Dennis Lindsey says Vassilis Spanoulis will be ready next year

Sura has been playing hurt all year. He could of had the option of surgery and be out for the rest of the year. He played his heart out during the season and through the playoffs. The Rockets will resign him and he'll be the starting PG.

 

Mike James is the guy the originally wanted this summer - he is going to be a Rocket for a while (good with 3s and with D)

I think Moochie and Ward will be bought out if they need to make room on this roster. I also think they will go SF/PF (i.e. an moble PF) to guard the Dirks and Garnetts' of the world.

Howard, James, Sura, Wesley, Barry and Deke will all be back next season. possible Bowen and Padge (just as specialists off the bench)

 

Oh, well, you know what happen to Wink. JVG hates PG that cannot pass and organize offense. Also JVG is very very high on Kidd, still think he is the best PG in league, even better than Nash.

 

There is no way we can get Kidd. He's too damn expensive.

From this list of FA PGs, who would you want?

1. Marko Jaric (Restricted)
2. Sarunas Jasikevicius
3. Antonio Daniels (Player Option)
4. Gary Payton
5. Brevin Knight
6. Earl Watson
7. Damon Stoudamire
8. Jeff McInnis
9. Chris Duhon (Restricted)
10. Damon Jones (Player Option)
11. Nick Van Exel (Team Option)
12. Dan Dickau (Option Declined)
13. Tyronn Lue
14. Darrell Armstrong
15. Jacque Vaughn (Team Option)
16. Howard Eisley
17. Tony Delk (Player Option)
18. Steve Blake
19. Keith McLeod (Restricted)
20. Milt Palacio
21. Travis Best
22. Frank Williams (Option Declined)
23. Erick Strickland
24. Jannero Pargo (Restricted)
25. Rick Brunson
26. Kenny Anderson
27. Tierre Brown
28. Keyon Dooling (Player Option)
29. Anthony Carter
30. Jamison Brewer
31. Eddie Gill
32. Andre Barrett
33. Luis Flores (Restricted)
34. Lionel Chalmers (Restricted)
35. Junior Harrington
36. Mateen Cleaves
37. Omar Cook
38. Quinton Ross
39. Mike Wilks
40. Anthony Goldwire

I wouldn't mind having Jaric or A. Daniels in a Rocket uniform.

 

For JVG, defense is more important. Improving interior defense is 1st priority during the offseason, that means a PF.

 

IMHO, I don't think JVG is differentiating between the two but will take the best defensive PF or SG in the draft and follow that up with in free agency or trades to balace out the draft.

 

Of those free agents, the only one I'd be remotely interested in is Marco Jaric, and he doesn't play much defense. Don't know if Van Gundy can make him an adequate defender or not.

 

Duhon and Dickau might work. WE can have a D n D backcourt.

 

http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/vassilisspanoulis.asp

Position PG
Size: 6-4, 188
Age: 22
Type: International
From: Greece

NBA Comparison: Steve Nash

Strengths: An excellent athlete that shows rapid development in the last couple of years. He is speedy, tough and has very quick reactions. He's got unlimited energy in his game. His leaping ability is impressive. His offensive game is aggressive. He likes to run in the open court and penetrate the paint. His crossover dribble is quick and brakes ankles. His passes are money in the bank; has quick decision making. He runs the offensive sets successfully and delivers the ball to the right person in the right time. He is an excellent defender in the full-court press. He puts great pressure on the ball when defending.

Weaknesses: His shooting has range but needs polish. He's more of a streaky shooter. Needs to put on some muscles. His fearless game may cause him foul-troubles. -Dimitris Armadoros





P.S. Mike James will be back!

 

damn, this sounds every bits of a 2nd coming of steve nash. am i mistaken?

 

That would be a bad move IMHO. Sura is not the type of PG they need in order to take that proverbial next step. They need someone younger, faster, more consistent offensively and better at passing the ball. If he's your starting PG then next year's offense will look as disjointed as did this year's and TMac will end up playing the PG position too much once again.

 

Sura is one of the best rebounding point guards in the game. I know that is not what you look for in your point guard but since rebounding was for the most part our achilles heel this season more than any other factor we pretty much had to play him and that was a factor to why we were better with him on the floor than without. If we got a rebounder up front then we help abate the weakness and our needs for a rebounding guard drop obviously.

 

That's good to hear that they feel Vassilis is ready to come over. We certainly could use more speed and youth at the guard spots. I like the fact he is 6'4". I really hope Vassilis is more in the mold of a Andres Nocioni (Bulls) who is a tough as nails, gritty SF and not like the soft Jiri Welch of Cleveland.

From what I have read it sounds like Vassilis is more of a "scoring" combo guard so he would probably be closer to Mike James than anything else.

Sura, Wesley, Barry, James, Spanoulis. That is a lot of guards and not a lot of minutes. Who gets the short end of the stick there? True Barry could play some 3 but still, someone would get left out in the cold. And it could be Wesley if he gets traded with his "expiring" contract. James could end up starting at the 2 and Spanoulis would take over James' role as scorer off the bench.

 

I think James , while being very quick, is too short to start at the 2.

 

In general I agree with you....but, James is 6'2" and Wesley is 6'1".

 

Mike James is the best point guard on our roster, there is no way that we are ditching him for Spanoulis - we are not that stupid.

 

The scouting reports also made Eddie Griffin sound like he was the next Kevin Garnett.

 

That's true. But agree with what Deuce has said...

"I really hope Vassilis is more in the mold of a Andres Nocioni (Bulls) who is a tough as nails, gritty SF and not like the soft Jiri Welch of Cleveland."

One thing that caught my attention was the part about "He is speedy, tough and has very quick reactions. He's got unlimited energy in his game....He is an excellent defender in the full-court press."

So, at least I'd expect a Sura/Nocioni/Bowen type player. Tough, gritty player. But not much offense. That's the least I'd expect. The most I'd expect? Not sure...could he be the 2nd coming of Nash? No. I don't expect that. Even Nash wasn't Nash early in his career. Nash averaged 8.6 PPG/4.6 APG his 4th year.

The low expectation of what Spanoulis will bring is AT LEAST a tough, hardworking Sura/Bowen type player. The most? Who knows?

The good news is that there are more and more European players that are coming into the NBA that are tough/defenders as well as fundamentally skilled (shooting/passing).

 

Are we putting too much hope on a late 2nd round trash pick?

 

Was Mobley a 2nd round trash pick? Is it a trash pick because you know nothing about this guy?

And who said we are putting all of our hope in this guy? I dont think anyone thinks he will be a savior. We are just looking for better, younger, more athletic role players to compliment Yao and Tmac.