Big Sofo signs 2-year deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv

Greek · Post #1 » by **Greek** » Sun Jun 7, 2009 1:40 pm

According the Greek media Big Sofo will come to LA, to evaluate him by your coaching team, and they like him will give him a contract. Knowing the situation of the Clippers i highly doubt, but he can be a trading asset, not that will give anything meaningful. He is the biggest waste of the history of Greek basketball.

jgustav1 · Post #2 » by **jgustav1** » Sun Jun 7, 2009 3:18 pm

He is scheduled to play some games in the Vegas summer league coming up in July. The Clipper roster looks pretty loaded at the moment with big men, so he unless he really impresses, he may need to wait a year or two before coming over to the NBA. It should be interesting to see how he looks against other young NBA talent.

Post #3 » by **mkwest** » Mon Jun 8, 2009 8:37 am

The big man will not leave Piraeus

It was the general consensus that Sofoklis Schortsanitis(2.06-C) was going to be released by Olympiakos and seek another team to continue his career. There were also rumors that the Clippers wanted to check him out. The situation has changed though. According to redplanet.gr, that is directly affiliated to the team of Olympiakos that Sofoklis Schortanitis is staying at least for another season from the 2 remaining in his contract.

In contrast to other players Schortanitis didn't sign a very big contract initially so it's not really a burden for the wealthy administration of Olympiakos. One might say it's a luxury or you could even say that they'd prefer to keep him off the market rather than release him. There is another parameter here. Coach Kazlauskas of the National Team of Greece is interested to see in what condition Schortsanitis is in. Perhaps he will be included in initial squad of the National Team. Together they had the best season (2005-2006) in the career of Big Sofo. This season he only averaged 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in a total of 13 games. Schortsanitis managed to lose a lot of weight recently but he is still not in his ideal condition.

Sportando.net

I had pretty much given up on him ever coming over, then all of sudden he was back on the team's radar. There wouldn't be much room for him to fit next season, but it would have been cool to at least see him play in the summer league. It is probably in both the his and the team's best interest to wait another year before he attempts to come over. If he does actually come over next season (or whenever), I hope that his weight is under control by his standards.

Greek · Post #4 » by **Greek** » Mon Jun 8, 2009 2:49 pm

mkwest wrote:
The big man will not leave Piraeus

It was the general consensus that Sofoklis Schortsanitis(2.06-C) was going to be released by Olympiakos and seek another team to continue his career. There were also rumors that the Clippers wanted to check him out. The situation has changed though. According to redplanet.gr, that is directly affiliated to the team of Olympiakos that Sofoklis Schortanitis is staying at least for another season from the 2 remaining in his contract.

In contrast to other players Schortanitis didn't sign a very big contract initially so it's not really a burden for the wealthy administration of Olympiakos. One might say it's a luxury or you could even say that they'd prefer to keep him off the market rather than release him. There is another parameter here. Coach Kazlauskas of the National Team of Greece is interested to see in what condition Schortsanitis is in. Perhaps he will be included in initial squad of the National Team. Together they had the best season (2005-2006) in the career of Big Sofo. This season he only averaged 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in a total of 13 games. Schortsanitis managed to lose a lot of weight recently but he is still not in his ideal condition.

Sportando.net

I had pretty much given up on him ever coming over, then all of sudden he was back on the team's radar. There wouldn't be much room for him to fit next season, but it would have been cool to at least see him play in the summer league. It is probably in both the his and the team's best interest to wait another year before he attempts to come over. If he does actually come over next season (or whenever), I hope that his weight is under control by his standards.

Sofo will never be under a control and i am not talking only about his weight. He has very bad attitude, and he is like giant kid who had everything, and he doesnt care for anyone

Post #5 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Mon Jun 8, 2009 8:45 pm

I also kind of gave up on him coming over. If what your saying is right Greek then he won't make it past the summer league with our team, or we would trade him after that.

KWSN-Men · Post #6 » by **KWSN-Men** » Tue Jun 9, 2009 3:47 am

I highly doubt he is on the national team this year. Even though the starting SG Diamantidis and the starting SF Vasilopoulos will both not play because of injuries, even still I highly doubt he could make the team. Even with his old coach Kazlauskas now coaching the team I still doubt it.

I am sure he would be available for the Clippers summer league. He has to compete for the national team at center roster spot with Ioannis Bourousis, Kosta Koufos, Andreas Glyniadakis and every single one of them is definitely a better player than he is.

I am pretty sure unless the national team keeps getting more big injuries to key players that Sofo will not make the squad and will be free to play in the summer league if he wants. As for the issue of him staying in Olympiacos I am sure if he thinks the Clippers are interested that he would demand to leave Olympiacos. I mean he's like the 3rd or 4th string center of the team for the last 2 years. So I doubt that would be a problem either. If he really wanted to have a shot with the Clippers nothing is stopping him.

Also, his weight is under control by his standards right now. He's at about 365 pounds supposedly. Last summer at the Olympics he was at 420.

ClipperDomination · Post #7 » by **ClipperDomination** » Tue Jun 9, 2009 3:55 am

KWSN-Men wrote:I highly doubt he is on the national team this year. Even though the starting SG Diamantidis and the starting SF Vasilopoulos will both not play because of injuries, even still I highly doubt he could make the team. Even with his old coach Kazlauskas now coaching the team I still doubt it.

I am sure he would be available for the Clippers summer league. He has to compete for the national team at center roster spot with Ioannis Bourousis, Kosta Koufos, Andreas Glyniadakis and every single one of them is definitely a better player than he is.

I am pretty sure unless the national team keeps getting more big injuries to key players that Sofo will not make the squad and will be free to play in the summer league if he wants. As for the issue of him staying in Olympiacos I am sure if he thinks the Clippers are interested that he would demand to leave Olympiacos. I mean he's like the 3rd or 4th string center of the team for the last 2 years. So I doubt that would be a problem either. If he really wanted to have a shot with the Clippers nothing is stopping him.

Also, his weight is under control by his standards right now. He's at about 365 pounds supposedly. Last summer at the Olympics he was at 420.

Thanks for the update!

Post #8 » by **mkwest** » Tue Jun 9, 2009 5:18 am

Greek wrote:Sofo will never be under a control and i am not talking only about his weight. He has very bad attitude, and he is like giant kid who had everything, and he doesnt care for anyone

That He's shown a lack of discipline in regards to staying in basketball shape, so it
doesn't surprise me to hear that.

KWSN-Men wrote:I highly doubt he is on the national team this year. Even though the starting SG Diamantidis and the starting SF Vasilopoulos will both not play because of injuries, even still I highly doubt he could make the team. Even with his old coach Kazlauskas now coaching the team I still doubt it.

I am sure he would be available for the Clippers summer league. He has to compete for the national team at center roster spot with Ioannis Bourousis, Kosta Koufos, Andreas Glyniadakis and every single one of them is definitely a better player than he is.

I am pretty sure unless the national team keeps getting more big injuries to key players that Sofo will not make the squad and will be free to play in the summer league if he wants. As for the issue of him staying in Olympiacos I am sure if he thinks the Clippers are interested that he would demand to leave Olympiacos. I mean he's like the 3rd or 4th string center of the team for the last 2 years. So I doubt that would be a problem either. If he really wanted to have a shot with the Clippers nothing is stopping him.

Also, his weight is under control by his standards right now. He's at about 365 pounds supposedly. Last summer at the Olympics he was at 420.

Thanks for the update. That's about 8 pounds less than the last time I heard some news regarding his weight.

KWSN-Men · Post #9 » by **KWSN-Men** » Wed Jul 1, 2009 1:37 pm

Sofo has been training hard and he weighed in a few days ago at 349 pounds. For comparison at the 2008 Olympics he weighed 420 pounds. At the 2006 World Championship where he gave Team USA problems he weighed 354 pounds.

He is saying he is going to the Vegas Summer Camp and trying to earn an NBA contract. He hasn't been in this good of shape in years.

adiedanny · Post #10 » by **adiedanny** » Wed Jul 1, 2009 4:01 pm

KWSN-Men wrote:Sofo has been training hard and he weighed in a few days ago at 349 pounds. For comparison at the 2008 Olympics he weighed 420 pounds. At the 2006 World Championship where he gave Team USA problems he weighed 354 pounds.

He is saying he is going to the Vegas Summer Camp and trying to earn an NBA contract. He hasn't been in this good of shape in years.

Source please?

Post #11 » by **mkwest** » Wed Jul 1, 2009 5:35 pm

A link would be great if there is one. It's really hard finding relevant news on him.

adiedanny · Post #12 » by **adiedanny** » Wed Jul 1, 2009 6:20 pm

mkwest wrote:A link would be great if there is one. It's really hard finding relevant news on him.

yeah I know, I already searched.

mj_shoefanatic · Post #13 » by **mj_shoefanatic** » Wed Jul 1, 2009 6:46 pm

We might want to take a look at him if we deal one of our bigs before the season starts.

Post #14 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Wed Jul 1, 2009 10:07 pm

Let's bring him over and see what he does. If he's productive enough we could possibly trade his draft rights if we still have all those big men.

Post #15 » by **mkwest** » Sun Jul 5, 2009 9:51 pm

02/07/2009 - 'I WANTED TO TRY A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF COMPETITION'

Sophocles intention to get a try out at the Las Vegas summer League as a guest of the Clippers, that have his rights for the NBA was well known. However, this trip is not going to take place, since there has been a ban from FIBA for all European players that are under contract, and that why "Sofo" made the following statement: "In life and in basketball in general, there are always unpredictable obstacles. My trip to the Las Vegas summer league will not take place, since FIBA has forbidden NBA teams to invite players that are under contract, regardless of the fact that they might have obtained their club's consent, as was my case. That's why I would like to especially thank Olympiacos for the way my club handled this situation. The most important thing for me was to change perspective and try to find out where I stand at this point in a different competition level, as well as prepare the best I could for the national team and the difficult season that lies ahead with Olympiacos. It doesn't matter though, I keep up with my work and try to become the best player I can..."

BigSofo.gr

ClipperDomination · Post #16 » by **ClipperDomination** » Sun Jul 5, 2009 10:41 pm

mkwest wrote:
02/07/2009 - 'I WANTED TO TRY A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF COMPETITION'

Sophocles intention to get a try out at the Las Vegas summer League as a guest of the Clippers, that have his rights for the NBA was well known. However, this trip is not going to take place, since there has been a ban from FIBA for all European players that are under contract, and that why "Sofo" made the following statement: "In life and in basketball in general, there are always unpredictable obstacles. My trip to the Las Vegas summer league will not take place, since FIBA has forbidden NBA teams to invite players that are under contract, regardless of the fact that they might have obtained their club's consent, as was my case. That's why I would like to especially thank Olympiacos for the way my club handled this situation. The most important thing for me was to change perspective and try to find out where I stand at this point in a different competition level, as well as prepare the best I could for the national team and the difficult season that lies ahead with Olympiacos. It doesn't matter though, I keep up with my work and try to become the best player I can..."

BigSofo.gr

So is he still going to try to come out to make the team nonetheless?

Post #17 » by **mkwest** » Mon Jul 6, 2009 4:04 am

ClipperDomination wrote:So is he still going to try to come out to make the team nonetheless?

It probably won't be until next season. I'm not exactly certain, but I have read on other boards that he is under contract for another season.

KWSN-Men · Post #18 » by **KWSN-Men** » Thu Jul 9, 2009 3:14 pm

He won't play in the summer league. He is under contract and FIBA no longer allows players under contract in Europe to play in any summer league.

Post #19 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Thu Jul 9, 2009 5:37 pm

KWSN-Men wrote:He won't play in the summer league. He is under contract and FIBA no longer allows players under contract in Europe to play in any summer league.

I think that rule sucks, he would benefit from playing in the summer league here.

Post #20 » by **mkwest** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:04 am

Neil Olshey has pretty much confirmed the recent reports on Sofo.

During the practice, I was able to speak with Neil Olshey a little bit. I asked him about MBFGC, Sofoklis Schortsianitis. If you'll recall, Olshey stated shortly after the lottery that the Clippers were looking at bringing MBFGC over to play in summer league this year, but obviously he's not here. Citizen xxxxxx found out from Sofo's website that he also was planning to play, but that FIBA had stepped in and blocked it.

Olshey confirmed that story. The Clippers were planning on having MBFGC in Vegas this summer - in fact, they had puchased the plane tickets. In years past, players under contract have played in Vegas as long as they had the permission of their club team. Olympiacos had granted their permission, but for whatever reason FIBA made a blanket ruling this season that no players under contract would be allowed to play. (As you might imagine, this ruling affected plenty of teams beyond the Clippers.) The Clippers' front court is still pretty crowded with some big contracts and some promising youngsters, but with Randolph on his way to Memphis, Skinner opting out and Camby in the last year of his deal, suddenly the idea of taking an extended look at MBFGC doesn't seem quite so crazy. According to Olshey, he's been maintaining a much lower weight each of the times he's seen him recently, which is significant. Sofo was recently named to 17 player preliminary selection for Greece's entry in the European Championships to be held in Poland in August - he may or may not make the final selection as there are SIX centers currently on the list.

Steve Perrin, Clips Nation