Yao Ming: Let's Hope VSpan Will Have His Change of Fortune

Wow - unless we can break them all down this is a pointless argument.

He has had a fair number of passes to the 4th row, and a fair number that his teamates didn't handle very well.

Both can be fixed with familiarity and playing time, but that is not going to happen this year, hopefully next.

As to whether he can be a player, some say he can (me) others think he can't.

In time we shall see who is right.

DD

 

Yao definitely will be a good politician! His PR skills are damn good!

 

I seriously suspect that Billy is going to take the Boki path -- leave Houston and turn into a decent player somewhere else.

 

I don't want anyone re-inventing the wheel in a year or anything, so what exactly do you mean by "others think he can't". From what I've seen, the majority of people arguing against you are saying he doesn't deserve time on the court now based upon how he has played to-date. I won't say VSpan will never be a player - since I'm not at practice or behind the scenes, I don't know what he's not getting or where JVG is getting on his case. Does this mean 2 or 3 years down the road he can't be a good player? No, of course not. My argument is the guy doesn't deserve much more time than he's getting now based upon how he's playing now.

 

You forgot they're both white too.
All i can say is JVG is prolly AJ's favorite coach too ( as in favorite punching bag that is).

 

LOL, that cartoon's funny but cold. They're not even deemed worthy of uniform numbers.

 

Poor vspan lol. Big Jake gets drag into it too even though his situation is different and is getting more game time than span. Although one thing I noticed is that span is now more comfortable with his situation and realized he needs more time.
In the last few games he seems to be a lot more involved eg joking around with players during the shoot around before the game, being more active in the team huddle etc. That could definitely play a vital role in keeping him focused and trying harder.

 

ha ha, that is funny with Colin picking for Yao. Thanks for sharing.

OK I don't think this accounts for a new thread, but I found a few players brackets on rockets.com (Battier, Jake, Head, Lucas, Novak) Jake's the only player with all 4 final four teams left. Battier and Novak were homers having Duke and Marquette in the final four.

I wish we could have got Yao, V-Span, and Rafer's picks. Rafer said in his blog that he is bracket expert and would have had the best bracket on the team but didn't turn his in on time.

 

Fair enough comments D.o.D.....but there are a good number of people saying he is garbage, and will be back in the Euro leagues before too long.

And, I concur there are a good number of people who think he is not ready, which is the camp you fall into....noted.

DD

 

Nah, I think what they're trying to say is that he should play with players who are normally in rotation and have chemistry (say, Chuck, Battier, T-mac, Yao). He usually plays with guys like Novak and Lucas, plus he's out of position (with Lucas, that makes the backcourt small, w/ a bigger guy usually guarding Span). The coach isn't exactly making any kind of development easy for him.

Chinese saying: "Travel with thy equal or thy better, else travel alone."

 

Honestly, I think maybe part of the problem is the size issues. JVG has several "small guys" on this team where the oppositions pgs are the only people that they can match up with defensively, so he makes our "small guys" PGs.

Something I would like to see them try is to have Lucas be the 2 and Vspan be the 1 on offense when they are in scrub minutes. Then let them play defense opposite, Lucas on the PG and Vspan on the SG. Just to see if Vspan makes turnovers or is smart about running the offense. We know now what Lucas is going to do at the point, 90% of the time he will dribble a bit and then shoot.

Most of the time I don't really watch the garbage minutes too closely, but is this something that has been tested?

 

I have wanted that for a while too, it plays into both of their strengths.

DD

 

Coaches tend to put scrub players together with each other on end of games where the outcome is already decided, that way the more important players don't have a chance to get injured and saving them for the next game. Hence the names scrub players and garbage time.

Guess who our scrub players are...hint...you've already mentioned them but are not named Chuck, Battier, TMac, Yao.

 

Vspan has caught to the NBA style of game and this will take a couple of years. I see him contributing in 2008 at Rafer's expense. BTW, Rafer please take a look at Jamal Tinsley's floater compared to yours. You're right, no comparison.

 

I actually saw VSpan handle the ball alot the last garbage time which was the 76ers game. I really don't think there is a designation of PG/SG in JVG's system. I know he considers SG and SF as wing players then he has ballhandlers which I guess JLIII and VSpan are, so they are interchangeable depending on matchups.

Now I want to review that 76ers game again for the garbage moments.

 

Yeah, lol, me too. Luckily I still have it on my DVR so I can do that tonight. It would be interesting to do an efficiency stat analysis on when Vspan starts the offense and when JL3 starts the offense during those "garbage" minutes. Passes, assists, turnovers, FGs stuff like that.

I think you are right about the not really having a set PG and SG in the offense as well. We know that different sets have Tmac or Rafer (Head) starting the offense.

I need more time to study Rockets games! LOL its tough having a life outside of watching basketball!