[JoeWolf1]

 This was pulled from espn.com

Greek forward on NBA radar

Every year there seems to be a couple second-round picks who shine and outperform many of the first rounders — Chandler Parsons and Isaiah Thomas are two examples from 2011. The challenge for teams around the NBA is figuring out who those players might be.

This year, writes ESPN’s NBA draft insider Chad Ford, a player who is starting to garner serious attention is 21-year-old Greek forward Kostas Papanikolaou.

"A number of NBA scouts came back from the Euroleague Final Four in Turkey buzzing about Greek forward Kostas Papanikolaou. Papanikolaou’s team, Olympiakos, won the Euroleague title, and Papanikolaou was a big reason why. He had 18 points and four rebounds in 22 minutes in the championship game and, more importantly, slowed down CSKA’s Andrei Kirilenko on the defensive end. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged just 6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game for Olympiakos this season and isn’t a great athlete, but he’s won over some NBA scouts with his toughness, basketball IQ and motor. If he were a better shooter or athlete, he’d have a real shot at the first round. Nevertheless, after his performance last weekend, he’s now a likely second-round pick."

-Chad Ford

[DurantsWingspan]

Times like these make me miss EuroBaller.

[Aran SmithKeymaster]

Chad Ford was NOT in Istanbul.  Then again it wouldn’t matter if he was, he doesn’t scout he gets info from those that do….. "If Papanikolaou was a better shooter?" Not sure where that info came from. He missed one shot in the final game. Papanikolaou is a great shooter….. Nice analysis!

[Author]

Posts