OLYMPIACOS
The idea of prying rotation NBA players through big contracts has been a hit and miss situation for Olympiacos. On one hand they have found themselves in the prestigious Final 4 and on the other hand their two studs, Josh Childress and Jannero Pargo (who joined later in the season) have struggled throughout the year (putting up much lower numbers than they did last season in the NBA). This goes to show that European basketball is a different type of beast and just because a player was effective in the NBA, it does not necessarily translate to the style found overseas.
Even with the limited contributions from Childress and Pargo, Olympiacos is so deep that it had very little trouble overcoming. Losing only once in the round of 16 and then dismantling Real Madrid in 4 games in the Final 8. They have played fairly well all year, and if Childress can put it together at the end, they might have as good of a chance as anyone to take the crown.
Among the main contributors are Ioannis Bourousis, Lynn Greer, Nikola Vujcic, Yotam Halperin and Theodoros Papaloukas. An intriguing prospect is Georgios Printezis, who has averaged 9 points and 4 rebounds while shooting an extremely efficient 65% from 2FG and 50% from 3 PT. His rights are owned by the Toronto Raptors and this year’s play might have earned him a chance to take his game to the big leagues. Milos Teodosic is draft eligible this year, but even though he has gotten substantial amount of playing time, he has struggled shooting the ball and has not show much else other than being a spot up shooter (not a very good one at that).
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