Sort of, but it was disingenous of him to say, as he knows that Billy was not talking about scoring but rather initiating the offense. He tossed him under the bus with this quote, which was taken out of context. That being said, JVG is right......there is no way you put the ball in V-Span's hands over McGrady. I recall an interview with Manu Ginobli his rookie year where Magic Johnson asked him if he missed being "the guy" And Manu sparked up and said... "Oh man, I miss it sooooo much" I think that is what V-Span is going through, he misses being THE guy...and he is going to have to get over that...because on this team...Yao and Tmac are THE GUYS..... DD
I certainly agree JVG should play VSpan more. At least 5mins in the second QT and 5 mins in the third. Sitting him on the bench won't improve him. With that being said, I do think VSpan has to be a little bit more patient here. A lot of great players from other countries have to go through the same adjustment period and take time to get used to NBA basketball. They were stars of the stars in their own countries, but in NBA they have to start from zero. It is tough to be a rookie and play for a coach who usually doesn't trust young players. But what you gonna do? Improve your game, get ready all the time and wait for your opportunites to come and don't blow it when it finally comes. Worst case scenario, wait a year, Rox will trade him to another team or cut him. Then he will be free!
No offense against the Greek team, because they play like a great team, but most of those guys wouldn't last half a season in the NBA. Statement like this makes me ashamed to be American sometimes. Let us see: we got our asses kicked not once not twice but multiple times by these so-called international players. And yet, we go on making excuses for ourselves all the times. If you want to show some class, admit your defeats, move on , learn from your mistake , improve and the scoreboards will tell. And last time I checked, a lot of our so-called NBA players couldn't pass themselves out of a paper bag, couldn't shoot a free throw if the charity stripes were to shortened by halfway, couldn't hit a 12' J even if it was a 2' J. And you're trying to tell me the least that VSpan couldn't do is to contribute to this team? Delusional!
I think Span is trying to find a way out. Giving him a minute per game play will get him the rythym he needs to get going but he was completely denied of it, which to me a another way of saying to him, 'we don't need you here', from JVG. I believe in Jeff's ability as a coach to win games but if they don't have a plan in using Span, developing him by giving a minute per game at least, then they should let him go. I know this is how this contract works in the NBA world, but it's completely too selfish of them. CD should let Span go.
actually what we need is a lights out shooter at the point guard position. rafer is doing everything else just fine most of the time. we need someone who can hit the open shots when rafer struggles and that someone must be able to bring the ball fast and efficiently against pressure just as rafer does. i thought john lucas could be that guy, and the rockets probably, too, but the way things have gone it's obvious that at least right now he isn't. his shot isn't falling and his defense is weaker than expected. still, until now, he was a better option than spanoulis because vspan can't shoot and can't handle the ball efficiently. if you want jvg to let spanoulis play his game for about 20-25 minutes each game then you say that you want 3 more turnovers per game and you want to limit t-mac to being a spot up shooter for half of his playing time. i don't think anybody could want that. the only thing that helps spanoulis out of this situation is becoming a different type of a player or a trade. best case scenario is spanoulis working on his game. when he becomes at least a solid shooter who can hit open shots and when he's able to keep the turnovers at a minimum he will get the 20-25 minutes and he will be able to play well.
He used to be the big fish in a small pond. Now he's moved into the big pond and there is a huge adjustment. It must be tough to make that adjustment, but he needs to be patient and work hard. His minutes so far this year certainly haven't shown that he warrants more minutes. Until that happens he just isn't going to get the playing time he wants.
I don't understand why JVG would want him shooting 3's. He is a horrible shooter and there is no way that JVG would tell him to shoot 3's even though he is only hitting 20%. If for some reason JVG is telling him that then that is ridiculous and Vspan's main strength is negated. I hardly believe JVG wants him to shoot. Vspan is a good passer that doesn't mean he is a good PG. Also, 20 assists and 18 turnovers is absolutely awful. Given extended minutes, I don't see Vspan improving any time soon. I personally can never see him improving on his horrific turnovers. But now that I think about it, I probably would rather give him a shot than JLIII so I can see some people's problems with his DNP's.
I just hope that VSpan turns out to be an all-star. Because I have never seen this many people overhype an average ROOKIE in my life. It's mind boggling. You guys are acting like if he was playing 20-25 minutes a game he would get 6th man of the year. He is a rookie.
It sounds like what bothers VSpan the most may not only be no playing time, but the drastically different role JVG wants him to play which he feels almost impossible. "..ask a doctor to be a lawyer..", as he put it. It is one thing that you are just not good enough yet and you know you can work hard to improve to earn playing time, but it is completely another thing that you feel you are asked the impossible. IMHO, that is more frustrating.
VSpan should be developed. He is a slasher not a spot up shooter. Good passer. Lots of energy on defense yes, he will foul too much and cause turnovers (part of learning curve) JVG is trying to win and is going to sacrifice a rookie who turns the ball over, fouls alot and can't hit an open 18 ft. shot if needed He isn't going to allow a player with an attitude to get significant minutes JVG is a knuckle head when it comes to a player challening him He will probably keep VSpan in the doghouse unless the record starts to crash JVG will do anything to win. I think this is a bad deal all around... Best thing that could happen is for the two of them to sit down and try to work out something... that might happen... but I think VSpan will have to eat a little humble pie to make it happen.
Van Gundy wants the PG to take the open shot. Look at Rafer Alston. It's not his strength, obviously, but in this offense, with Yao and TMac creating, the PG has to take the open jumper when it is there.
ARE YOU KIDDING?? This board overhypes every player on our bench that they haven't seen play. It happens every year, heck we overhype players that never even make it onto the team.
i can understand people saying they don't want spanoulis because he doesn't have a good shot, but i can't understand those people being satisfied with rafer, who is the worst shooter in the nba. if you aren't satisfied with rafer, then you have to realize that playing spanoulis at least occasional minutes is better than the all rafer, all the time show. and how is vspan not efficient bringing the ball up the court? ALL of his turnovers come from passes, not dribbling. of those passes, the majority are laser passes that his teammates aren't quick enough to see. the rest are lazy passes that vspan used to get away with in the euroleague, but which he will quickly learn can not succeed in the nba given the extraordinary length of nba players. you're right, rafer or head or even lucas would be better options to start with mcgrady because they can shoot the 3. however, vspan is IDEAL coming off the bench when tmac sits down. vspan does 3 things incredibly well that this team needs, especially when tmac goes to the bench: driving, dishing, and drawing fouls. those complaining about him being foul prone: at least his fouls are from aggressive defense, preventing easy buckets, or going for steals. wtf is rafer doing fouling jumpshooters? if rafer fouls one more 3 pt shot attempt this season, he should be banned from the court on principle alone.
This is almost like the David Carr debate. People held on to him just needing better players around him for so long. I feel the same about Rafer. He does do some things okay out there - shoots 3's, keeps turnovers down, usually. He does everything else, at best, averagely - isn't a great defender, isn't a great penetrator, doesn't make the best decisions on when to shoot/pass, doesn't run a great fast break, is a horrible 2 point shooter, etc. I was calling all of last year for the Texans to just play Sage (before the hand injury). What was there to lose? In this case, I do obviously think there is a lot more to lose (mainly a playoff spot). But we can already tell you exactly what isn't working. And that's Rafer trying to be MJ out there. JVG has to work with what he's got. And that includes doing any one of the following: 1. Playing JLIII some more - classic JVG, Lucas has one bad game, gets zero minutes the next, in an overtime game, Rafer gets 40 minutes, continuing his 5-15+ performances 2. Try V-Span. 3. Scold Rafer. Almost as idiotic as not giving him more rest, it almost seems as if JVG refuses to tell Rafer to stop doing things. Everybody who's watched at least 1 minute of Rocket basketball this year knows that Rafer couldn't shoot a tear-drop to save his life. For the love of all that is beautiful, JVG, MAKE HIM STOP!!! (unless the secret plan is to shoot them so short that they don't hit any rim at all, and Chuck or Deke come out of the blue to grab the offensive board and put it in....oh, so sneaky!!).
