Pekovic Watch

[revprodeji]

of course we have no idea what will happen a couple years from now, but I would expect Pekovic to be the 3rd big man, play 25-30min a night. Have a solid rotation of al/Love/Pekovic.

[TrentTuckerForever]

This should be stickied. I think that the Wolves have this guy pegged as a major part of our core.

Agree on both counts. Although the Woofies' front office has had some questionable judgement over the past couple of years, this guy looks like a lock to be in the league.

[revprodeji]

yea, the wolves frontoffice is questionable, but it seemed to be clear that this guy is legit. Almost every other team agreed apparently.

[A1FromDay1]

In the Euroleague:

@ SLUC Nancy - 17:42 minutes, 10 points (4/5 FG, 2/7 FT), 5 rebounds (2o, 3d), 3 assists, 4 turnovers, 1 block, 4 fouls
vs. Montepaschi Siena - 24:32 min, 14p (6/10, 2/5), 3 reb (3o), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 TO, 2 blk, 1 foul

In the Greek league:

Nikola Pekovic was unstoppable with 21 points on perfect shooting to lead Panathinaikos to a big 86-69 win over archrival Olympiacos in the first big derby of the season. In front of 18,000 people at OAKA, both teams started with a lot of desire and tried to take advantage of their weapons, with Drew Nicholas sinking 3 early three-pointers for a 14-11 Panathinaikos advantage. Yotam Halperin was also on fire to give Olympiacos a 22-24 lead and then Josh Childress scored to make it 25-26, but after that Panathinaikos began to dominate. The hosts found a solid inside source in Pekovic, while Dimitris Diamantidis was everywhere in defense and offense. Vassilis Spanoulis posted a three-pointer for the very first double-digit gap, 41-30, and Panathinaikos led 43-35 at the end of the first half. Olympiacos tried to get back after the break as Ioannis Bouroussis bagged a three pointer for a 47-44 lead, but Pekovic scored 6 fast points and helped his team run to 56-44, before Sarunas Jasikevicius sank another three, 59-47. Panathinaikos played its usual aggressive defense, while the Reds lacked spirit and energy, so the match went easy for the hosts. Diamantidis added 16 points, 4 assists and 5 steals and Nicholas had 15 points and 5 boards for the winners. Halperin scored 20 points to lead the Reds and Childress added 11.

18 minutes, 21 points, 9/9 FG, 3/5 FT, 3 rebounds (2 off), 0 TO, 1 assist

[Devilzsidewalk]

In the Euroleague:

@ SLUC Nancy - 17:42 minutes, 10 points (4/5 FG, 2/7 FT), 5 rebounds (2o, 3d), 3 assists, 4 turnovers, 1 block, 4 fouls
vs. Montepaschi Siena - 24:32 min, 14p (6/10, 2/5), 3 reb (3o), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 TO, 2 blk, 1 foul

In the Greek league:

Nikola Pekovic was unstoppable with 21 points on perfect shooting to lead Panathinaikos to a big 86-69 win over archrival Olympiacos in the first big derby of the season. In front of 18,000 people at OAKA, both teams started with a lot of desire and tried to take advantage of their weapons, with Drew Nicholas sinking 3 early three-pointers for a 14-11 Panathinaikos advantage. Yotam Halperin was also on fire to give Olympiacos a 22-24 lead and then Josh Childress scored to make it 25-26, but after that Panathinaikos began to dominate. The hosts found a solid inside source in Pekovic, while Dimitris Diamantidis was everywhere in defense and offense. Vassilis Spanoulis posted a three-pointer for the very first double-digit gap, 41-30, and Panathinaikos led 43-35 at the end of the first half. Olympiacos tried to get back after the break as Ioannis Bouroussis bagged a three pointer for a 47-44 lead, but Pekovic scored 6 fast points and helped his team run to 56-44, before Sarunas Jasikevicius sank another three, 59-47. Panathinaikos played its usual aggressive defense, while the Reds lacked spirit and energy, so the match went easy for the hosts. Diamantidis added 16 points, 4 assists and 5 steals and Nicholas had 15 points and 5 boards for the winners. Halperin scored 20 points to lead the Reds and Childress added 11.

18 minutes, 21 points, 9/9 FG, 3/5 FT, 3 rebounds (2 off), 0 TO, 1 assist

thanks for the update

do you know what the feelings are on Childress, do they think he's a good signing?

[karch34]

I'd love to see Pekovic with Jefferson and Love but I have this feeling it won't happen too often. Maybe he's "scared" of the competition and chooses to play in Europe or maybe the Wolves don't want another big and will try to address other needs .. I don't know but I have this feeling it's not gonna happen.

Interesting perspective. Right now I think it's that he's making very good money in Europe and wouldn't come over at a significant price cut. That would be the case if he was drafted in the 1st round as he'd be making maybe half due to rookie salary scale. If we can clear cap space to offer him more than the MLE, then he'd probably come over. I don't remember the financials, but thought he's making between $6-8 million, so we'd need to be under the cap to even get in the ballpark.

Unless we make some big move this year, I see him possibly being our big signing in 2010. Of course a lot can change between now and then.

[PeeDee]

What was the deal with Marc Gasol? He came over pretty cheap... couldn't he have made more $ in Europe?

[theGreatRC]

I just want a european player that is as tough as Andres Nocioni.

[karch34]

What was the deal with Marc Gasol? He came over pretty cheap... couldn't he have made more $ in Europe?

True. Of course his contract might have been over too. I think Pekovic had just signed his, so then there's probably buyout considerations, etc.

[LordBaldric]

I just want a european player that is as tough as Andres Nocioni.

You do realize that Nocioni isn't European?

[Basti]

I just want a european player that is as tough as Andres Nocioni.

You do realize that Nocioni isn't European?

but he started playing pro ball in Europe plus he has an italian citizinship IIRC. same as Manu. so technically he is European

[revprodeji]

Pekovic is known for playing with a mean streak. Someone compared him to the janitor on scrubs once.

He looks a lot bigger than last year. 15lbs of muscle or so.

[fattymcgee]

Nov. 26 at Asseco Prokom Win 67-60

14 PEKOVIC, NIKOLA 21:48 minutes
15pts on 4/6 shooting and 7/10FT, 3 boards, 2assists, 1 stl, 4 TOs, 3 fouls committed, and 9 fouls commited on him.

He seems to be a scoring beast down low with other teams fouling him a lot
He has been fouled 4, 6, 8, 5, 9 times in the first 5 games while averaging 19.33 minutes per game.
That's 6.4 fouls commited on him by the other team per 19.33 minutes or 13.24 fouls per 40min!

However he doesn't seem to be much of a rebounder or shotblocker.

[Basti]

However he doesn't seem to be much of a rebounder or shotblocker.

it is pretty normal to have low rebounding and shot blocking numbers in europe. there are only a handful players in europe that average 10+ boards or 2+ blocks per game. it's the same with assists. I don't know what the reason for that is but it is like that.

[A1FromDay1]

it is pretty normal to have low rebounding and shot blocking numbers in europe. there are only a handful players in europe that average 10+ boards or 2+ blocks per game. it's the same with assists. I don't know what the reason for that is but it is like that.

True.

thanks for the update

do you know what the feelings are on Childress, do they think he's a good signing?

Their goal is winning the Triple Crown, meaning Greek league, Greek Cup and the Euroleague. So far Olympiakos is 8-0 in the league, will play the semifinals in the Cup and has clinched qualification for Euroleague's next round with a record of 3-1. So they are on track and if they win the Triple Crown, he would be a good signing.

But from what I know, people were expecting from him at least or around 20 ranking points, this being some sort of efficiency rating.Right now he is averaging 10 ranking points in the Euroleague, in 4 games. He started with 22 ranking points in the 1st game, then 16, 6 in the 3rd and -2 in the last game. He is 67th out of 200 players in this category (right there with Primoz Brezec), and 88th in ranking per minute. Pekovic on the other hand is 28th in average ranking and 6th in ranking per minute.

Former wolf Igor Rakocevic is 1st in average ranking (22.5 rkg points) and 6th in ranking per minute.

If you ask me, Childress will be back in the NBA next season. He was supposed to be the best player in Europe and he's not playing like that untill now. 13ppg, 68% 2p, 20% 3p, 84% FT, 3.4reb, 0.4ast, 0.9blk, 1.3 stl in the Greek league and 10.3ppg, 50% 2p, 14.3% 3p, 52.6% Ft, 5.5reb, 1.3ast, 1.3blk, 0.8stl in the Euroleague.

[fattymcgee]

Dec 4th @ Zalgiris

19minutes
13pts 5/7fg 3/4ft 8rbs 2TO 1blk 2fouls 3fouls committed on him and he hasn't been blocked yet this year in 6 games.

[Devilzsidewalk]

what's his shooting percentage this year?

[Basti]

what's his shooting percentage this year?

from what I've seen so far here in the thread and if I don't get it wrong it must be high. at least 55%...

[Devilzsidewalk]

by the way European basketball sounds more interesting, in the US we just have one big long NBA season so when you suck, you're miserable for months. We should cut it by about a third and expand the Euroleague or else have an Americas tournament, split up players amongst territories, NW, Cali, midwest, Texas, Southeast, mid-atlantic, and just rock out. Give the fans more tournaments and seasons to be excited about.

Midwest team:

C: Chris Kaman/Oden/Brad Miller
PF: Kenyon Martin/David Lee/Z-bo
SF: Lebron/Mike Miller
SG: Iguodala/J-Rich
PG: Wade/Kirk Hinrich/Diener (of course)

KICKED YOUR ASS