# Greece beat USA 101-95 and advanced to the finals. V-Span scored 22



## houst-mac (Aug 7, 2004)

> Greece 101, United States 95 SAITAMA, Japan (Ticker) -- Team USA hoped to enjoy the sweet
> taste of its first international basketball title since 2000.
> But ultimately, the Americans were left only with a mouth full
> of Greece.
> ...


http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/wbc/recap?gameId=260903930


V-Span rocks :clap: :cheers:


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## MagnusPinus (Aug 27, 2003)

Spanoulis is a phenom..I just hope he can translate his game in the Nba..because he could turn in a starter for u


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## Rocket Man (Jun 10, 2005)

Just finished watching the game. Spanolus was great. I think the Rockets have foung that third scoring option they have been looking for. I loved the announcer repeatedly saying that he had to eat in own comments about Spanolus's poor shooting ability. I also liked seeing the hustle that Battier put out on the court. He might not be as athletic as Stromile Swift but plays with some heart and is not lazy. I am a devout USA fan but found myself yelling for Greece by about halftime. They played such smart basketball and USA appeared uninterested in playing defense after the first quarter. They never did find an answer for the pick and roll that led to so many easy layups for Greece. I can just imagine Yao, Tracy and Spanolus getting that pick and roll down together and making real trouble for other NBA teams to defend. The free throw shooting by the USA team was simply terrible - what missing 14 free throws I believe.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

First Yao, then Battier. V-Span's not making himself any friends on this team :laugh:


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

How about that Sophocles?


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

GO Spanoulis!!!!!!! 22 points nice. I love this guy already!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## darkballa (Sep 19, 2003)

am really looking forward to how much versatility Span can bring to the team, along with battier we can say our off-season is a good one.


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## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

Hakeem said:


> How about that Sophocles?


 Who's he? Baby Shaq? If so, then he absolutely dominated the big men. He should go to the NBA.


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

V-Sapn is the man. I am telling you this guy will be the Mr. X-Factor next season.


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

I think Sofoklis Schortsianitis is whom people called "baby Shaq" right?
Here is the nbadraft.net profile of him. 
He looks very nice. If the Rockets try to bring him over for our spot at 4, I would give a thumb up. 
However, LA Clippers have him. Schortsianitis was selected by LAC with 34th pick of the 2003 Draft. 
Here are some pictures of him:


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

V-Span played very well against the US. He's one smart player. However, I still have to say that his outside shot is suspect. Every shot he hoists is a knuckle ball that clunks into the rim.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

darkballa said:


> am really looking forward to how much versatility Span can bring to the team, along with battier we can say our off-season is a good one.


Indeed. They very well may become the 2 great role players we've been looking for to compliment Yao and T-Mac. I don't wanna jump on the V-Span bandwagon, but the guy is poised and ready to play. My only question is whether his passion to play with the national team will carry over to our team.


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## 4ever_bball_fan (Aug 5, 2004)

That "Baby Shaq" ain't no danged baby, man! :wlift:


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Vspan is really catching my eye now that i have a chance to watch him play.

And what an upset :biggrin:


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Does anyone have any links of videos of the game since IC ouldnt watch it last night  ?


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## debarge (Nov 13, 2005)

darkballa said:


> am really looking forward to how much versatility Span can bring to the team, along with battier we can say our off-season is a good one.


Who said Shane wasn't good at anything? 3blks, numerous tipped balls that lead to steals, an offensive rbd/assist on the same play? All the while D"ing-Up Greeces' bigs? Whoever doesn't like this deal just doesn't know basketball.

Any NBA LIVE fans out there?

STARTING FOR YOUR HOUSTON ROCKETS: #7 from Greece Vaseleos Spanolisis :clap: 
AT FORWARD: #31 Shane Battier :clap: 
AT CENTER: the leading vote-getter in the 2005, and 2006 NBA Allstar games, from China #11 Yao Ming! :clap: 
AT THE OTHER FORWARD: #1 Tracy Mcgrady (I think he was the scoring champion a couple of times? I don't know he supposed to be good I think. . . :biggrin:


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## TracywtFacy (Mar 29, 2005)

that game was the first time i saw v-span in action, he was great (i esp. liked his first two plays - drew fouls shooting the 3, and scored 6 fts)... he was beating his defender routinely off the dribble, making nice passes and running the pick and rolls very well... 22pts, what can i say - he didn't even start... 

all i can say about the game is that team usa's defense just sucked big time. on the flip side tho, gotta give it to greece, they ran their offense so well, and hit many clutch shots, and played smart - they got easy buckets off the pick and roll, then they all stepped up from outside and made big baskets - they were just on fire, and the team was so pumped up... i liked their hustle and transition defense as well, i'd never thought i'd see the day team usa would play so dismally... when will they ever realise that the days of just showing up is enough to win are over? you'd think they'd have got the idea by now...

i think lebron had a real bad game, i was very surprised he wasn't benched for the fourth quarter... the thing that bothered me most was why didn't team usa play inside-out? you got guys like howard, brand, and bosh, they would have monstered in the key... instead they played soft, and it was the greeks who surprisingly played inside, with some success... 

and there was a play when v-span got his shot blocked by battier - i thought it wasn't very nice of him, since they're gonna be teammates next season 



http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/wbc2006/news/story?id=2568543 - good article


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## hitokiri315 (Apr 30, 2004)

:clap: wtg Vspan you will be watched by me and many others so you better not suck in the nba :biggrin:


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## Banjoriddim (Aug 14, 2004)

You should be happy with this pick up. I hope he as whole Rockets do well.


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## Perseas (Aug 24, 2006)

debarge said:


> STARTING FOR YOUR HOUSTON ROCKETS: #7 from Greece Vaseleos Spanolisis :clap:


Close enough :biggrin:... Vassilios "Kill Bill" Spanoulis. Actually no one in Greece is called by their proper first (mostly Christian) name, so it's more like Vassilis. It's the same for George (Georgios-->Yiorgos), John (Ioannis--> Yiannis) etc etc... Hope it wasn't too boring...

Go Vassilis!!!


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## neural_dream (Sep 1, 2006)

Kill Bill ain't bad, but I sorta like vspan too . It's like a hacker's nickname.

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<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3HwXU7ocVOo"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3HwXU7ocVOo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

He reminds me of Manu and that was a sick block


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## neural_dream (Sep 1, 2006)

Interview from today's NBA.com link:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4159801.html


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## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

By the way, CD's done a good job in the draft. The past five years, he's drafted, Yao Ming, Luther Head, Vassilis Spanoulis, Steve Novak, and Shane Battier (well, maybe not technically, but you know what I mean). You could actually have a pretty OK team with those five guys.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

V-Span is looking very weak in tonight's game v.s Spain. He looks to have a lot of trouble against speedy defenders, and he looks to forces things when his shots aren't falling.


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## TracywtFacy (Mar 29, 2005)

wow, greece losing by heaps to spain, even with Gasol out... v-span looks to be having a poor game... was Greece's win over the US a fluke?? or is Spain that good...


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## jordan0386 (Jul 4, 2006)

fluke in a sense, that it "wasnt supposed to happen"...but gotta give credit, they need handle them for major parts of the game...outcome was only 6, but it was their game to lose, and they didnt

best of 7 though, USA 4-1


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## TracywtFacy (Mar 29, 2005)

well greece got absolutely trounced by spain, and v-span had a very poor game, looking at his stats... damn


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## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

Now everyone is changing their mind over V-Span.


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## neural_dream (Sep 1, 2006)

lol. Imagine having to judge Lebron by his performance in the last two games. The first day you 'd think he's crap, and the second god :biggrin:.


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## TracywtFacy (Mar 29, 2005)

obviously greece couldn't get focused against spain - i mean, could you, after beating team USA? And on the flip side, team usa obviously had a point to prove, and nobody would have beaten them in the bronze medal game


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## sky_123 (Aug 27, 2005)

i can't understand the final game would end up like this. it doesn't make sense


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3BBKdtcCG_I"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3BBKdtcCG_I" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
Got it from clutchfans.net
It's a recap of V-Sapn. He looks very nice.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

TracywtFacy said:


> obviously greece couldn't get focused against spain - i mean, could you, after beating team USA? And on the flip side, team usa obviously had a point to prove, and nobody would have beaten them in the bronze medal game


agreed. If this were a semi-final game, Greece would have probably won


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