Kostas Papanikolaou

[texasholdem]

Kostas was not considered one of the top players in Euroleague the last two seasons. He was considered a good role players in good teams.

Kostas beat out your guy Mirotic for the Rising Star Award in 2013, so some Euroleague head coaches must disagree with you that he's not a top player. Kostas also has 2 Euroleague championship rings to Mirotic's zero.

[Freefloater]

It's fun that he was teammates with Beverley, Dorsey and even Josh Powell in Olympiacos. It will be easy to adapt. Fans will love his hustle.

hehe this is great!

[CoolbeansB]

Beverley was not a rookie out of college. He had already played in Europe before.

Kostas was not considered one of the top players in Euroleague the last two seasons. He was considered a good role players in good teams.

Again, it is these same types of huge exaggerations in USA about what any NBA players did in Europe if they played there. Kostas has never been considered one of best players in Euroleague. That is huge exaggeration and is very untrue claim to make.

You cannot call a good role player in a winning team one of the best players in the league. If that is the case then there are dozens of "top players in NBA" - dozens of them. He was a role player in good teams, that was it.

Just like Beverley was a third string in Euroleague. Rockets managers must do some crazy amounts of propaganda with their marketers and media to get all these fans believing all this hype. Kostas was a role player in Euroleague and Beverley was less than that even.

They may not have been top players, but they are considered to be top tier role players. Soon to be at only 24 years of age.

[turbostef]

For the 2013/2014 Kostas played his first season in a country outside Greece (in Barcelona).
At the age of 23!

He needed his time for adoption and this is the main reason why his stats fell down.

In the 2012 Euroleague Finals although there werde stars on the team like Spanoulis
and others it was Pap who started the comeback together with other youngsters
like Mantzaris and Sloukas.

And this against a team CSKA which was full of stars (Kirilenko to name the biggest name).

He is an Energizer. As usual greek Players need their time to adopt.
So don't expect him to rock the rims by December

If he can help the team after All Star Break and play constant minutes I would be fine
with that.

By the way: Since signing withe the rockets Pap plays like a maniac and he is energized
like taking some tons of viagra
I liiiiiiiiiike

He was clearly one of the best players in our first 3 friendlies against Serbia, France and Croatia
together with Bourousis and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis and Pap will be the cornerstones of our National Team for the years to come.

And Pap is considered one of the best 1990ers born players in Europe.
The question is not if he is one of the best young players in Europe at the age of 24.
The question is if he can adopt fast to the NBA and if his skills fit to the NBA.

Seems that I will watch a lot of Houston Games this year

I have some familiy in Houston which I wanted to visit for decades.
Finally there is an important reason to go to Houston

[Big_Papa]

1. Kostas has the potential to be an all-star

Obviously this doesn't say much as players like Rudy Fernandez, Manu Ginobili and Vassilis Spanoulis had similar potential upon entering the NBA, but where they eventually got as NBA players was much different.

2. Kostas is used best as second fiddle.

Unlike the above players, Kostas has never been a go to guy.
This will seriously cut his learning curve.
Expect him to contribute right away as a 3&D role player as that is what he has been doing since the beginning of his career.
In a sense he is a star role player much like the sort of player Ginobili is. Their similarity stops there. Other than that they play different positions and are very different in terms of playing style.

3. Kostas steps up in big games like no basketball player I have ever seen.

Kostas is not the sort of player that will tear it up against the Bucks. If he's going to contribute it will be when the stakes are high.
As a 20-year old player in the Euroleague Final he didn't miss a shot while scoring 18 points and being top scorer of the game.

4. Right now he is a much better player than Giannis Antetokounmpo

This may or may not say something

5. Mirotic has more star potential but is much worse on defense and will need a role carved out for him.

Kostas is not this type of player. Give him 5 minutes and he can show what he can do

6. Beverley & Dorsey did not contribute half as much as Kostas did for Olympiacos.

He is a better player (if you can compare players in different positions) and is more competitive. This may sound as a surprise as both Beverly and Dorsey are known for being tough competitors, but Kostas just takes it to another level.

7. They may have played on the same team (Dorsey, Powell, Beverley and Kostas) but only Kostas and Dorsey have really played together.

8. Kostas' best two seasons have come with a ball-dominating shooting guard (Spanoulis) much like Harden is now for the Rockets.

VERDICT: Kostas is a great player for a play-off team and a terrible one to lead a non-playoff team.
He has the potential to start in front of Ariza before the season ends.

[texasholdem]

Would Kostas be offended if he were sent to the D-League?

[texasholdem]

I have some familiy in Houston which I wanted to visit for decades.
Finally there is an important reason to go to Houston

We have a local Greek restaurant here called Niko Nikos and the owner Dimitri was the one waiving the Greek flag at Rockets home games whenever Tsakalidis and Spanoulis were briefly here. So I'm sure he'll be doing that again this season.

So what is Kostas' nickname over there? Dragic's nickname was Gogi but somehow that became Goki I think because thats how our annoucers were saying it.

Hoping Houston can trade Motiejunas to Memphis for Kosta Koufos, who is more of a true backup center for Dwight.

[turbostef]

I have some familiy in Houston which I wanted to visit for decades.
Finally there is an important reason to go to Houston

We have a local Greek restaurant here called Niko Nikos and the owner Dimitri was the one waiving the Greek flag at Rockets home games whenever Tsakalidis and Spanoulis were briefly here. So I'm sure he'll be doing that again this season.

So what is Kostas' nickname over there? Dragic's nickname was Gogi but somehow that became Goki I think because thats how our annoucers were saying it.

Hoping Houston can trade Motiejunas to Memphis for Kosta Koufos, who is more of a true backup center for Dwight.

Hahaha Great. I will definetely go to Niko Nikos when I happend to be over there

I really like this patriotic stuff

Usually we say Pap as Papanikolau is too long. This is the most common short name
I have seen in the forums in Greece and in Germany (where a lot of Greeks live besides USA and
Australia).

By the way: Sending Pap to the D-League would not only be offending it would make
no sense. In this case Houston should have better not signed him....

But said his dream always was to play in the NBA. Don't think he meant NBA D-League

I saw some D-League Games because of Thanasis Antetokounmpo last season and
this was really ugly.... Empty Arenas, low level, lot's of ego balling and less team play.

Than better leave him in Europe but not for this amount of money.

I think Houston has to give him a shot for at least 6 Months. If it does not work out
try to trade him back to Europe (there will be a lot of interested Teams in Spain, Russia and
Turkey and Greece (although Olympiacos can barely match an offer from CSKA and
the other rich teams) and don't use the team option for the second year.

But I hope that the management of the rockets understand that this guy propably needs
more than 6 Months to adopt.

Hey this guy barely lived more than one Year outside of Greece. And Barcelona is one
of the Cities in Europe that can be compared to Athens when it comes to Lifestyle.

Everything is easy here. Living in the USA is an other thing.

I have been several times to the USA in the last 12 Months and as much as I like
it over there things tend to be easyier and coller over here.

Restrictions in Athens and Barcelona are much lower than in the USA.

Another issue is the hard season with lots of travelling in the NBA.
In Europe you play 1 Euroleague Game a week wednesday or thursday and at the weekend
one Game in the national League. The Greek League is quite poor besides Olympiacos
and Panathinaikos. For this 2 teams this is like a training session.

ACB in Spain is harder but still not like Playing against European Powerhouses in the
Euroleague. So basically one tough match a week in comparison with back-to-back Games
every 2 days. With flights and distances that we in Europe are not used to.
In Europe you can basically reach every destination in under 2 hours
(except Russia).

I remember Giannis Antetokounmpo saying that he was shocked about this long flights
and changes of hotel rooms. Sometimes forgot his room number and woke up
in Nights not knowing where he was

OK Giannis is a special case as he did not leave Greece at all untill he was 18 Years old.
His first journey outside Greece was with the under 20 National Team
of Greece and the 2nd journey the NBA Draft

Pap is older and lived some travelling througout his career but he is still young and only lived
one year outside of Greece.

If Houston don't want to burn money they should try him the full 2 years as he tends to develop
fast and adopt easyly to new situations. This was the case with Olympiacos.
And in my opinion he was much better in his second part of his Barcelona Run.

[texasholdem]

Well you have to understand that the Rockets have sent every rookie to play in their DLeague team with the exception of Chandler Parsons. It's kind of S.O.P with this franchise. They don't consider it to be a demotion or insult even if the players do. I think if Ariza is getting heavy minutes and Papa's not getting enough PT they will send him to the Vipers just so he can play instead of sitting.

His nickname can't be Pap because it sounds too much like Pop, as in Gregg Popovich

[Zubby]

All the Greek fans have me excited for Papa Niko!
A star role player is just what this team needs, and if he is as advertised I don't think he'll go down to Dleague, but much like Parsons he won't see much PT til a couple months in.

This guy sounds like a coaches player, McHale will love him.

[Mr. E]

We have a local Greek restaurant here called Niko Nikos and the owner Dimitri was the one waiving the Greek flag at Rockets home games whenever Tsakalidis and Spanoulis were briefly here. So I'm sure he'll be doing that again this season.

One of the biggest restaurant groups associated with Houston is Greek.

The Pappas family is all over town here with Pappas seafood, Pappas Steakhouse, Pappadeaux, Pappasitos, Pappas BBQ and my personal favorite - Yia Yia Mary's.

Hopefully they pass Papa's muster!

[texasholdem]

We have a local Greek restaurant here called Niko Nikos and the owner Dimitri was the one waiving the Greek flag at Rockets home games whenever Tsakalidis and Spanoulis were briefly here. So I'm sure he'll be doing that again this season.

One of the biggest restaurant groups associated with Houston is Greek.

The Pappas family is all over town here with Pappas seafood, Pappas Steakhouse, Pappadeaux, Pappasitos, Pappas BBQ and my personal favorite - Yia Yia Mary's.

Hopefully they pass Papa's muster!

But the only one of those that serves Greek food is Yia Yia Mary's.
The Pappas chain is too national now. They have restaurants in Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago.
Niko Nikos is still just two locations in Houston - one restaurant in midtown and one kiosk downtown.

[Big_Papa]

Well you have to understand that the Rockets have sent every rookie to play in their DLeague team with the exception of Chandler Parsons. It's kind of S.O.P with this franchise. They don't consider it to be a demotion or insult even if the players do. I think if Ariza is getting heavy minutes and Papa's not getting enough PT they will send him to the Vipers just so he can play instead of sitting.

His nickname can't be Pap because it sounds too much like Pop, as in Gregg Popovich

The chances of Pap playing for the Vipers are as many as Dwight playing for them. 0%

Ariza and Pap will be competing to start and if they're not Pap will be the Rockets 6th man

[Mr. E]

The chances of Pap playing for the Vipers are as many as Dwight playing for them. 0%

Ariza and Pap will be competing to start and if they're not Pap will be the Rockets 6th man

I hope that is the case, but do not be surprised if you see Papanikolaou spend some time down in McAllen. Like texasholdem points out, that is how this organization goes about business.

[texasholdem]

Uh oh have we traded in the LOFs for POFs?

Oh wow, just discovered the "pap smear" test performed on women to detect cervical cancer was named after a Greek doctor Georgios Papanikolaou who lived from 1883-1962. I wonder if they are related.

[Mr. E]

I understand the excitement around Papanikolaou coming over here. He's been an emerging player in Europe for a few years now so I can see how a lot of people believe that he's paid his dues and is ready to make that next big step. I'm very excited about him, but we all have to keep in mind how this organization is run. If he makes an impact immediately like Parsons then that will be spectacular; but it won't be a negative reflection on Papanikolaou if they determine that a little time in McAllen will ease his transition to the NBA style of play.

[spaceballer]

The chances of Pap playing for the Vipers are as many as Dwight playing for them. 0%

Ariza and Pap will be competing to start and if they're not Pap will be the Rockets 6th man

I hope that is the case, but do not be surprised if you see Papanikolaou spend some time down in McAllen. Like texasholdem points out, that is how this organization goes about business.

True, but the fact that they're willing to pay him so much might mean that they have him slotted in for a rotation spot. Getting a rotation spot early and holding on is the only way I see him avoiding the Vipers. Otherwise, if he's not getting playing time, I can certainly see him being sent down the Vipers to keep his skills fresh instead of rotting on the bench.

He'll have an opportunity due to the depleted bench this off-season.

I doubt he will start ahead of Ariza. They need Ariza's perimeter defense to cover for Harden's lapses.

[Big_Papa]

The chances of Pap playing for the Vipers are as many as Dwight playing for them. 0%

Ariza and Pap will be competing to start and if they're not Pap will be the Rockets 6th man

I hope that is the case, but do not be surprised if you see Papanikolaou spend some time down in McAllen. Like texasholdem points out, that is how this organization goes about business.

Thats how they go about business with rookies.
Pap is not a rookie.
Like many Europeans, he dropped to the 2nd round because he had a multi-year contract that would have earned him more money than what he would have HAD to take as a 1st rounder.

If he had been drafted in the 1st round he would have never come over as the pay cut he would have had to take would have been massive.
The 2nd round is the way you bring ESTABLISHED talent over from Europe. Talent that is being paid NBA money ALREADY. Not a project like most of the Euros that come to the NBA as young players.

Antetokounmpo didn't spend a day in the D-League and is half the player Pap is. Pap starts in front of him on the Greek national team.

[CoolbeansB]

The chances of Pap playing for the Vipers are as many as Dwight playing for them. 0%

Ariza and Pap will be competing to start and if they're not Pap will be the Rockets 6th man

I hope that is the case, but do not be surprised if you see Papanikolaou spend some time down in McAllen. Like texasholdem points out, that is how this organization goes about business.

Thats how they go about business with rookies.
Pap is not a rookie.
Like many Europeans, he dropped to the 2nd round because he had a multi-year contract that would have earned him more money than what he would have HAD to take as a 1st rounder.

If he had been drafted in the 1st round he would have never come over as the pay cut he would have had to take would have been massive.
The 2nd round is the way you bring ESTABLISHED talent over from Europe. Talent that is being paid NBA money ALREADY. Not a project like most of the Euros that come to the NBA as young players.

Antetokounmpo didn't spend a day in the D-League and is half the player Pap is. Pap starts in front of him on the Greek national team.

Actually, he will be a rookie in the NBA. I don't think he will go to the Vipers either.

[texasholdem]

The chances of Pap playing for the Vipers are as many as Dwight playing for them. 0%

Ariza and Pap will be competing to start and if they're not Pap will be the Rockets 6th man

I hope that is the case, but do not be surprised if you see Papanikolaou spend some time down in McAllen. Like texasholdem points out, that is how this organization goes about business.

Thats how they go about business with rookies.
Pap is not a rookie.
Like many Europeans, he dropped to the 2nd round because he had a multi-year contract that would have earned him more money than what he would have HAD to take as a 1st rounder.

If he had been drafted in the 1st round he would have never come over as the pay cut he would have had to take would have been massive.
The 2nd round is the way you bring ESTABLISHED talent over from Europe. Talent that is being paid NBA money ALREADY. Not a project like most of the Euros that come to the NBA as young players.

Antetokounmpo didn't spend a day in the D-League and is half the player Pap is. Pap starts in front of him on the Greek national team.

The Bucks were a D-League team last season

I guess you are right though since Scola did not play in the DLeague but he was far more established than KP at the point he came over. We'll see. It's really hard to predict McHale and who will be in his rotation or not.