I would like to go on record as a supporter of VSpan. In the limited time he played PG, the offense flowed, there was penetration, movement, and easy baskets. Sure, there were typical rookie turnovers, but what player didn't make mistakes when they first entered the league? IMHO, PG is the most important position on the court and I wouldn't mind seeing Houston pair VSpan with another capable PG.
I also recall Adelman living with Jason Williams as a rookie and allowing him to develope. Maybe there is hope that he will also give V-Span a chance to develope.
Heres some more on him. He would have been out of the running already if JVG was still coach THIS SEASON: Gabe Pruitt, a 6-foot-4, 170-pound junior in 2007, can play the point or shooting guard positions or small forward. An excellent shooter, defender and leader, Pruitt made great strides for the Trojan as a sophomore. His 131 career three-pointers made are the most ever by a Trojan in his first two seasons and rank 10th all-time at USC. Will have to sit out the fall semester due to academic issues. http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/pruitt_gabe00.html
how span played in practice is not a very good indicator. consider that he only got to play on a second string team during practice. do really be effective, he would have to play with guys long enough to know their positions. and they would have to be good enough to deliver. i think once he is familiar with playing with our best players, his turnovers will drop and assists will pick up. he just has to learn to take a little less risk. that is all.
Exactly - we need to get away from this "win" now mentality that has kept us good but not great. Stop trying to plug gaping holes in the dam with spackle. Get the best stuff you can and later on you can trade for what you need to plug the hole. We don't need another Luther Head. Or Chuck Hayes, or Shane Battier. We need a Manu Ganobli - a Toni Parker, just anyone who can potentially be the 3rd best player on the team.
VSpan looked as good at perimeter D as any Rocket when he played last and certainly better than Rafer. You can call VSpan out for his lack of an outside jump shot or his turn-overs but you sure as hell can't call him out for defense.
I think DD's got a point. Give V-span some more time to develop and go with a pf on the draft. Especially if Bonzi is back in.
I love Pruitt. However, we need more scoring so I would prefer Almond. Again we could try to get Seattle's 32 pick, and get both Almond and Pruitt.
I agree. We need a good sized point for VSpan to compete with & Pruitt fits the bill. However, if Almond is still on the board as SI thinks; the Rockets should take him.
I think VSpan is great and will do awesome if given the opportunity and the patience. No ifs, ands, or buts, this guy is gonna have ALOT of turnovers but he can create so much more if given the opportunity. That being said, this team just needs to draft BPA and get someone who will contribute. I'm still shaking my head at how we had only four players who could score in an entire game.........
Everyone keeps saying we need to look for an athletic PF...well...there won't be one at 26. Easiest position to fill through the draft this year is SG/SF that can come off the bench and provide some scoring. Rodney Stuckey could be another option. A combo guard who would fit nicely next to TMac.
Wasn't Jason Williams your next "super guard", too? V-Span sucked... against scrubs. The sad fact is he wasn't in long enough to suck, but still managed to suck like a black hole. Here's to hoping the guy sticks around this year, beats out the competition, and turns into a stud.
I posit that perhaps you were not paying close enough attention. If VSpan actually played better D than Rafer, JVG would have benched Rafer in a heart beat.
Practice? We talkin bout practice? (Sorry, couldn't resist). I hear ya, but I guess my point is this: Even if he did stink it up in practice, wouldn't you still give a guy a few minutes here and there throughout the course of a season just to see if he is a contributor? Games and practice are totally different. My biggest gripe with JVG was that he should have worked some of the other guys in during the season, risk losing a few games here and there, but at least he would know what else was on the roster. Case in point: Cassell back in 94. (Don't take this as comapring Span to Cassell as a player, just the situation). How would Rudy have known that he could give Cassell minutes in the post-season unless he would have tolerated his mistakes during the regular season? Cassell made plenty of mistakes that year, but he learned to harness his mistakes through experience. That is all I wanted from VG. We have ZERO indication that Span can be the PG of the future, but again, we have ZERO indication that he can be the PG of the present. You haven't seen any more practice than I have, but I watched 95% of the games this year. Didn't see enough of Span to say one way or the other. All we know for sure is that VG didn't play the rooks or the guys who need some seasoning to get good. He coddled his stars and ignored his youngsters. We need some balance in that regard.
There's a point guard that I really like that won't be drafted, and as far as I know, he has attracted much attention. Kennan Jones out of Northwestern State (knocked off Iowa in the 1st round two years ago) is a great, great point guard. He reminds me a lot of Chauncey Billups. He doesn't score much, and tends to pass up even good shots, but when he does shoot, he's deadly accurate from anywhere on the floor. But he's tough. He's really strong. He bodies up on defense better than any of the top-rated point guards, he drives relentlessly, looking for contact, and he is a great, great floor general. I really, really hope that he gets a camp invite. Just like Chauncey Billups, I think he just needs a shot.
Was there a bizarro League Pass that showed games where Spanoulis actually looked like an NBA player? There was penetration followed by many turnovers and rejections if I recall. That's not offensive flow. For people complaining about Alston's shot (including me), it's scary to think that if Spanoulis had taken all the same shots, I'm confident he would shot an even lower percentage. Spanoulis needs to realize he needs to work on just about every area of his game if he wants to play in this league.
