<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Billy (as Spanoulis is known) is physically and mentally tough," Van Gundy said. "He has great quickness. He is a high-turnover guy right now, so the ball sometimes goes to us and sometimes to them. He does have good creativity. He's going to have to improve his range shooting. He will be played as a driver. He's going to have to continue to work on the NBA 3 so he can keep people honest. "He has not played particularly well in the first two days, but I just feel he's going to be a good player in time. He's got too many good qualities and the right mental makeup versus more physically gifted players who have come over. I just believe this guy has the right mental makeup to be a good NBA player. "The ball is all over the place right now ... and he makes some plays right now that guys are frankly not ready to catch. I like what I see. I don't know if he's ready to contribute immediately, but I like what I see."</div> Link Apparently, right now Spanouliss is not performing that well in training camp, but it's good to see that JVG has confidence in the guy.
Why anybody thought this kid would come in and take the starting spot right away is beyond me. He played great against the U.S. in the WBC but not so much against others, which shows he is definitly competitive and can rise to the occasion. I compared him a while back to a Jason Williams. The good will come with the bad but flashes of his ability will impress. WBC allowed a lot of contact on the perimeter and gave no superstar calls to the U.S. which looked like it really frustrated them. No way will he get away with that in the NBA.
yea.. i wuz reading this article in the paper today while eating my wataburger... i think he still needs to get used to the NBA play, and used to the regulation NBA ball, since the euro ball's are a little smaller, from what i heard.
I think some of you guys severely lack reading comprehension skills. So take a deep breath, adjust your glasses, and really take a good look at what Van Gundy is saying... "The ball is all over the place right now ... and he makes some plays right now that guys are frankly not ready to catch. I like what I see. I don't know if he's ready to contribute immediately, but I like what I see." To me, that's not so much a knock on Vassilis' playmaking ability, but more a comment about his tendency to expect too much from his new teammates so early. He's fresh off of going deep in the World Championships with the Greek national team, a group of guys that played extremely cohesive team basketball. Vassilis wasn't "all over the place" against the US team when he spanked them, and his teammates sure looked like they were ready to catch his passes. I just think his brain is set to a higher gear than everyone else's right now. He's used to the other 4 guys knowing where he wants them to be and where he's going to put the ball. It will come with time. Other than that particular comment, he's got nothing but praise for the guy. Coming from Van Gundy, you know that means he's a player.
<div class="quote_poster">Sniper Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I think some of you guys severely lack reading comprehension skills. So take a deep breath, adjust your glasses, and really take a good look at what Van Gundy is saying... "The ball is all over the place right now ... and he makes some plays right now that guys are frankly not ready to catch. I like what I see. I don't know if he's ready to contribute immediately, but I like what I see." To me, that's not so much a knock on Vassilis' playmaking ability, but more a comment about his tendency to expect too much from his new teammates so early. He's fresh off of going deep in the World Championships with the Greek national team, a group of guys that played extremely cohesive team basketball. Vassilis wasn't "all over the place" against the US team when he spanked them, and his teammates sure looked like they were ready to catch his passes. I just think his brain is set to a higher gear than everyone else's right now. He's used to the other 4 guys knowing where he wants them to be and where he's going to put the ball. It will come with time. Other than that particular comment, he's got nothing but praise for the guy. Coming from Van Gundy, you know that means he's a player.</div> Hmm, interesting view. I took it as "V-Span isn't doing so good right now" .. But reading it again, I understand your view. VSpan is a bit ahead of others trying to make plays happen that the other players aren't accustomed to making. I guess he's trying to play at the Greek's pace. I want to see him work with the Rockets more and I am looking forward to him playing.
The kid got serious skills. We don't know how it'll translate in the NBA, but I'm glad Van Gundy is being patient with him. Sometimes Van Gundy can be too negative. We'll see what the guy's got by midseason.
I think JVG likes him because he is the type to take charges and play agressive D. No doubt he is creative and the guys are going to have to keep there hands up or get hit in the face when he is in there. I just don't think he will be close to having the trust JVG likes in a starting PG.
<font color=""SeaGreen""><u>The Good:</u></font> -Jeff Van Gundy has become more convinced that Spanoulis belongs in the NBA after several seasons in Greece. -"Billy (as Spanoulis is known) is physically and mentally tough," -"He has great quickness." -"He does have good creativity." -"He will be played as a driver." -"I just feel he's going to be a good player in time. He's got too many good qualities and the right mental makeup versus more physically gifted players who have come over. I just believe this guy has the right mental makeup to be a good NBA player." -"I like what I see. I don't know if he's ready to contribute immediately, but I like what I see." <font color=""Red""> <u>The Bad:</u></font> "He is a high-turnover guy right now, so the ball sometimes goes to us and sometimes to them." -"He's going to have to improve his range shooting." -"He's going to have to continue to work on the NBA 3 so he can keep people honest." -"He has not played particularly well in the first two days." -"The ball is all over the place right now ... and he makes some plays right now that guys are frankly not ready to catch." ------------------ Everything negative about V-Span seems like it can easily be fixed with time, and hard work. Which is expected for a rookie coming from the Euro style of basketball. Just be patient everyone.
