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damn long story made up by a n00b forum
Found this over on the Rockets board and thought it was hilarious. It has generated a lot of discussion and insults lol. Thought it would be amusing to post it here. Whether or not the story is true or not is another story. If Vspan did say these things then there are probably some embellishments to it.
VSPAN BLOG
It was just announced in Athens media that the Spurs have now signed Ime Udoka and now have 14 players under contract and only have one roster spot open and would like to add both draft picks Marcus Williams and Tiago Splitter, but because of Splitter's buyout may not be able to add him.
They have Williams unsigned and also would like to add another big man.
Apparently the buyout with Spanoulis was agreed upon, UNTIL France and Greece just played each other.......
The report comes from Panathinaikos team reporter and seems to indicate that there chances of signing Spanoulis have dropped.
They reported that after the France vs. Greece game Tony Parker called up Greg Popovich and R.C. Buford and requested that Spanoulis not be bought out and that Marcus William's roster spot go to him.
Apparently Parker told the Spurs that Spanoulis is much better than Jacque Vaughn or Beno Udrih and that he is ready to step in and be the primary backup immediately.
It was also reported that after the game Parker insisted on dining with Spanoulis and was insistent on convincing him to say with the Spurs.
It was reported interestingly enough that Spanoulis told Parker that his father had recently died and that his mother had become very depressed over this and was suicidal. He had asked for a leave of absence from the team and Jeff Van Gundy denied it he said that a radio cast mentions this is rumored to be the final straw for Spanoulis with Van Gundy.
They also apparently reported that Spanoulis has now changed his mind after talking to Parker after Parker told him that Popovich plays no favorites and that Rafer Alston would have never played over him in SA.
Spanoulis has supposedly now informed the Spurs GM that he wants to play in SA and also it was said that Buford wants to keep him, but because Spanoulis changed his mind after they signed Udoka they might not be able to, but they might work a trade to keep him because they believe he is "another Manu."
This is really good part below, this comes from what my brother says Vassilis told him..........
Supposedly Spanoulis now "hates the city of Houston and the Rockets fans" because,
1. Jeff Van Gundy made up the whole "I was T-Mac in Greece" thing and the press knew it and printed it just because Van Gundy told them to. That the radio people talked about it just because Van Gundy told them to even though they admitted to Spanoulis that Van Gundy told them it was made up.
2. The fans believed it was true and mercilessly mocked Spanoulis for it.
3. After he had asked for a family leave because of his mother's ill health after his father's death and Jeff Van Gundy denied it, Spanoulis' mom called up team GM "CD" and assistant GM Daryl Morey and asked them if Spanoulis could come home. Jeff Van Gundy would not agree to it, threatening to suspend him and sue him if he breached his contract. The Rockets management disagreed but according to Spanoulis always did what Van Gundy wanted.
Van Gundy then went to the press according to Spanoulis and leaked to them that "his mom cried on the phone and begged for her son to come back" and told the writers to put in a context that made Spanoulis look bad.
The fans then again ruthlessly attacked and mocked his mother without knowing what was going on.
4. Spanoulis said that he told the Rockets after the playoffs he would never play for them again because he didn't believe anything they told him.
His story is the Rockets GM and Vice President promised him 20-25 minutes of playing time before he signed with them and that at training camp he was told by them he would start over Rafer Alston after the first week of scrimmages. Then Jeff Van Gundy later told him he would not play all year because his wife had ordered him not to play him since he was a rookie and that might cost some games, which could cause Jeff Van Gundy to lose his job and his wife told Jeff Van Gundy that she would not accept "less spending money." This according to Spanoulis was the reason given for why Jeff Van Gundy told him "you will not play as long as I'm in charge. Go back to Greece where they still play basketball in barns."
Spanoulis says that both Yao and Mcgrady went to Van Gundy requesting that Spanoulis start because in practice he was always abusing the other point guards. They were apparently told to shut up and tow the team line.
Spanoulis says that when some fans began asking why Spanoulis was not playing, Van Gundy instructed a Houston reporter to "make up a story that Spanoulis had played horribly in practice and that he would not make it in the NBA."
This in contrast to him actually abusing Rafer Alston in practice. From Spanoulis' story this was confirmed by the Rockets former GM CD who was told to "go fu** himself" by Van Gundy when he told the coach that after watching practice he saw Spanoulis was by far the best point guard.
Spanoulis claims that he regularly read the Houston fans forum clutchfans.net and noticed that many of the fans there actually believed he was "terrible" and were brainwashed by the politics of Van Gundy. He now "has zero respect for the fans of Houston."
5. On his exit interview with the Rockets new GM Daryl Morey, Spanoulis was told by Morey that Shane Battier told the GM Spanoulis was the third best player on the team and it was not even close and that he had asked Van Gundy why he was being benched and Van Gundy had told him "I asked CD (is this the other GM?) for a new starting point guard because Rafer Alston is a joke, I told him I wanted Mike James back. CD told me I could go after him. What happened was Mike agreed to play for us, then CD set it up behind my back so they would not sign him and made up bogus excuses about trade kickers and options.
They intended all along not to sign him because they wanted Spanoulis. They've been on his jock for years. I told CD specifically that I didn't want any Euro trash on my team and that the guy sucked. Dennis (??) made me watch tape of him and I was so pissed off when I saw how good the guy was. So I decided to make it a point that I would bench the fu**** just to piss off the management so much that they would never go against my player requests again. Even though Spanoulis is clearly much better than Mike James I had to make a point to them and I did."
Per Spanoulis' story Morey then told him that Van Gundy would be fired and that his antics were so out of control and had caused so many problems on the team that it was "beyond disastrous." Spanoulis claims Morey told him that he could not even stand to be in the same room with Van Gundy and called him the "Napoleon coach."
6. Spanoulis had his agent fly to Houston and have a meeting with "CD". CD called Van Gundy up to his office and told him to play Spanoulis or he would be fired. Van Gundy agreed. Spanoulis says after the meeting Van Gundy told him "you are done in this league forever you stupid motherf*****."
Van Gundy then played Spanoulis against San Antonio and then told him "you won't play anything but garbage time again."
Spanoulis says that after this Van Gundy told him, "CD told me you have been reading "the Chronicle Blogs" and listening to the sports radio and reading the fan forum online and that you are pissed off at all the false reports which are coming from me making up things about you and how the fans are believing it. Well just to let you know I post on that forum all the time and they all believe every damn word I say, I control the whole opinion there with the way I post and manipulate them. The fans are all a bunch of stupid losers and I own the Chronicle reporters and the radio talk guys."
Apparently Spanoulis claims he "almost snapped" when his brother called him saying his mother was suicidal and the doctors said he was needed and when he requested leave from the team and was granted it from management that Van Gundy told him "you leave and I'll make sure you never ever get another contract in the NBA ever. Go ahead and don't ever expect your sorry *** to get out of Greece again after all the trash I'll tell every GM and coach in the league about you."
Spanoulis says that Morey and Rick Adelman and Yao and McGrady tried to convince him to stay but that he was so distraught over the experience that he viewed the NBA and city of Houston as "total ."
He says that Yao told him, "in practice you are every bit as good if not better than Steve Nash is, Jeff is just so damn mean and stupid." And that "when the season ended I told the owner if he did not fire the coach I would go back to China. I simply cannot stand his ridiculous crap and antics anymore, I have been taking this crap from him for so long now."
Apparently Yao told Spanoulis that the Rockets owner was furious with Van Gundy for what he did to Spanoulis because the Rockets media revenue department had said it would cost them about $10 million in lost revenues a year from Greece by no longer having Spanoulis on the team.
A person named "Dennis" it was said left the Rockets and joined San Antonio and personally set up the trade of Scola and Butler just to get Spanoulis because he "believes I can be an all star." But I still told him I was too disturbed from experience with Van Gundy to come back. But now I have changed my mind as Tony Parker has explained to me it is just Van Gundy that acts this way in NBA coaches not all NBA coaches. Now if I can stay with Spurs I will.
damn long story made up by a n00b forum
I just cut and paste. I don't write these things.
Then please add a link to who wrote it.
Thanks.
Welcome to the forum.
They haven't signed Udoka.because Spanoulis changed his mind after they signed Udoka
If ya want the link, then here it is. www.clutchfans.com
Here's the thread link - http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=133523 Apparently they copied it from another forum.
CD = Carroll Dawson
Some of that looks like it's right out of The Onion or from the Beno Udrih Book of Realities.
I especially liked the part where the Spurs think he's "another Manu"
So it's a post about V-Span written by a Greek fan ?
It's likely written with big exaggerations but it seems that there are some truth behind that.
V-Span is a very good prospect. He is ready to play in SA, I really hope that Spurs will keep him. IMO, he could become a very good combo guard in nba. I even think that he is a better nba prospect than Scola.
What I want to know is if some of the facts are true...
Did Greece recently play France?
Was Tony actually at the game?
Did Tony take V-Span out to dinner?
If those three factoids are wrong, you can bet the rest of the story is bogus....
But if the Spurs could dump Beno, I wouldn't mind V-Span taking his place....won't happen though.
maybe not to say he is exactly like manu but maybe a diamond in the ruff...I especially liked the part where the Spurs think he's "another Manu"
i dont know but i would had loved to see this guy play for us.
Let's put it this way:
When you read the above article/blog post, did you ever find yourself saying, "JVG would never act like that. It's just not in his character."
Yeah, me neither.
That part rings true, at least. Also, if the part about Yao Ming is true, then we defintiely know why Van Gundy was fired. Some of it may be that VSpan is delusional, but I could also see his teammates building him up and saying complimentary things about him if they knew about his family situation. I won't be surprised if most of this article/post proves to be correct.
Yes
Yes
I don't know but there are reports from Greece newspapers about Parker speaking to Spanoulis to convince him to stay in SA.
Man, if the Spurs get this guy for $1.9mil? Unreal. He isn't Manu, but he definitely can play.
Actually there is in another section of this forum under Spanoulis waived. Here's what has been said.
Re: Spanoulis waived ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
Some updates :
http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=702794
Spanoulis is a good player, I hope Spurs will keep him if he agrees to play in SA.
A Greek poster has translated today's article about Spanoulis, thanks to him :
Quote:
Vasilis Spanoulis had the chance on Saturday not only to play once again against Tony Parker but to talk to him as well. The two of them also met on Sunday during the break between the two games of the tournament (France vs Slovenia and Greece vs Serbia).
"I know we got you" Parker said. The two of them (born in '82) know each other since 2000 when Greece played against France twice.
The newly wed star of the Spurs tried to convince his new teammate by telling him "Reconsider. I think it would be better for you if you played with the Spurs". Parker has won 3 les with the Spurs.
Spanoulis has expressed an interest in returning to Greece, even though he has been offered the chance to play with the best team in the world (as the americans call the NBA champions).
But since he has not been released yet, he appears to be reconsidering his initial decision, something that wouldn't have happened if he was traded to a team other than the Spurs.
Quote:
Spanoulis will be both closer to and further from being released from the Spurs on Tuesday. It all depends on what San Antonio will do.
Ime Udoka has signed a 2-year contract for 2 millions per year and has become the 14th player. This is where Spanoulis come sinto play. If the Spurs want to sign 2 more players, they will have to buy out Spanoulis.
If Spanoulis is released in favor of a more experienced guard, he will receive half of the 1,944,000 dollars on his contract. The Spurs have an option for a third year worth 2,088,000. Even if the Spurs keep Spanoulis, they have the option to release him next summer.
The final countdown will begin on Tuesday, that is if RC Buford wants to release Spanoulis. Spurs have both the watermelon and the knife right now.
Vasilis can only wait. At least things are moving on.
note: The article is written by a reporter of the team that wants to sign him, so they are more than likely expressing their own hopes of signing him. I don't think they have any sources that would indicate the Spurs are planning to release Billy.
My take:
1.Spurs hired a former Rockets FO guy....and in fact I recall reading on this forum in an article posted that he had Vassilis did have a good relationship.
2. Mrs. Ellis can laugh about VSpan being another Manu...but their careers up to this point are eerily similar...and VSpan has shown himself to be a big game player. Forget where VSpan was taken in the draft...Manu was a pretty late second round pick too. In fact...he was about as late as you could get.
3. Ask yourself this...
Would the Rockets have traded VSpan for Scola and Butler if he was still willing to play for them?
I don't think so.
That tells you how highly they regarded him.
4. Anyone that doesn't think the Spurs have wanted to move Beno since about halfway through last season is naive.
5. Anyone that thinks they are content to ride it out with a PG rotation of Parker and Vaughn is equally naive.
Stay tuned...
Oh fact 6:
Jeff Van Gundy got fired...
Fact 7:
If you were a PG...wouldn't you hate Van Gundy's style of ball?
When Noel went to rookie initiation camp in NY last year, Spanoulis tore up everyone. I know he is decent.
But I just don't know what he can play. To me he's not a point guard and he may too small to play the 2. He's wild like Manu, that's for sure.
He's not really a PG.
He's a small shooting guard.
He only averaged about 3 assists in 30 minutes with Panathinaikos in 05-06.
Interesting expression by the Greek reporter. Here in the USA, someone like Johnny Ludden would not choose that expression, "The Spurs have both the watermelon and the knife" in their negotiations with ____________.
Looks like he would be a very good upgrade to Beno.
I know...
And that's exactly the kind of PG Pop wants.
He doesn't want a guy dropping 15 times a game...he wants a guy that can penetrate and score and creates his passing opportunities off his own scoring...
IOW...he wants a guy that can impact Spurs games similar to the way in which Tony Parker impacts them.
There's a reason every PG that suits up for the Spurs turns into a guy that tries to take it into the paint and score virtually every time he touches the ball...
Because one Gregg Poppovish demands that from his PG's.
That's why Barry stays in his doghouse...inspite of having the truest PG mind and skill set on the team.
That's why every one from Jacque Vaugh to CJ Watson try to score on multiple defenders in the paint, from the second they enter the game with seemingly little or no reprimand from Spurs brass.
I also think it's totally in Parker's past history to try and GM...he's done it since he was 20 years old...
Edit: I also think he's dead on in this case.
I think that Spanoulis can play PG. He won't be a pass first PG but a scoring PG like TP.
Don't forget too that euro assists aren't the same thing at all than nba assists. Spanoulis was 8th in assist per game in the Euroleague with his 3 apg.
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