[Chron] Spanoulis getting chance in Rockets' rotation

Hey, I like Spanoulis' energy, too. But 4 TO's a game is not "overrated." 20% three point shooting is not "overrated." It is fact. And it is as harmful coming from Spanoulis as it would be coming from Alston or any other player.

If he improves on those two issues, then nobody will talk about it anymore. The proof is in the pudding. Until then, these are deficiencies that have to be recognized.

 

I am pretty sure Alston is a good ball handler as far as bringing the ball up across the half-court line in almost any circumstance. But is Head really a reliable PG under pressure defense? I don't think there are enough evidences to support such notion. Personally, I am puzzled at seeing VSpan playing 2 and Head playing 1 while both of them are on the court at the same time. I think it should be the other way around.

 

JVG has a knack keeping all combo guards back court.

 

Novak will play. Geez, he actually played the first game as the first off bench. The kid looked timid out there. For a rookie's sake, he shoudnt be rushed too much. You guys are expecting too much from him. He will play this season, that's for sure.

 

like I said, his TO's are not clumsiness, its just a different style of play in the NBA

he has to get used to it....

I do think that he needs to work on his 3 point shot, especially on his release

 

Hey there's a lot of people here who orgasm from head.

 

You know, there are a lot of posters here (both JVG fans and JVG haters) with very good basketball analysis and knowledge. They provide a lot of statistical breakdowns and game insight that I enjoy reading and I appreciate.

However, in a question about a Rocket player's ability to perform, or what's best for the Rockets, I think I would take Van Gundy's knowledge and analysis as more accurate over even the most astute BBS contributor.

Unless of course Red Auerbach is posting posthumously.

 

OK that is just plain wrong in my opinion. Juwan will be a -15 +/- in April.

Novak can only improve with playing time. Juwan has about 5-8 good minutes left in him each game then he becomes invisible or worse.

 

have you watched gundy coach and run substitutions every season since he arrived?

Did you see Bill play the other night and offer something none of our other guards can do in the 4Q - defend? And the only reason Bill was in was because of Snyder's injury? And we actually turned back the tide in the 4th this time.....

And people sit here game after game saying "put in some D in the 4th, don't let every guard in the NBA use us as a snot rag in the 4th"?

Comments made by other NBA coaches implying and about Gundy's predictability pop up on a regular basis over the years and?

And you still think Gundy is the main man eh? Just wondering what game it is you are watching and what stats it is you are analyzing?

I think the best comment recently was how JVG was probably about the best man to be a successful assistant coach in the NBA. But he is missing something to take it to the big game. I wish he wasn't but he is.

Perhaps why Riley replaced brother Stan last year - the missing piece. Some people leave their companies when they are passed over - some go on to prove their bosses wrong and some don't. Times change and last year's CEO is this year's out of step executive.

 

I say put VSpan on Arenas tonight. If he plays lock down defense on one of the best shooters in the league then the kid deserves a spot in the rotation. I liked his interview, he seems to be emphasizing his strengths and keeping his mistakes to a minimum.

 

What NBA team do you coach?

 

Vspan should split the minute with Alston eventually. Right now I think he's good for at least 15 minutes+. Let him make his mistakes and he will be our x factor come playoff.

Where's Novak? Why doesn't JVG play him. He is not as bad as people think defensively. IMHO, he's way better than Juwan Howard in defense, at least he's giving you effort every minutes on the court.

 

vspan is more amazing than skip

 

I like the V-Span kid. Out of so many Yao fronting the Rockets couldn't handle, V-Span stepped in, drove past his defender, used Yao as a screen for a layup. He missed it, but he created an offensive rebound and slam for Yao. That's how the Rockets should beat the fronting gimmick. JVG and Alson should take note. V-Span is smart and he can drive, it's a shame it takes a Snyder injury to show it. Hope he does this consistently.

Go Span.

 

Why do people feel the need to call him V.Span?

Isn't "Span" enough? I mean, is there a C.Span, D.Span, G.Span, X.Span on the team?

 

While I think V-Span definitely brings two sorely needed things to the Rockets, namely dribble penetration and defensive tenacity, I dont find it at all suprising he was not in the rotation prior to Snyder's injury.

The reason for this should be obvious (and no, its not becuase JVG hate rookies, in this case anyways) but rather to anyone who has watched or analyzed his preseason performances; it is because he failed to beat out Head, Snyder and Alston to get into the rotation.

IMO V-Span definitely has game and could be a valueble contributer, but it is also OBVIOUS that his preseason numbers did not merit a spot in the rotation above HEAD, Snyder or Alston. Aside from shooting a mere 25% from 3 pt land (3-12) and 13-32 from 2pt range, HE AVGED 1 TO for every 4.8 minutes played, totaling 29 TO in 140 minutes. In other words in 8 Games he avg 17.6 mins per game and managed to average a GLARING 3.6 TO per.
That is not as someone termed it, "overrating his TO" but rather a glaring problem taht can not be stated enough. Extrapolated to 40 mins he would avg nearly 8 TO a game!

With those stats, I fail to see how JVG or any coach could explain to Head, Snyder or Alston that they should lose thier spot in the rotation to V-Span. While I believe his TO problems will continue to plague him, I also think he will gradually get better (and probably has already) from learning the system, his role, control his recklessness etc in PRACTICE and now with Syders injury in Games also.

Novak on the other hand had a great preseason and I thought beat out Padgett for the last spot Forward spot. I thought this was confirmed when JVG played him in the first two game of the season. What happened after that I guess is a question for another thread.

 

I actually think JVG is probably staying on ... but we will come to deeply regret it.

 

The travelling and palming violations are easy to fix; perhaps this is what the original poster meant by "overrated turnover". I think VSpan will calm down and his TOs will drop.

 

Funny, in another thread talking about the fronting Yao defense, I suggested that we use dribble penetration and use Yao for a screen to let the dribbler get the advantage at the rim. It's just too easy.

 

Yao and Sura did that frequently in 04-05. I don't know why we don't do it more often.