He played great against China. I was actually surprised that the Greeks came out to try to win this game, considering they are now in the USA and Argentina bracket. Still V-Span's statline against China was really nice: 19 pts on 8-10 shooting 5 assists 1 turnover 3 steals in only 26 minutes of playing time. Greece vs China Box score He is the 10th leading scorer in the entire tournament, just behind Lebron. Nice game. DD
Let's hope that in 2010....Lebron does not decide to become the Lebron of Greece. I really like watching Greece's offense the way they move the ball around inside and out, and with guard penetration, it reminds me a little of the old Rick Adelman Kings. DD
I would take Spanoulis over Alston in a heartbeat. I see Spanoulis as the better player when it comes to organized basketball. The more I watch him play, the more I think he could have been a solid NBA PG. He has good handles, can penetrate, has good size and quickness, has very good court vision and passing skills, plays ferocious defense and can shoot the ball well. I don't think I would take him over Scola but if the opportunity existed, I would bring him back to Houston without any hesitation.
LOL - I don't know how people can say things like this with a straight face. In case you forgot, he was here for a year. On offensive he was a turnover-prone monster due to his very European style of driving into the lane then jumping up and the air and flipping the ball out to the three point line - That play works in the barnyard leagues but it had horrific results when employed here as he found out - NBA defenders are simply too good, the lane is too narrow and the three point line is too far away. he doesn't run an offense so much as occasionally work a two man game on the pick and roll - so basically what we have is a 6-3 shooting guard who can't shoot - the anti-luther head. On defense - pardon me for laughing uncontrollably at his "ferocious defense". The guy was hopeless on defense in the NBA, and as previously noted, was audacious enough to publicly humiliate himself by acknowledging that he was too lazy to learn to play man to man and suggest that the best (or 2nd best) defensive team in the NBA switch to zone for his own personal benefit. That's stunningly absurd - that's akin to Ryan Bowen demanding to be a featured weapon on offense or Chuck Hayes demanding the ball on the perimeter to close out the game. He needs to be a big fish on a small team - being an NBA role player wouldn't suit him, he's not mentally capable of doing it. We know this for a fact, by his own admission. Not sure why people need to rehash it with a side order of silly.
I remember in Manu's rookie year, he was on TNT being interviewed by Magic Johnson and Magic asked him how much of an adjustment was it to go from being "The man" to a role player. And Manu was like (and I am paraphrasing) "Magic, I miss it so much, it is so different as a way to play. I am used to having the ball and make the decision every time, here I need to defer more often, I miss it so much" Magic was laughing and basically said he understood....... Manu eventually got to that level, but it took a few years and time for him to learn the NBA game and get his teamates and coaches trust. I am dissappointed that V-Span did not have the same attitude. I think today's version of V-Span is better than the one that left the Rockets, he plays more under control, but still attacks the basket....I have no doubt that if he wanted to, he could be a quality NBA player. But the V-Span haters are right, by him leaving it sends a message that he didn't want to put in the effort. And putting in the effort is part of being a quality NBA player..... I guess we will have to wait to see if he ever comes over, if he does, he should be smart about picking a proper situation where they play his style of game......but personally, I doubt he will ever leave Europe, he is a big fish in a small pond (as Sam pointed out) and the money being about equal in the NBA and Euro league for players in the 4-10 range on NBA teams, why would he leave? DD
I should have said I would like to have Spanoulis back if he came with the right attitude. If you don't think a player can improve their attitude, I guess you're not optimistic about Artest joining the Rockets. Artest's issues were not just related to his temper, either. He has been known to be a ball stopper and poor decison maker, as well. As far as the types of mistakes that Spanoulis made in his limited time on the court during his one season in the NBA, I believe that he just needed time to adapt much like most other international players that come over here. Spanoulis has a lot of talent and high basketball IQ. If he had stayed here for a few seasons, he would have adapted and figured out how to be effective in the NBA, in my opinion. I also don't see Spanoulis as an undersized SG. I see him as a 6'4 PG that can also play SG. Some people think that a scoring guard can't be a PG. Spanoulis has great court vision and more than enough ball-handling and playmaking skills to be an effective PG. The fact that he can also penetrate and score the ball just makes him that much more of a threat. It sounds to me like you are prematurely judging a foreign player based on one year in a new environment. I'm not sure why you are so sure that you are right but it sounds like you just want to prove DaDakota wrong, regardless of the topic. You simply are not an expert and don't know that what you are saying is fact. If people passed judgment on guys like Dirk Nowitzki, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker after their first season, they would have been out of the league before winning MVPs and helping to win championships. The fact is you don't know for sure that Spanoulis is not NBA material (even though you act like you do) just like supporters of Spanoulis don't know for sure that he is NBA material. It's all about having an opinion as a fan (not an expert) in this forum. The fact is that Spanoulis CHOSE to leave before fans or experts could find out what he could do. It is also highly likely that he would still be in the league if he didn't choose to leave and it is hard to imagine that he wouldn't have learned, adapted and improved over time. The Rockets didn't want him to go and neither did the Spurs. If Spanoulis wanted to come back, he would have plenty of suitors. Based on what I heard from the broadcasters during the China vs Greece game, Team USA coaches highly regard Spanoulis and compared him to former NBA players. That means a lot more than any of our opinions.
Artest is an NBA all-star quality player, we know this because he has demonstrated it in the NBA - so yes I am more than willing to accept questionable behavior from him than from Spanoulis. It would be dumb NOT to exercise a double standard here. he was far behind most other international players - and was unwilling to adapt or even try so at this point this is just a pipe dream where you're saying "if he improved and became good, he'd be good!" I agree with that but then what's it worth? Very little of this came out in the NBA in which he was the antithesis of a ball handling playmaker and instead a guy who tried to be one and was bad at it. There is Tony Parker and Ginobili again - those guys were far, far better players from Day 1 than Spanoulis ever was (so was Luther Head) - nobody ever said that about them because nobody could say that with a straight face. I don't think Dirk showed much as a rookie but then he was 19, not 24. And of course he didn't sulk and quit and demand to be treated as a superstar from the get-go either. I know for sure that he's not because he's not and chose not to be. He was the worst player on the Rockets his one season here. He quit and went back home - I don't see where "he coulda been great!" comes from, other than the fact the prove-a-negative rheorical device that is the #1 refuge of Spanfans. He wasn't great, now he's gone.
I would rather give the volunteer towel-boy opening to a teenager from the Houston area. That is a special position for a young fan, and I fear Spanoulis would take that position for granted. He is also too slow to wipe the sweat up between plays.
I was a Spanoulis fan who I thought he deserved a better shake from the Rockets and an opportunity to start at pg. But after watching Spanoulis in this Olympics I would say he isn't as good as I originally thought nor do I see much chance of improvement. He definitely could find a role on some team in the NBA. He plays hard and drives to the basket strong, is a clutch shooter but he is not a legitimate pg. He is inconsistent with his shot and still makes unforced errors. And worse a year and half later he hasn't shown much improvement. He had a great game against USA 2 years ago but that was probably his best game of his career. I still think he could play in the NBA but only as a reserve and in the end getting Scola for him was a better deal for the Rockets.
Agree with your conclusions and also with DoD's comment. V-Span made the right decision for himself. IMO, it wasn't so much a matter of him being a "quitter". He simply figured out where he belonged in the basketball world.
