At lease initially, I don't think he WILL be used. It's only been two preseason games of course, but thus far he hasn't shown anything to prove that he's ready to be on the court. Not that JL3 has been anything resembling a stud thus far, but he's clearly farther along than Span is at this point, probably due to the fact that he's actually been in an NBA game or two before. Right now Span is clearly behind both Rafer and JL3 on the pg depth chart, and he's behind Head, too, if JVG is really serious about him playing the point. We have so many capable shooting guards right now that it's entirely unlikely that Span will see any minutes at the two. My question is, whose minutes is V-Span going to take away? Right now, the only possible answer is JL3's minutes, but JL3 has clearly outplayed V-Span (without looking outstanding) thus far into the preseason. And that's forgetting for a moment that JL3 probably isn't going to be playing a whole lot of minutes to begin with.
Yao Battier McGrady Wells Alston That is where your bulk of the minutes are going to go. Snyder (he can come in at SF or SG) Head (he can come in at PF or SG) are going to get quite a few minutes too. Howard Mutumbo are proven guys who are not as productive as they used to be, but should get minutes each an every game. They are smart savvy veterans who know their roles when they are on the floor. Hayes Lucas V-Span Novak And the last 2 spots will be decided between, Sura Padgett Bowen Jacobson Azubike (I know I got his name wrong, but its something like that)
Right, which is why V-Span will get more minutes then JL3 - because JL3 is always going to be average, but V-Span despite his flaws as more upside.
I agree with the earlier post - I see Wells coming off the bench to give the Rockets some offense when they spell Tmac/Yao. He will be one of those 6th man who gets decent minutes and finish a game but rarely start....unless Snyder really blows it, I think Van Gundy wants him out there with Yao/Tmac to be a pesky defender and a finisher when they create turnovers with that first unit. I also tend to think VSpan may see some minutes as a backup when we face bigger PGs. As long as he proves he won't be tunrover prone, he could be a reasonable alternative to going from Rafer(small) to JLIII(smaller). By the way - am I the only one who worries about Deke's minutes at such an advanced age? I think VG uses Deke OR Howard to spell Yao depending on the matchup. If the other team's center is killling us with shot blocking(the Ben Wallaces of the world), you better believe Van Gundy puts Howard at the Center for his shooting while Yao rests- he is decent at hitting that midrange jumper and he's the next biggest "Big" outside of Yao/Deke. Trust me - Howard will see more minutes than we think.
After missing at least the first four preseason games and a number of practices, I'm convinced that Bonzi will start the season as the 6th man. Barring that he picks up JVGs system extremely quickly, he'll likely come off the bench as he has simply not had enought to develop chemistry with the other players or get in shape. I'd honestly be suprised if this was his role for the entire season though. As much as I like the idea of him coming off the bench for some extra offense when one of Yao or TMac are out, I think he'll also be very effective playing down low in place of Battier on the offensive end. V-Span I don't see having any impact on this team for at least another year. The guy looks pretty lost out there and it's going to take him some time to get used to the speed of the NBA game. As JVG has already mentioned though, he seems to have the attitude that will keep him determined to improve. I think JLIII could make the necessary progress during the remainder of the preseaon to be the backup point. However, that would also cut into Head's minutes, who seems poised for a breakout year.
I don't know. It all depends on how the practices go, I think. Van Gundy's a guy who rewards the guys that practice well. If he thinks JL3 is earning the minutes in practice, I think he'll be the one getting the garbage minutes. Not that I'd be shocked to see Span get some time on the court this season. He clearly DOES have some of the tools to be an NBA rotation player; JVG has said as much. I'm certain that he won't be held back, but he's going to have to earn anything he gets.
It's highly likely that if they both make the teams, which they should considering they have gauranteed contracts and no non-gauranteed players have considerately outplayed them, they will both get garbage minutes together.
After watching the Dallas game (10/17), I just don't know what the rotation is anymore... V-span made the biggest improvement from one game to the next that I've seen in a long time. He seems very controlled today. Although he made some dangerous passes, it was nothing Rafer wouldn't do. I thought he was the best player in the game this for our team, because he made excellent, but more importantly safe, plays for everyone. It looks like lucas is going to be behind him in the rotation. Snyder seems like he would be a good spark plug off the bench, even more so than a starter. Although he would work as a starter, I he was much more aggressive when posting up, something that he couldn't do when yao and t-mac were in the game. Head was good today, and he isn't any less clutch. On certain nights we could see a rotation of Tracy, Yao, Batman, Novak, and him playing in the fourth quarter. What I noticed in these three games is how well he moves without the ball. His speed was amazing, and I think he is our most active player. I wouldn't be surprise if he starts. Novak. Im just excited saying his name. He's gonna help big time. We all know about his shooting, so there isn't much to say but it's so beautiful! I think we found our new FRANCHISE PLAYER!!! Btw, he's not a bad defensive player. Juwan hasn't played at all in the past three games. Van Gundy commented that he knows what he gets from Juwan so there's no need to play him but come on....Old man Dike played some minutes the preseason. I sure hope this means what I think it means. Cuts: I think that Buike, Scotty, Sura, Haryasz, and CJ I know we have 19 contracts, but I don't see any of these guys sticking to the team unless CJ gets signed for insurance at shooting gaurd, or Padgett gets signed for his mad clutch lol.
I feel the same way.. about Bonzi. The difference between them, is that Snyder while preferring the low post, cuts and slashes just as well. And in his career, has been more capable, or just plain capable when compared to Bonzi at hitting threes. This, and Snyder's preason display, along with JVG stating Bonzi's only hurting his minutes by missing practices and most of the preason.. I really don't see how Snyder WON'T be starting by the time the regular season rolls around.
you know what i think, this may not sound logical or reasonable, but both synder and wells hasn't prove that they are the starter when season offically open. (that's doesn't mean they won't toward the mid or end of the season) I think JVG may place head as our starting SG for now, until one of those guys can surface as our starter. alston/killbill/JL3 head/wells/synder tmac/novak/bowen battier/howard/hayes Yao/hayes/deke everyone else cut gone bye bye.
Well, my reasoning is from seeing him play with the starters and with the bench, he seems to be playing much better with the bench. I like his defense, though. Like i said, he wouldn't hurt us as a starter, but I'd prefer him on the bench. My name isn't Jeff Van Gundy though so my opinion doesn't matter . I like the idea of having head in the starting lineup but not when he has to gaurd someone like kobe...that's when snyder should be starting. Overall, I think we should rotate between him and snyder over the course of the season. One inconsistent position in the starting line-up won't hurt us, we're not Detroit. Bonzi is a capable slasher, but your right; he can't hit the three. We have alot of quality gaurds. i just don't know how we're gonna fit them all in. Head will play the 1 and 2, Billy will play the 1 primarily, bonzi and snyder will play the 2 and 3...Then novak will play the 3 and 4. Then we have hayes or howard to play the 4 and 5. 10 players. Not bad. I think it'll work out that way but im still confused.
