http://hoopshype.com/columns/worlds_lazenby.htm Task proves to be harder than some Americans thought by Roland Lazenby / September 1, 2006 I had hustled all week to work out an interview with Tracy McGrady, who has been touring Asia to promote his adidas shoes. He finally called early Thursday from Hong Kong, and one of the topics of our discussion was the new rookie headed to McGrady's Houston Rockets, Greek guard Vassilis Spanoulis. McGrady had made a point of tuning in and watching Spanoulis in the world championships in Japan. What he saw made McGrady smile. “I really like how he pushes the ball,” McGrady said. “He's going to help us right away.” Now that Spanoulis has scored 22 points and led Greece to an astounding 101-95 win over Team USA in the FIBA World Championships in Japan, the rest of the NBA has an idea of what McGrady is talking about.
good find but its a shame that if he hustled all week to get an interview with tracy that he only puts in a single comment from him...he should write another article with the entire interview. good article overall about vspan and world basketball
I remember months ago I was fuming about the Rudy Gay + Swift for Battier trade. Now watching Battier and VSpan performing in the world series of dice, I do not feel even a little bit anger anymore. Ahh, how quick we change!
I honestly thought V-span would be another Nachbar or Langhi.....a huge let down. But from what I have seen we may a tony paker/Manu ourselves. The thought of that is pretty exciting.
whoaa i think we're getting a little too ahead for ourselves. one good game in fiba doesn't mean you should blow your hopes that high. heck, arroyo has been tearing it up in the world games, yet he does shat in the nba.
Hmm, this Arroyo comparison is very true. He owned the US in 2004 Olympics, but is nothing great in the NBA.
You can say what you want about Arroyo, but he's still a helluva player when healthy and in the right system. He tore it up with Utah. VSPan is here to stay.
Personally, I think Arroyo is better than Alston. I would rather have Spanoulis. The key, is that he is oxymoronic of most Euro's that come out. He is penetrating, he seems to be tough and physical as well. If Spanoulis gives us this year, what Arroyo or Alston give their teams. Than I will be pleased.
Funny you should mentin that... check my first post: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=117360 I don't think Alston is as bad as most people claim. He has great handles, good court vision, pass 1st, low turnovers. Problem is we have T-Mac handling the ball and distributing on the perimeter and Yao handling it in the post. What we need from a PG in a system like this is a guy who can hit open shots off of Tmac/Yao doubles, and a guy who can slow down the Parker's and Nash's of the league. Alston is great at what he does, he does a great job getting Yao the ball, and has a low ast/to ratio. The problem is, while those are nice perks he doesnt do the things that we need to win. Tough D... great shot... man I miss Mike James, even if his basketball IQ was not great at all.
