I'm thinking someone more along the lines of Sarunas Marciulionis. A slightly smaller version of him.
People who're saying Vspan should get PT over Alston...Please step back and weight the pros and cons of each player. What Vspan has right now, objectively, is a broken shot, inability to finish consistently at the rim, and being prone to turnovers. What he can do well now, is play the passing lanes, play with cojones, and stay in front of his man. For every good defensive possession, Vspan is liable to wreck the ensuing offensive possession by throwing an errant pass or bricking a shot horribly. Alston, for all his deficiencies, hits his fair share of jumpers, has shown that he can drive under control and finish adequately, and is a good passer and rebounder. His shortcoming is that his shot is streaky, and his defense horrible. For all that, Alston is still a more proven player than Vspan, and frankly, proven gets you wins, potential does not. And basketball is ultimately about making plays, and stopping/disrupting them at the other end. Vspan disrupts plays, but as of now, he cannot make NBA plays for nuts. Alston makes plays, though he doesn't do it at a high level, he can make plays and organise the offense. That simple reason is why Vspan is relegated to the end of the bench, and Alston is still playing big minutes. Now, if you wanna bring Lucas III into the equation, that's another issue. He can shoot, he can run, but that's it.
Good. I agree. Add one more thing. Vspan is a foul machine, while some people think a foul is a good defense.
Alston playing as much as he does is just a testament to the fact that V-Span and JLIII simply either aren't ready or aren't good enough. Is there any other way of putting it? Once we have some healthy SG's in the rotation again Head will start to get minutes at the point and we'll start to see Alston's minutes reduced. Until then: BRICK CITY!!
I wonder why the Rockets do not have time to develop a talent in a season which is lost before the new year has begun? Don't dream! The Rockets will definitely not be a contender this year. You cant' become NBA champ by playing Yao an TMAc for 40 mins every game. The Rockets have no bench: At least JVG does not know how to use it. And no team will ever win a championship without th adequate bench.
Ridiculous: Basketball is not chess. If you defend aggressively, it is quite normal to commit a some fouls, especially in a league, where the smallest contact to guars is called (we all know the reasons: favouring Wade&Co...)
The problem is: Spanoulis at the age of 24, being european champ and WC runner up, is not going to play in the NBDL... I know that Spanoulis is mentally very strong and does not give up easily. Next season will be decisive.
Lets face it none of the Rockets PG are playing consistently well this season. I like V-Span but there are several times he makes me want to rip my hair out same with Alston. I like the idea of platooning them, keeping Alston as the starter but bringing in V-Span as a defensive sub and Lucas as for third and early fourth quarter offense when the Rox always seem to slump. If JVG could juggle which one gets more playing time depending on who's hot.
KillBill is going to be good in the NBA.... someday but not today. Sure I would like to see him play more but that shot. OMG. You just know it's NOT going in unlike Novaks. That is how bad it is. It's a miracle that he makes any of his outside shots. As for playing good defense, not really, he stays in front of his man, MOST OF THE TIME, the offense has the upper hand and NOONE stays in front of his man all the time. It's TEAM DEFENSE the Rockets are great at. KillBill is not good at team defense. Alston is not either so it's really a wash on the defensive end. So, that leaves the offensive end and Alston, wards and all, is way better than KillBill right now. Will KillBill get better? Sure. He needs to practice till his hands fall off to improve his shot. Alston did and his shot this year IS better. Once KillBill gets a shot that can be counted on and the defense respects, then his drives will be dangerous. Now his defenders just step back and wait for him to driver because he doesn't have any shot. And TO is killing this team. Do you want a guy that is TO happy to play?
I wish Bill could get more play time. Good PG are precious in the current NBA. Bill gets the potential to be one of them---yes, potential not proven. However, one thing that worries me is that he will never figure it out under JVG. JVG's offense is rigid. Getta be one of the following three: 1) one on one (Yao, Tmac, sometimes Bonzi); 2) PnR; 3) penetrate (by Tmac) and pass out for 3. That is it. Discipline (or, lack of creativity) kills inspiration. Bill looks completely lost... Last thing I want to see is another Nash/Kidd like player ripping his ex-rockets up.
Well, they knew his limitations going in - that he'd have trouble adjusting to and matching up with the bigger and more physical players in the NBA. There's a reason why he lasted to the end of the 2nd round and stayed in Europe for so long and we are seeing it now. The fact that he's not a good outside shooter is probably the main reason why he's on the bench. Rafer does suck but he's a better outside shooter than Spanoulis but at this point in time that's tantamount to saying that here are 2 guys on the Titanic. One is better at the breaststroke while the other is better at the backstroke. In the end, it really doesn't matter because they are both on the Titanic.
I can only imagine the orgasmic sensation that Old Man Rock and edc must have felt when they learned the news of Yao's tough break and the fact that they now have a whole 4 months of being able to crap on Van Gundy and an awful, untalented Rockets squad stumbling around. Visions of sugar plum losses were dancing in their heads. I'm sure it was a joyous christmas in their households.
With a Master's and law degree, I know I am at least not r****ded. I thought you said you were not going to repeat it and let us debate amongster ourselves. Did I envoke you afterwards. I am having fun with you.
Spot on. He is good at pestering his man (sometimes too much so, thus the fouls) but he is terrible at team defense. For some reason he always stops short on rotations and completely allows the offensive player to drive around him. It doesn't make any sense - he is overly aggressive man-to-man at times but he is always too passive and clueless in a team concept. OMR - you seriously seem to have some anger issues. Why do you always insult people if they say VSpan is not playing well yet? I also thought he showed great toughness and aggression in the preseason but I guess he got it handed to him too many times on offense that his last 10 or so games he was very passive in shooting and driving. I think the confidence is not there on his shot and he still has not adjusted to the speed and quality of NBA defenders so he is a little scared to drive.
Rafer ain't great but VSpan (Mr. Turnover Machine) is worse. As bad as Rafer shoots, VSPAN shoots worse. Who cares if Rafer is a poor individual defender. The team has one of the best defenses in the league. So again, Rafer ain't great but VSPan is NOT the answer to our problems. The answer to ALL our problems is getting Yao and TMac healthy. In the meantime, bikering about Rafer is like complaining their arn't enough deck chairs on the titanic.
Right now, Lucas is ahead in the rotation, simply because Spanoulis is a walking TO and can't bring the ball up against pressure. I don't really see V-Span getting significant minutes anymore unless an injury to the backcourt occurs.
