RealGM

OK I just wanted to inform all the Jeff Van Gundy defenders and all the Rockets fans that really believe John Lucas III should have been playing over Vassilis Spanoulis last year about what has since happened.

John Lucas III playing in the Italian League for Treviso (Boki Nachbar's old team). The Italian league this year is one of the weakest years it has ever had, one of the worst levels of all time. The league that was always the 2nd best after the Spanish league is now weaker than the Greek league (where Spanoulis is), the Turkish league, the Russian league as well as the Spanish league.

In the Italian league Treviso was off to an 11-15 record in domestic league play when Lucas III was cut from the team because the managers and coach said he was not good enough for the league if the team wants to win.

Also at the continental level Treviso is a ULEB Cup team. For those Americans who do not know, ULEB Cup is not Euroleague. It is run by ULEB the same organization that runs Euroleague, but it is a different secondary level, inferior league, for second level teams.

It is like the Euroleague's version of the NBDL.

Lucas' team Treviso only made it to the 16th finals or sweet 16 for American fans. They only made it to the final 16 round in the Euroleague's league version of the NBDL the ULEB Cup..............

Again, he was cut from the team about 2 weeks after this after they continued to suck in the Italian league championship. Also Treviso was eliminated in the Italian Cup (for Americans that don't know each country has two championships, the league championship and the cup championship) tournament without winning it.

On the other hand Spanoulis:

His team playing in what is this year a stronger domestic league in the Greek league than the Italian league is this year.........

Spanoulis' team is in first place in the league championship so far at 16-2 so far in the season. They are on pace to have home court and favorites in the playoffs.

In the Greek Cup they have advanced to the final championship game and are the favorites to win it. So he is on pace to win both the Greek championship and the Greek Cup championship.

Now Spanoulis' team at the continental level actually competes in the EUROLEAGUE, the real one, not the NBDL version ULEB Cup one like Lucas' team.

In the REAL Euroleague, Spanoulis's team is still alive, and fighting for the final 8 round and is a strong favorite to make the final four of Euroleague.


In the Greek league Spanoulis leads the league in assists, he is 2nd in the league in point guard efficiency (but wait, "he's not actually a point guard" - per JVG and the Spanoulis haters). He leads his team in scoring and assists and is the leading candidate for the Greek league MVP.

In Euroleague competition, he has won the main point guard duties from Sarunas Jasekivicius (supposedly a better player than him per Rockets fans) and has become the #1 option of the team and according to most of the team's fans is now the clear cut MVP of the team in Euroleague too not just in Greek League.

Keep in mind that having the fans of the team say he is the MVP of the team, and the MVP of the Greek league........means something when your teammate is Dimitrios Diamantidis, who is a 3 time Euroleague defensive player of the year, a 3 time Greek league MVP, a 2 time Greek playoff MVP, and the Euroleague Final Four MVP just last year and is in his prime and plays the same position as Spanoulis.

Yet, Spanoulis has become the go to and key player of the team and he is running the point guard NOT Diamantidis or Jasekivicius who have been put in a support role to Spanoulis by the coach.

Lucas.........on his team the star of the team is REECE GAINES. If that is not pathetic I do not know what is. Or that after they cut Lucas he was replaced by Keith Langford a NBDL "star" that has been cut in numerous NBA training camps.

Yes indeed, Lucas goes to a CRAPPY team in Italy that sucks in Italian league, gets eliminated early in the 2nd level NBDL equivalent ULEB Cup and gets cut from the team for poor play, loses the Italian Cup as well.

Spanoulis > team leading Greek championship, he's the MVP of the league so far, team at finals of Greek Cup already, team still alive in Euroleague the REAL one, not the NBDL ULEB one Lucas was in and got eliminated in early. Spanoulis' team strong favorite for Euroleague final four.

Overall on the season, in 18 games in the Greek league, 2 in the Greek Cup, and 18 in the Euroleague, Spanoulis leads the team through 38 games in scoring and assists. This is one of the premiere teams in all of Europe, top 4, and one of the preeminent favorites for the Euroleague championship this year.

There are EXCLUDING Spanoulis on the team, 2 former NBA players, 1 NBA draft pick player, 2 Greek league MVP players, 2 Greek Cup MVP players, 4 Greek league playoff MVP players, 2 Euroleague MVP players, and 2 Euroleague final 4 MVP players on all his same team, yet Spanoulis leads the team in points and assists.

Lucas got cut from a suck ass Italian league /ULEB Cup league team where Reece freakin' Gaines is the star of the team.

I just love how unreal the level of idiocy of JVG and his fans truly is.

Ok......we all know V-Span was alot better than John Lucas III, and we all know that Jeff Van Grumpy was a terrible b-ball coach. so why post this? we replaced van gundy's stupid a$$ with adelman and now we will be competing for a title next season. lets not dwell on the past, especially a past as terrible as the jeff van dumpy experiment

Terrible thread... possibly the worst thread ever.
A couple months ago, you compared V-Span to some of the better PGs in the league. Now you're comparing V-Span to John Lucas III. I think you've started to acknowledge that V-Span was nothing but a scrub in this league.

It's good to see V-Span competing against scrubs like John Lucas III. I hope he crushes them... afterall he's the Greek McGrady.

jvg always sucked for me, he is a nice guy, but he sucks, i always wanted him out since 2 years ago.

T-Mac United wrote::rofl:

Terrible thread... possibly the worst thread ever.
A couple months ago, you compared V-Span to some of the better PGs in the league. Now you're comparing V-Span to John Lucas III. I think you've started to acknowledge that V-Span was nothing but a scrub in this league.

It's good to see V-Span competing against scrubs like John Lucas III. I hope he crushes them... afterall he's the Greek McGrady.

Reading comprehension 101 my friend.

He is not competing against Lucas. Lucas was CUT from an Italian league team. If you do not see how pathetic this makes Van Gundy and his defenders look now for hissing and attacking at all the people that could see the OBVIOUS that Spanoulis was 10 times better and should be playing, then you are just another in the long line of Rockets fans with no b-ball IQ.

You have a player that DOMINATED Luis Scola in the 2006 Euroleague playoffs, when he was a ROOKIE in Spanoulis when their teams played each other, that is benched by a nut case coach for a player that was not even good enough to make it in the Italian league, which is about the 5th best domestic league in Europe this year.

You have the OBVIOUS evidence before you that Scola can play very well and that Adelman is way better than Van Gundy, YET somehow so many Rockets fans still cannot grasp that Spanoulis is one hell of a damn good player.

UNREAL

Like I said, you see what Scola can do with a coach like Adelman, and in the 2006 Euroleague playoffs a rookie named Spanoulis was dominating games in the playoff with Scola's team. Yeah, Spanoulis "sucks", "JVG only plays the players that are the best".................

Dunno anyone that thought Lucas should play over VSpan.

JVG is a great basketball coach...especially defensively. If you have him coach a team like the Pistons for example..he would lead them to a championship. He needs a team with a balanced offensive attack to be a successful.

why are you trolling?

Can all members of Spanoulis' family get over the Rockets cutting him already? It's readily apparent that Scola contributed more in his first month than Spanoulis did for an entire year. With the way Spanoulis was throwing the ball away every other possession and missing open shots, most coaches in the NBA would have had an ulcer. Well, maybe not Isiah Thomas.

And Lucas barely got playing time under JVG. It was under 10 MPG for 40 something games. But then again, let's not have facts get in your way.

Never mind that the International game is a lot different from the NBA.

Got em Coach wrote:why are you trolling?

I'm not trolling. I have extensive basketball knowledge. I am a long-time player and coach and I am Greek. I have seen many players over the years come and go both in Greece and the US.

And I was shocked and dismayed at how the coach of the Rockets, and also the management for allowing it treated Spanoulis. But moreso by how the Houston fans mercilessly atacked and bashed the guy simply for being upset he was being railroaded. And how he is universally labeled a scrub with no talent.

Let me tell you all something, there are very, very few that have come along with his talent. Joe Dumars told me himself he had the most amazing draft workout he ever saw.

I've seen players come through Greece like Nick Galis (who was Allen Iverson with a brain) and even he does not have Spanoulis' ability. Obradovic who is widely called the best coach in the WORLD, the same coach that Popovich asks for help and advice and for suggestions on the game............

He calls Spanoulis "The Chosen One" and he will tell you he is without question the most gifted player he has ever seen in Europe.

The Rockets GM Morey is brilliant, he turned a horrible situation caused by Morey into Scola a hell of a damn good player. Props to this great manager also for dropping Van Gundy and getting a fine, fine coach in Adelman.

BUT.............Rockets fans STILL cannot grasp reality with Spanoulis and it is very, very sad. He is much more talented than Scola and he was completely ruined by a stupid coach. His confidence was so destroyed that he has confided that within a month or so of joining the team he had completely lost his spirit.

There are very very few point guards that ever come along with his abilities.

Lakers_4_Life wrote:

Got em Coach wrote:why are you trolling?

I'm not trolling. I have extensive basketball knowledge. I am a long-time player and coach and I am Greek. I have seen many players over the years come and go both in Greece and the US.

And I was shocked and dismayed at how the coach of the Rockets, and also the management for allowing it treated Spanoulis. But moreso by how the Houston fans mercilessly atacked and bashed the guy simply for being upset he was being railroaded. And how he is universally labeled a scrub with no talent.

Let me tell you all something, there are very, very few that have come along with his talent. Joe Dumars told me himself he had the most amazing draft workout he ever saw.

I've seen players come through Greece like Nick Galis (who was Allen Iverson with a brain) and even he does not have Spanoulis' ability. Obradovic who is widely called the best coach in the WORLD, the same coach that Popovich asks for help and advice and for suggestions on the game............

He calls Spanoulis "The Chosen One" and he will tell you he is without question the most gifted player he has ever seen in Europe.

The Rockets GM Morey is brilliant, he turned a horrible situation caused by Morey into Scola a hell of a damn good player. Props to this great manager also for dropping Van Gundy and getting a fine, fine coach in Adelman.

BUT.............Rockets fans STILL cannot grasp reality with Spanoulis and it is very, very sad. He is much more talented than Scola and he was completely ruined by a stupid coach. His confidence was so destroyed that he has confided that within a month or so of joining the team he had completely lost his spirit.

There are very very few point guards that ever come along with his abilities.

Awesome, we've got the Greek Allen Iverson and Popovich's mentor as well, who also happens to be Greek. Ironic no? You're totally not delusional or lying. P.S. Popovich spoke out against Van Gundy's firing. But what does he know? He's probably an idiot.

It's insane the amount of attention that a marginal NBA player has generated these past two seasons. We understand that he's a good international player, but he just couldn't cut it in the NBA. Better European players have failed, like Sarunas who was regarded as the best player in Euroleague, period.

I'm giving this thread the lock.