Well, this doesn't disprove your point at all but there was Arvydas Sabonis, who did pretty well in his first year as a member of the Trailblazers. But as a 31-year-old "rookie," he's definitely an exception. Not arguing with you, just wanted to give Sabas some love. Here's a little info from a Sabas fan site: Sabonis in his first year (1995) averaged 14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.07 blocked shots in only 23.8 minutes per game and ranking seventh in the NBA in field goal accuracy at .545. The Blazers, worried about the pounding his often-injured legs would take over the long NBA season, were careful to limit his playing time, especially in the first half of the season. But by midseason Sabonis was given more playing time and a greater role down the stretch. He was the key to Portland's surge to the playoffs, moving into the starting lineup and helping the team finish the season with an 18-3 run. As a starter he averaged 17.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 blocks per game, and he was the NBA's Player of the Week after helping the team to a 4-0 mark in the period ending March 31.
I think you'll be very disappointed if you believe VSpan is our solution to the PG position. I just don't see how he could be an effective PG in the NBA without a shooting touch. NBA teams can shut down the lanes so he could not always be very effective. He may not look that way at the international level but appears to be quite slow compared to the average NBA players.
If I were VSpan, next time I played on the court, I would concentrate on defense 100% of time. Forget about shooting 3s or making fancy passes, just guard your counterpart well. This is to gain your coach's impression. Assist is the next thing when playing minutes gradually increase while shooting the last. From the limited number of games I watched him played, (just WC games and pre-season games), he is very good at defense (so far one-on-one and need time on transition) and driving to the lane IMHO. I don't want him be traded as I still believe that he will become a very good supplement of Rafer Alston (only with less FGA I guess). Be patient kid, just show your strengths one at a time. You made a silly mistake and now you have to be patient and cultivate your coach by showing him your strengths and determinations every time you gained your minutes. Your may never replace Luther Head's position as the backup 2 guard but I can't see how much effort needed to replace JLIII as the backup PG.
Tony Parker EARNED his playing time by playing well (or at least not as heinous as Spanoulis) in preseason from the moment he was in the game. Also he allegedly doesn't suck in practice the way Spanoulis has all year, supposedly. That is why he was a first round pick as a teenager. He's a much more skilled player, and it showed because he was much more productive as a rookie: Tony Parker through 190 minutes: 88 pts, FG 30-65 (18-33) Assists: 14 TO: 9 Spanoulis through 180 minutes (will drop after tonight) 46 pts, FG 14-46 (4-20) Assists 20 TO: 18
He was referencing the recent complaints from Spanoulis, but I don't think his comments were specifically directed to him. The entire unit -- in particular, Lucas, Novak, and Spanoulis -- played poorly in the fourth and demonstrated why they aren't ready to be productive rotation players. Same thing happened in the previous game. His comments weren't uncalled for at all. JVG is consistent. You don't get extra minutes by complaining. You get them by working hard on your game, improving on your weaknesses, and playing well whenever you get a chance on the court. Please don't tell me that Spanoulis is only struggling because he's playing in garbage time against the other team's scrubs, but if he was playing against quality NBA players he'd all of a sudden become productive. Spanoulis played very well for a few games a few months back, and that earned him about 12 straight games with playing time. But he eventually played himself back out of the rotation. What he needs to do is take advantage of the time he gets on the court, bust his ass, and show the coach it's worth it to play him more. If the Rockets continue to play well in this homestand and blow out these crappy teams, he'll get more opportunities to do this. But he isn't going to get more minutes without earning them; and he sure as hell isn't going to get more minutes by complaining about it. To Billy's credit, I don't think he's doing that anymore.
different players- different situation. Just because they all came from Europe doesn't mean they all can turn out the same. It's like saying that since Olowokandi and Yao were both #1 picks then Olowokandi, if coached right, would be just as good as Yao. Ginobili, Parker, and Dirk all gave their coach reasons to play them in games. Not just because of the pre-season and regular season but a good coach can often tell in practice if a player is ready or good enough.
Just a couple extra points here to emphasize. The whole unit was bad and they were stinking it up before VSpan got his 5 mins. And the worst had to be JLIII with 3 fouls within one minute to go along with a turnover or two and bad shot selection, too much dribbling, etc. etc. JLIII was just awful. Then with 5 minutes JVG takes out Luther for VSpan. And VSpan runs at the 2. Yeah, he committed a couple turnovers. He was just trying to do much and overplayed. The kid needs to learn to relax but the lack of minutes is just killing him when he does get a few minutes and even then he is getting even fewer touches because he's not at the point. He's trying to make too much happen at once in hopes of earning more minutes and getting in the rotation. The first turnover came on a play where he was trying to fake the defender to get a layup. He should have just backed away after a couple of head bobs but he kept trying to make a play. The second turnover was a pick and roll to Hayes. Pass was a little behind, no big deal. It was 5 minutes. In the first 5 minutes of tonight's game, I think Rafer was 0 for 5 minutes (like 3 or 4 shots) and he had at least one turnover. Not exactly stellar. VSpan needs to learn that he is not going to become the starting point guard, even if he could score 25 in 5 minutes and dish15 assists. He needs to just be comfortable that he can only do so much in limited minutes.
DD, you know I don't mean this harshly, but your infatuation with V-Span is over the top. He isn't as good as you think. He won't be our starting PG next year either. At best, he will be a rotation player. I expect a new PG on the team next season will push Rafer into a backup role and V-Span will have to move past Rafer just to make the rotation. For this year, we will either add a PG to take minutes from Rafer or he will get a quick yank in the playoffs for Luther. The "grooming" that everyone likes to talk about is Luther at PG, not V-Span. If Lulu improves enough over the course of the season and returns, that just about guarantees V-Span has no future at PG with the Rockets.
JVG actually said in an interview with the Chron that he just wanted V-Span to develop a shot, not become a full time 2 guard. It was Span who misinterpreted that to the idea you have right now. I think that when Span was playing SG during an earlier stretch, JVG was doing it for his benefit without having to screw the game. Like JVG often says, he wants Span to learn the pacing and the system of the Rox. He was trying to do that without us losing. Unfortunately, with the killer games we met recently, JVG's been forced to postpone Span's development. Look at the Span sightings during the breakout wins recently. I personally think it was a good move.
double d u hit it right on the head..........this is not a thing that van gundy just fumbled tonight.....he constantly keeps the starters in way longer than he is suppose to during a serious shalacking like this i was literally screaming at the tv towards the end of the third quarter.....everybody in the crib thought i was nuts up by almost 40 points............coming onto the 3 minute mark in the third every real integral piece should have been showered and dressed..........van gundy keeps them in like a dumb ass just enough for tracy to tweak his fragile mr glass back in a meaningless blowout very mind boggling if u ask me....i was holdin my breath the whole third quarter
Amazing, you guys just have to find ways to blame JVG for anything. We win HUGE and all you guys have the nerve to complain about JVG playing the starters too much? It's all about having a killer instinct throughout the whole game. You play as hard in a shutout, as you do in nail-biting back and forth game. Yeah the game was over, but were a couple minutes into the 4th going to hurt anyone? 10 guys played at least 10 minutes and only 2 players logged 30 mins or more. And on JVG comments post game, I don't see anything wrong. He directed that one comment to V-Span and he deserved it. He brought it all on himself. If V-span never cried, this would have never happened. And honestly, I rather have a coach who keeps it real and speaks the truth, instead of one who gives a fake smile and sugar coats everything he says. Anyways, NBA players get paid millions, if they can't take a verbal lashing from the coach, they need to get the hell out. Words can not hurt you. The two TOs he got were him handling the ball. The First TO came when he tried to beat his defender off the dribble and lost the ball. The 2nd came when he tried to force a pass to Chuck Hayes. I don't think you can blame those on him being out of position.
I THINK VAN GUNDY IS DOING A MASTERFUL X AND O'S JOB....MAKE THAT CLEAR..... NOW Don't shoot the messenger man....we were up by 30 some odd points....... Its not my fault we have Mr. glass as a superstar.......had mcgrady tweaked his back in some meaningless minutes ........this board would have burst into flames with the traffic and threads just be careful this guy gets hurt with NO CONTACT....get him off the court as much as we can if possible........the extra rest does him good PLEASE LET HIM GET IT............. lord forbid he tweaks it again this season.....expecially in a blowout which was not even close to a comeback......this was over early third.....I think we showed the killer instinct just fine tonight
If you actually think ownership and management approves of Van Gundy's comments then what can anyone say? The only people I can think of in the basketball world of the NBA that had bigger egos are Jordan and Kobe.
A_3PO, It is hardly an infatuation, but I get tired of people bashing the guy when I feel he has not gotten a chance. I also think that you need to develop players on the court, and not just in practice....but JVG does not agree...and he is the coach. DD
