[Rockets.Com] Coming to America

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Spanoulis_eager_to_earn_a_spot-189814-34.html

Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer

HOUSTON -- During his second week in the Bayou City, Rockets rookie Vassilis Spanoulis was already making his first adjustment to life in the NBA.

No, not on the basketball court.

The guard from Greece was instead accepting the fact that he needed to pick something off his hotel's room-service menu.

"I must adjust to American food," Spanoulis said. "Otherwise, I'll lose 10 kilos (about 22 pounds)."

He realizes, of course, that adjustments more challenging than scanning a menu are on the way.

Less than three weeks after helping guide Greece to a silver medal at the FIBA World Championships in Japan, Spanoulis is prepping for his first full course in the NBA.

The Rockets will open training camp Oct. 3 in Houston and the Greek guard has been feverishly preparing by working on his outside shot and playing pick-up games against the likes of Tracy McGrady and Chuck Hayes at Toyota Center.

Spanoulis, 24, is eager to prove that he can quickly translate his skills from abroad into NBA minutes.

"I need to work on my shot and my help defense," Spanoulis said. "But I bring some good qualities. I rely on my quickness, my energy and my good defense. Generally, I'm one more quality guard on this team. I have a lot of confidence in myself. That's why I'm here."

The Rockets can hardly wait to see if Spanoulis can insert those intangibles into their lineup.

Despite coming off an injury-plagued season that netted 34 wins, the Rockets entered the off-season sorely needing more backcourt depth, dependable three-point shooting and more quickness on the defensive end.

Besides acquiring a solid defender (Shane Battier) and a collection of reliable shooters (Battier, Kirk Snyder and Steve Novak), the Rockets signed Spanoulis, a second-round pick from the 2004 NBA Draft, to provide more backcourt depth and quickness to the perimeter.

The 6-foot-4 guard earned himself a contract with Houston after showcasing himself as an aggressive guard in Europe who can create havoc on the defensive end and split defenses with his blazing speed to the bucket. He spent the past season with the Greek league power Panathanaikos Greens, where he became one of the team's stars with 15.5 points per game.

Still, it remains to be seen how quickly Spanoulis will adapt to the American game. Not all European stars have found success in the NBA.

"We have watched his progress very closely," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "It's a big adjustment to come to the NBA from Europe, but he is a hard worker. He wants to be a great player. Everybody is going to like this young man because he is a very hard-nosed player."

Spanoulis isn't too worried about the transition.

Sure, NBA offenses tend to isolate star players more and he'll have to take another step back to sink a three-pointer compared to the international three-point line.

However, Spanoulis believes he's still just playing basketball.

"The philosophy is a new thing for me and the level of player is going to be very high," Spanoulis said. "But it's still basketball. I need to do what the coaches need from me. I've worked a lot on my game and I played with some very good teams and coaches. Competition has made me better."

During Greece's silver medal run at the FIBA World Championships, Spanoulis excited any Rockets fan who stayed up into the wee hours of the morning to view his potential.

The 6-foot-4 guard crashed his body into the lane without much regard for his own well-being and applied the sort of defensive pressure on players bringing the basketball up the floor that the Rockets are hoping to have in the upcoming season.

Then, there was that performance against the Americans.

Spanoulis buried Team USA with a game-high 22 points and sank three of five three-pointers, meaning he was big reason Greece pulled off a stunning 101-95 win to advance to the gold medal game.

He is still working on becoming a consistent three-point threat, but the significance of that performance isn't lost on Spanoulis.

"I'm very proud of it because I did it for my national team and it helped us win a silver medal," Spanoulis said. "Obviously, my (confidence) is very high after that game."

Before the season begins, Spanoulis is hoping to get out of his hotel room and find a place in Houston.

He has only one other goal beyond that for the upcoming season.

"I want to be as good as I can be to help this team win," Spanoulis said. "I don't care about statistics. I don't care about anything else except winning."