes. Now it is true that playing against scrubs won't help a player adjust to playing against good NBA players. But with all the garbage time he's gotten shouldn't he at least adjusted to where he's comfortable against scrubs? If he can't adjust to do well in garbage time against mostly scrubs do you really think he'll be able to play and adjust to playing against better players? People keep holding onto the fact that he's playing against mostly end of the bench guys as a reason why he's playing so bad. If he's so great isn't that kind of scary? He looks terrible against scrubs who if he was as great as some people make him out to be he'd be shining against fellow bench warmer. It is sad that against mostly scrubs he looks like he just doesn't belong.
That's actually not true. As I've posted many times, the vast, vast majority of his playing time (during his Nov-Dec tryout) has come with the main guys (either Yao or Tracy) on the floor. People who continue the bullsh-t excuse like this are either deliberately lying or just plain dumb.
I recall Boki is a 1st round 13th pick. Billy/Novak are 2nd round no love, big difference, plus JVG said it is not his idea to sign Billy, he don't like it anyway.
Tito Maddox? I think you might be talking about Eddie Griffin. LOL. He has no one to blame for his failed career but himself. He didn't exactly set the league on fire in New Jersey or Minnesota either.
you are right that Wesley did well the 1st season he was here. He did not do so well the 2nd season- in fact he had trouble matching up with any larger-quicker guards in the West. He could not guard anybody. he got owned. He was paid 5 mil per season. We paid 10 million for the two years for Wesley to contribute in that 1st season he was here. Boki still has upside now and in the future. We gave him away. Please help me recall who else we sent ot NOK for David Wesley. Was it Moochie?
I think - IMO that Bobby Sura and T-Mac ahd more to do with us having success that year- along with Yao and a briefly rejuvenated Jon Barry. Wesley should not get too much credit for that season- though he did contribute....
Wesley had his problems... in fact, he has those problems in the first year here, too. He was 6'1'' and old in that season also. He contributed what he had in both seasons... the first season that resulted in wins.. that second season, no role player was gonna be able to save it, given the injuries. Had Yao and Tracy (and Bob, and Barry...) been healthy, I have no doubt he would have contributed to a winning team. As for the money... who cares? Wesley's salary didn't keep the team from signing anyone.
I think he had a little bit of Yao syndrome going with him, i.e. teammates won't trust a foreign rookie. Billy is not a shooter. Being a passer, he tend to pass the rock frequently. While having little faith from his teammate, he seldom see the ball again once he passed it out. The problem with foreign rookies are they are not vocal enough. When Yao started yelling on the court, he saw the ball more and more often. You cannot depend on your coach to plea the ball for you. You have to ask for it yourself. Billy need to scream like a little girl on the court.
Actually, getting Wesley was very important. Van Gundy didn't want McGrady to have to take hard defensive assignments on a regular basis, and Jim Jackson and Boki could not handle that job. That was a big reason why the Rockets were losing earlier in the season. Wesley was the guy that did Battier's job for us that season. Sura and Barry no doubt contributed, but Wesley had an very important role.
I agree, but I think we could have gotten him for Jim Jackson plus another contract....not Boki. And, in truth, it was pretty clear the team did not have enough to contend that year, so why not build for the future? The Wesley move was a band aid.... DD
With all due respect-There is no comparing Wesley with BAttier. Completely different-position, size, matchup abillity, ability to defend. I am sure I am misunderstanding something here. "Wesley was the guy that did Battier's job for us that season" If you mean he was a catatlyst- OK - Maybe you could make that argument. I would argue that Sura was the catalyst and Wesley contibuted with shooting - which we needed. I stand by my position that we gave Boki away.......
Thank you DaDakota- I remember clearly now not liking trading Jim Jackson for and old Wesley (10 mil cost for 2 seasons). Boki has more upside and though having a contract at Cleveland-Wesley is warming pine-not an important player anymore. Boki could shoot, slash and run with the break-and he is 6'-9" all. Rudy should feel vindicated on this one -he is a nice player with a good attitude. We could have held onto Boki for peanuts.
Per previous poster:Carl Hererra "As for the money... who cares? Wesley's salary didn't keep the team from signing anyone."[/QUOTE] As for the money - I care- we need to stay out & below the luxury tax threshold. The 5 mil paid on the 2nd year of Wesley's contract could have helped us get another role player. Boki's money in a rookie contract certainly did not keep us from signing anyone. There is no logical reason Boki is involved in that trade unless JVG let it be known to CD he was never going to play him. I really do not know that and I am projecting here. Putting Boki in that trade was not from a financial basis I will argue.
Sorry -I just do not recall the 6' short David Wesley being an effective defender anyway. Wesley contributed shooting and offfense- he was not bad at the point-though not near as good as RAfer IMO. I felt Jackson was the better defender........ IMHO Jackson was alienated by JVG.
This pretty much nails it about Boki. You Boki sympathizers must be packrats in real life, I bet you guys still wear underwears from what you had in high school, put water in a ketchup bottle to squeeze out the remaining contents, pine for that dumpy girl you dissed back then who looks decent now... GET OVER IT Boki needs to be in the right system to flourish and this system wasn't it...and still isn't, so what's up with the low bball IQ talk that he'd be great in our team right now? He'd still struggle like he did back then...last time I checked the same coach that traded him is still here. There was a report back then that TMac complained to management that Jim Jackson was shooting too much and cutting into his shot attempts, or something to that affect, and that's why the trade. From what I remember the offense just did not run smooth when TMac and JJ were both out there. On paper it looks nice to have 2 tall athletic swingmen but sometimes players just don't mesh. JJ to me still thought he was the stud college player back in Ohio State and not a minor piece to the puzzle role player, maybe that's why he could never stay in one place too long. And for the record, NOK wanted Boki and took JJ as salary match purposes, not the other way around. So yes we DID have to give Boki up in order to get rid of JJ. Wesley was a short term band aid but it's not like we got Jeff Bagwell for Larry Andersen raped on that trade.
Come on, DD. "It was pretty clear..." You mean to say, its pretty clear now with the benefit of hindsight that the Rockets would not win in the first round. The Rockets were on a roll going into the playoffs and took the Mavs to 7 games in a tough series that could have gone either way. Wesley was an important piece on that team. Tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. It is foolish to sacrifice the present in hopes of an unknown future. The 2005 Rockets had as good a chance as anyone to advance that year. It just didn't happen. It is not fair to criticize tough decisions of the past with the benefit of knowing exactly how they panned out.
So NOK did the trade to get Boki and Jim Jackson was filler? Amazing!!!! This goes to prove my point that Boki is a special player with upside-reinforced by NOK recognizing that talent. Jim Jackson was filler! Wow!
