wait, you want a guy that's turning the ball over and over again to be the playmaker? So when T-Mac's out, isn't the primary objective to HOLD THE FORT and try to play equal until he gets back? Playmakers are great, if they're making plays for you. It could easily backfire and you lose everything you're worked for in a 2 minute span. He was trying to be that playmaker early when he came in for alston. There were stretches where TMac wasn't on the court as well but Snyder instead. He just isn't taking the ball to the hole well enough against TEAM defense. The so called "Dream Team" are a bunch of players that doesn't play together. Spanoulis has had problems whenever opposing players don't fall for his pump fake. It's the SAME move every time. The "Dream Team" fell for it from the lack of scouting is what I'm thinking. Spanoulis has a lot to work on before he should step on the court for any meaningful minutes.
when i say playmaker, i dont mean he's racking up assists. his play in greece doesn't indicate that he did that and his play here hasn't shown that. he is a playmaker in the sense that he breaks down the defense with ease. i dont think anyone questions that, right? so once he has done this, he tries to go to the rim or he dishes. now he has been blocked going to the rim because he isn't used to the length of nba players. im guessing that he will adjust to that, like he has adjusted to the palming and traveling calls, but maybe im wrong. when he isn't blocked, he gets a shot up or gets fouled. he hits free throws, better than rafer i might add. when he doesnt go straight to the rim, spanoulis does make great passes. they aren't always assists, but they are great passes that eventually lead to a wide open shot. that's one of the differences that he even pointed out between the nba and the international style; he's used to making multiple passes, which wear out the defense, versus 2 or 3 passes in the nba, letting the defense off the hook. as for his vision, he found hayes cutting at least 2 or 3 times a game early on for an easy bucket, but hayes blew those. as much as i love lucas, he doesn't have nearly the court vision that span has.
I question whether he can break down NBA defenses with ease. I haven't seen him do that. And they frequently go sailing into the front row - this has always been an issue for him pre-NBA. He tries risky passes which look great when they are successful, but they frequently aren't..
people can say the dream team lost because they simply weren't enough of a team, but the fact is that they lost. whats more, they played hard. every one of those USA players wanted to win, because we've already suffered the shame of losing before. i know most people think sending a regular NBA team over there would have dominated the olympics, but that just isn't the case. i do think sending the pistons over there would have gotten the job done, but alot of those teams can hang with nba teams. they have a team concept and a commitment to moving the ball that no team in the nba but the suns and maybe the mavericks have. that movement wears out the defense and creates opportunities that weren't there before. from what vspan said early in the year, he was surprised at how little nba teams pass the ball. i agree completely with that, and think every team would benefit from more ball movement.
Between having Rafer chuck up an ill-advised 3 and having VSpan turn the ball over by throwing it to some hot chick in the front row, I'll take Rafer's 3 every time. At least Deke/Chuck/Juwan-on-a-good-night has a chance at the offensive rebound when we get a shot off.
It would be great if he could be an intangibles type. Then, he wouldn't need the ball to be efficient. The problem therein, lies that he's not that kind of guy, nor does he WANT to be that kind of player. At least that's what I'm getting from his venting. He never points a finger at himself. He wants to be a playmaker, and he's horrible at moving without the ball. We can't change the roles of T-Mac and Yao to fit VSpan. There just isn't room. I would love to see him work at it and see him try to correct some mistakes/ deficientcies before he decides to demand minutes. Remember, he was demanding 15 minutes last season before we let him stay in Greece. I'm sure there were talks of him getting minutes, but I don't blame JVG for not playing him if he's going to cost you. The rewards has not been greater than the risk and he has a lot to work on. If he doesn't realize that, then he'll probably need something like a trade to get the drive to work harder. There has been no proof that he has been working hard at all, regardless of what he implied at the beginning of the season. Sure, there's nothing to say that he hasn't been and knowing how JVG works, there's no way he'd still be on the team if he hasn't been working, but I just can't see him pushing himself to the level as the rest of the team, and I'm not even talking about Yao. The way he's complaining, seems to make me think that he thinks that he's to be depended on and that his game is just fine, which it's not. I'd love to have VSpan in the game, but I would be timid to have him come in a close game and be a difference-maker, which is what he's seemingly wanting. I have a problem with that because one flashy play does not make up for his turnovers, and probably not even 1. He seems to have the mentality of an NBA fan instead of an NBA player, which ultimately is to win games. He needs to make himself an asset and one of the ways to do so is to develop a better jumper. I'm not even talking about a 3 point shooter, but he has to be consistant. A Sam Cassell like player early on would be perfect; someone that could be smart with limited speed to put up midrange jumpers that the opponents will fear. The 3 point range can be developed. Shooting might be something certain people are born with, but you can develop a good jumper by putting some effort into it. A 15-18 foot jumper could help spread the floor too, because that will allow the defense to back off less. While he's playing and holding the ball, it's as if his guy's double teaming Yao at certain times. He's hesitant to shoot the 3 and he measures the basket so often that any advantage from Yao or TMac breaking down the defense has been restored by a rotation shift because of time taken. He also seems to have too much fun bounce passing the ball to Yao and Hayes when he's on the court. I just don't like young players having that "know-it-all" mentality," and from his quotes, it's easy to assume that he's developing that. The "basketball is basketball" quote and the idea that he thinks he should be on the floor when it matters is just an example of how naive his idea of his status as an NBA player is. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of him being our future point guard, but there's a case to be made to be humbled and to be humble. He needs to push himself harder and I don't believe that JVG won't see the difference. I think people are just using this as fuel to make another point against JVG when it really is almost exclusive to think that the relevation would've been different for other coaches in his situation.
he was breaking nba defenses down in the preseason and in the first few regular season games when given the chance. he broke down team USA, and other olympic class teams. he's not allen iverson or steve nash by any means. but there is no question to me that he is the best on our team behind tmac at breaking down the defense. i agree he makes alot of risky passes, but i dont think that is something that can't change. i think he will play conservatively and safely when the situation calls for it. he's a competitor and he likes to entertain the fans, but he's smart and would probably recognize when the situation demands protection and safe passes.
some posters are just so tilted. because Jonathan reports a story and adds his take makes him a company spokesperson. what are you drinking? Talk about shooting the messanger!
And why would they not pass the ball? I can think of a few reasons. 1) ego 2) they want to be heroes 3) they don't play enough with each other to know where everyone will do on cuts, etc. 4) no one's used to being exact role players except for a few. It's not hard to break down a defense if no one would make a side step to watch penetration. The understanding here, is, that VSpan took a lot of dribbles and the defense was very slow to help and rotate. I've seen the Us team counter-rotate numerous times and leaving someone else wide open. And to add insult to injury, VSpan was shooting the ball WELL, but he was very inconsistant during the finals against Spain. There's a lot to be said too, as shooting should be an almost certain must for NBA players to be efficient. Certain guards like Ford, Alston, etc got by even though they shouldn't. I'm not even saying that Alston's good for the Rockets, but his team defense has not been terrible thus far, while Spanoulis can stay with his man better from what I've observed, but not very quick in deciding to double or sidestep to help defense. VSpan could be a good player, if not better. He definitely have some tools that are unique. I would even love to see him play, but I won't bash JVG for him not playing because he's not shown an attitude that could be an asset for years to come. He's not motivating himself in a manner that develops team chemistry. He needs to work on HIS OWN GAME instead of blaming others, especially as a rookie. I'm not going to blame him either because he's young, but he has to understand that the maturity of a ball player is just as important as the game you're playing. He has to understand that he needs to continue to improve his game to be good in the NBA. He seems to think that he doesn't need to develop a jump shot. He seems to think that he's already just that good. Well, news flash: he isn't and he's not looking within himself to be better by the things that he's saying. As I've said previously, he had a couple great games in the World games, but the US team that he played against is not a team, but players put together with talent better than others. I really hope that VSpan will stay a Rocket, but he needs to have a talk with some of the other Rockets to understand that playing together is more important than what one individual could do.
i agree with you that the team is greater than any individual component. and you're right that vspan is going to need a better shot if he wants to last in this league. i do think that vspan understands better than most, probably in the entire league, that the team is greater than the individual. his comments don't indicate that, but his style of play and the fact that he came from the international style of play which is all about the team, suggests that he does understand. i hope he gets his chance to show whether he can or can not help this team, and i hope that is sooner rather than later, for both our sake and his.
i think we just have different takes on the meaning behind his words. i see frustration being vented from an NBA rookie (not one to professional bball though), rather than straight up complaining, and i'm guessing that its simply bc things arent progressing for him as quickly as he originally imagined. he's not the perfect diplomat yao was/is, but on the other hand he has the firey, nastiness that yao lacks. as long as this is a one time vent, then i dont see any reason to throw him under the bus like some have. if on the other hand he really is that full of himself and trying to complain his way onto the court, then i am all for humbling him until he understands what it really takes to succeed in the L. i also wouldnt want him in at the end of a tight/crucial game, its a situation he's not ready for....though its a possibility with the right combination of matchups and his play during the game. vspan has the skills to make it, and from what little i've seen, he does have a decent midrange jumper, so here's to hoping he works his ass off and JVG recognizing how to utilize him and put him in a position to succeed, obviously as a role player supporting yao and mac.
First, I'm not one to say that JLIII lost us that game against Phoenix. We were lucky to compete with them for as long as we did. But at the same time, sometime during JLIII's 4-19 performance in 20 minutes Van Gundy could have tried V-Span to see if he could D-up on Nash/Barbosa or create offense for the team in a more open style of play. And smart b-ball is not running the same offensive sets with different personnel on the floor. I still don't understand this. It's like continuosly throwing Yao the ball when the defense is sitting in his lap, or running McGrady off the high screen repeatedly against Minnesota even though it wasn't affective. This team could still use some diversity on the offensive end when TMAC/YAO are out. We'll no doubt be able to contend with the best in the West, but we will not be efficient enough in my mind in a 7 GM series to beat Dallas/Phoenix when Yao/T-Mac are on the bench. V-Span is not the solution either, but he could be a small part of that creative injection. Playing V-Span in JLIII's spot is not going to drop us to the bottom of the WC or out of the playoff's. I'd rather him have TO trying to create for his teammates than dribble out the clock and take bad shots or put teammates in bad positions. We could debate this all day but I think we all know that we need help at the point, one way or another.
Is there a chance that the Rockets may send VSpan to the D-league for him to get plenty of playing time and get a better feel for the game?
I would love that move if he can't get any play time in the rotation. And the Rockets could recruit him next season.
The best advice to Spanoulis: Cut your hair bald, shave your beard everyday and the short bald guy might start to like you.
