Georgios Papagiannis

[beb0p]

The selection of Papagiannis continues to fascinates me. Mostly because there is not much information about him and there is no clear answer why Vlade made this pick, aside from "he could be an All-Star". But even that sentiment is puzzling as it's not obvious to me why Vlade thinks this kid can be an All-Star.

I've dig up a high school game of Papagiannis, it's just one more piece of the puzzle to add to the overall picture, which is not entirely clear at this point.

You may not recognize the Papagiannis in this game, because his body, agility, and even his game is slightly different from the one you saw in summer league. Some of the things you already know, but you may be surprise at other things he could do. Granted, it's high school, but it's still interesting to watch; at least for me.

The takeaway for me is, if all I ever saw of Papagiannis is this clip, and if I'm told this kid would make the NBA; I'd have envisioned a different type of player than the one I saw this past two weeks.

.

 

[KingsFan80]

Vlade picked him because he is big and international and it will come back to bite us in the rear. He sucks

 

[M_Barragan]

Too early to make judgments on the kid. Big dudes take time.

 

[parker]

Vlade picked him because he is big and international and it will come back to bite us in the rear. He sucks

I have a feeling it might not be so black and white.

 

[funkykingston]

Too early to make judgments on the kid. Big dudes take time.

But what's the fun in that? Why not decide the entire career arc of a kid that just turned 19 after he played in two Summer League games?

 

[NoBonus]

Vlade picked him because he is big and international and it will come back to bite us in the rear. He sucks

Wow! A judgment made off of 2 summer league games. Don't you think "He Sucks" is a bit premature? If summer league meant so much, WCS would be off the team. Patience, young padawan.

 

[pshn80]

It doesn't get you more points on the score bard or more wins during the year if we happened to have a hit or a miss with our highest pick. With our highest pick we traded and got two first round picks - Pappaguanis and Labissiere. If we get an eventual starter with either one - voila! If the other one is Papa and we send him back to Greece, so be it. Not only that but Vlade got another pick in the first round by trading Bellinelli ( a coup on it's own). For Richardson. I don't care which one pays off for us as an eventual starter. And if it is two starters Vlade's work in this draft would go down in league history as the best outcome ever achieved with the 8th pick in the first round. So don't ask any questions, just sit back and enjoy the ride. That's what I am doing.

 

[kingsboi]

Right now it's easy to bash on him. I've been tempted to do so, but I won't go there. Vlade said it himself after the draft, he will take some time to develop. Another posted it all ready and is spot on, bigs take longer to develop. When you watch Papa, he is slow footed and it's obvious the speed he is playing at is down two notches right now to where he needs to play, which is the NBA level. He also needs to lose all that baby fat he does and hit the weight room, I saw him get knocked around fairly easily. I'm not quite sure what his work ethic is like, but I hope to the basketball gods that he lives in the gym and I'm not just talking about the basketball gym either. Both need to be exclusives IMO.

 

[Glenn]

It doesn't get you more points on the score bard or more wins during the year if we happened to have a possible miss with our highest pick. With our highest pick we traded and got two first round picks - Pappaguanis and Labissiere. If we get an eventual starter with either one - voila! If the other one is Papa and we nave to send him back to Greece, so be it. Not only that but Vlade got another pick in the first round by trading Bellinelli ( a coup on it's own). For Richardson. I don't care which one pays off for us as an eventual starter. And if it is two starters Vlade's work in this draft would go down in league history as the best outcome ever achieved with the 8th pick in the first round. So don't ask any questions, just sit back and enjoy the ride. That's what I am doing.

You forgot to pop some popcorn.

 

[Glenn]

It doesn't get you more points on the score bard or more wins during the year if we happened to have a possible miss with our highest pick. With our highest pick we traded and got two first round picks - Pappaguanis and Labissiere. If we get an eventual starter with either one - voila! If the other one is Papa and we nave to send him back to Greece, so be it. Not only that but Vlade got another pick in the first round by trading Bellinelli ( a coup on it's own). For Richardson. I don't care which one pays off for us as an eventual starter. And if it is two starters Vlade's work in this draft would go down in league history as the best outcome ever achieved with the 8th pick in the first round. So don't ask any questions, just sit back and enjoy the ride. That's what I am doing.

You forgot to pop some popcorn.

 

[One and Done]

"He looks a step slow, out of shape and generally a backup center at best."

That was my assessment of Marc Gasol when seeing him for the first time, before he was in the NBA. Not saying Papagiannis is the next Gasol brother (wouldn't that be nice?), but just goes to show that big guys take time to develop, and first impressions aren't always the best.

 

[206Fan]

Vlade said he expects Papagiannis to play minutes like Willie did yesterday. Expects him to have the same impact... Willie played 20mpg...

Vlade also said he thinks Papagiannis is more NBA ready to contribute than Chriss and Bender. Will be interesting..

 

[Telemachus]

Right now it's easy to bash on him. I've been tempted to do so, but I won't go there. Vlade said it himself after the draft, he will take some time to develop. Another posted it all ready and is spot on, bigs take longer to develop. When you watch Papa, he is slow footed and it's obvious the speed he is playing at is down two notches right now to where he needs to play, which is the NBA level. He also needs to lose all that baby fat he does and hit the weight room, I saw him get knocked around fairly easily. I'm not quite sure what his work ethic is like, but I hope to the basketball gods that he lives in the gym and I'm not just talking about the basketball gym either. Both need to be exclusives IMO.

I agree. It is easy to make snap judgments on limited information, but you have to give young players time to develop (especially big men). I remember watching Jermaine O'Neal spend his first 4 years in Portland doing nothing. Then he got time in Indiana and turned into a very good player.

 

[allrightythen]

I was surprised we picked him but I can certainly understand it. He is really big and moves well for his size and has soft hands and a nice touch. There is definitely something to work with. He's really young, needs to work on his body (his words) and his game. Summer league is notorious for guards looking awesome and bigs looking not-so-awesome. Given his age, injury issues, working in a new system with new and terrible guards, it doesn't make a lot of sense to evaluate him based on what we've seen thus far.

I did think it was silly of Vlade to say that he expected big George to contribute like WCS did last year since Willie was much older with loads more basketball experience than Georgie boy. I like the fact that the Kings have some youth that they can let develop at their own pace.

 

[ockingsfan]

Give Big Papa some time people. He is only 19 years old. Bigs take at least 2 or 3 years to develop.

Big Papa will be able to play big minutes in 2 years and potentially start if DMC ever leaves in free agency.

In all the videos I've seen of him, he has good hands and coordination for a man his size.

He will take a few years, but I think his floor is a defensive center, like KK.

If he develops his offensive game, I think his ceiling is Zydrunas Ilgauskas of the Cavs

 

[Bricklayer]

Give Big Papa some time people. He is only 19 years old. Bigs take at least 2 or 3 years to develop.

Big Papa will be able to play big minutes in 2 years and potentially start if DMC ever leaves in free agency.

In all the videos I've seen of him, he has good hands and coordination for a man his size.

He will take a few years, but I think his floor is a defensive center, like KK.

If he develops his offensive game, I think his ceiling is Zydrunas Ilgauskas of the Cavs

Big Z is a decent rich man's upside, but part of that is because of this: Papa looks soft to me, as did Z.

Big body, but when I watched those tapes of him in Europe I got the same impression I am getting here. He's huge, but he doesn't really use it except as a finisher. He doesn't appear to have an advanced post game, and what I was seeing on those tapes and again here is that he actually doesn't look like a dominant rebounder, nor a major shotblocker. He's not a nothing just due to his size, but none of those things seem to be a strength. And that's a big ! because those things usually present pretty young. A big guy with coordination to be a finisher might eventually be abel to work himself into more offensive skills, although right now it almost looks like he would be starting from scratch. but normally you don't learn how to be a rebounder or shotblocker. Those are things that are with you from a young age. And if you don't have them, you can be Aaron Gray huge, or even Sim Bhullar huge and still not be an impact guy. I almost don't care about the offense. In order for me to be excited about this pick I want to see the rest of the big man package.

 

[Kingster]

Vlade said he expects Papagiannis to play minutes like Willie did yesterday. Expects him to have the same impact... Willie played 20mpg...

Vlade also said he thinks Papagiannis is more NBA ready to contribute than Chriss and Bender. Will be interesting..

That will be interesting. I'll be comparing them this coming year.

 

[BeerNerd916]

Vlade picked him because he is big and international and it will come back to bite us in the rear. He sucks

Your posts suck worse. Im all for constructive criticism but you are at the point of 'not being a Kings fan, just someone here to cause trouble'.

 

[DerekJ]

Not to troll or anything, but honestly he has looked awful his first couple games.

I know he's only 19, big guy, drafted for potential.... Yada Yada.


We shall see.

 

[BeerNerd916]

Not to troll or anything, but honestly he has looked awful his first couple games.

I know he's only 19, big guy, drafted for potential.... Yada Yada.


We shall see.

See, and thats fine to say. We all have eyes, and yes he has looked out of place, like Skal looked last year at KY. But to flat out say in multiple threads "he sucks" and keep pushing a negative Kings agenda is concerning about the source to say the least. Yes, GP has looked bad. Yes, its frustrating and disappointing. No, he is not a finished product.

 

[miltonap]

Lol, dudes played 2 summer league games after not having played for 2 months and people are freaking out. It's not concerning at all. He'll be fine.

 

[RichieInRocklin]

Big Z is a decent rich man's upside, but part of that is because of this: Papa looks soft to me, as did Z.

He doesn't appear to have an advanced post game, and what I was seeing on those tapes and again here is that he actually doesn't look like a dominant rebounder, nor a major shotblocker. He's not a nothing just due to his size, but none of those things seem to be a strength. And that's a big ! because those things usually present pretty young. A big guy with coordination to be a finisher might eventually be abel to work himself into more offensive skills, although right now it almost looks like he would be starting from scratch. but normally you don't learn how to be a rebounder or shotblocker. Those are things that are with you from a young age.

Brick, we obvious see things a little differently. I've played bball through hs and intermural in college and played with and against some very good players. Defense and rebounding are a mental effort first. You have to want to be good on defense. The rest comes from coaching and practice and playing. Papa is only 18 yrs old, not in NBA shape, has a lot of training and learning to do, but I really feel that he will not turn out soft, will learn how to be a good rebounder, and will be a very good defensive player (he already knows how to go straight up with his hands when trying to block a shot). Only time will tell who's going to be right.

 

[Kingfanpaul]

Vlade picked him because he is big and international and it will come back to bite us in the rear. He sucks

Is there anything you actually like about the Kings?

 

[jcwkings]

Kings staff needs to get him on a training regimen and diet. Dude needs to drop 20 lbs and add some muscle.

 

[SacTownKid]

When in doubt remind yourself that he's 18 freaking years old. Him looking like he's 25 is what is making him look worse than he is right now.

 

[The_Jamal]

Personally, I'm not doubting his ability long-term at all. There's enough there that you can see what Vlade saw; size, good hands, good fundamentals, and decent athleticism when he gets moving. And as everyones already said and I've been advocating for years about as well, it's stupid to judge anything long-term about a player.

What I have more of a problem with is we used our 13th pick on a giant project of a player, on a position we didn't need help at, and in lieu of players who very much would have been able to contribute in the next 2 seasons (Arguably the most important seasons since 2002) with the Boogie's future at large. Wade Baldwin would be slotted in for 15 MPG right now backing up Collison for instance.

Papagiannis flat out is showing us he needs a year in the D-League. Conditioning and weight aside, the game is just moving way too quick for him at this level. He has no idea how to use his size as basically every tree the Pelicans threw at him were able to hold him back.

It'd honestly be irresponsible to his development to expect 15 MPG out of him this season, especially when we have such a quality back-up C in Koufos ready to go. And with Cousins, missing 10+ games due to an injury or suspension of some sort is not out of the question, making back-up C a crucial position for us.

 

[New Era]

Personally, I'm not doubting his ability long-term at all. There's enough there that you can see what Vlade saw; size, good hands, good fundamentals, and decent athleticism when he gets moving. And as everyones already said and I've been advocating for years about as well, it's stupid to judge anything long-term about a player.

What I have more of a problem with is we used our 13th pick on a giant project of a player, on a position we didn't need help at, and in lieu of players who very much would have been able to contribute in the next 2 seasons (Arguably the most important seasons since 2002) with the Boogie's future at large. Wade Baldwin would be slotted in for 15 MPG right now backing up Collison for instance.

Papagiannis flat out is showing us he needs a year in the D-League. Conditioning and weight aside, the game is just moving way too quick for him at this level. He has no idea how to use his size as basically every tree the Pelicans threw at him were able to hold him back.

It'd honestly be irresponsible to his development to expect 15 MPG out of him this season, especially when we have such a quality back-up C in Koufos ready to go. And with Cousins, missing 10+ games due to an injury or suspension of some sort is not out of the question, making back-up C a crucial position for us.

Typically, do lottery picks play in the D League? I don't think it happens very often.

 

[Blob]

Vlade picked him because he is big and international and it will come back to bite us in the rear. He sucks

Troll alert

 

[Blob]

When in doubt remind yourself that he's 18 freaking years old. Him looking like he's 25 is what is making him look worse than he is right now.

He turned 19 a week ago but your point is valid.

 

[King Baller]

It is Summer League, Big Papa is really young and Big's seldom thrive in SL. But with all that said I was watching Wade Baldwin play and thinking he looked pretty good. Oh well just need to keep telling myself self, its Summer League, its Summer league,.............................

 

[Blob]

Personally, I'm not doubting his ability long-term at all. There's enough there that you can see what Vlade saw; size, good hands, good fundamentals, and decent athleticism when he gets moving. And as everyones already said and I've been advocating for years about as well, it's stupid to judge anything long-term about a player.

What I have more of a problem with is we used our 13th pick on a giant project of a player, on a position we didn't need help at, and in lieu of players who very much would have been able to contribute in the next 2 seasons (Arguably the most important seasons since 2002) with the Boogie's future at large. Wade Baldwin would be slotted in for 15 MPG right now backing up Collison for instance.

Papagiannis flat out is showing us he needs a year in the D-League. Conditioning and weight aside, the game is just moving way too quick for him at this level. He has no idea how to use his size as basically every tree the Pelicans threw at him were able to hold him back.

It'd honestly be irresponsible to his development to expect 15 MPG out of him this season, especially when we have such a quality back-up C in Koufos ready to go. And with Cousins, missing 10+ games due to an injury or suspension of some sort is not out of the question, making back-up C a crucial position for us.

Lot of firm conclusions after 2 summer league games, no? FWIW Willie has looked worse in these two summer league games than almost any time during the regular season against far superior competition. What does that tell you? It tells you a few things, including it is hard to develop cohesiveness and rhythm after a week of practice with new teammates, new coaches, and some guys just take longer to get adjusted and comfortable. I am not absolving the player of his degree of responsibility, but when you throw a bunch of guys together in a week then go out and compete results are mixed, especially when you are a rookie coming off an injury.

If you went back and looked at tapes of Marc Gasol when he came into the league, he was a slug. He was fat and plodding and a throw-in on a trade. Papa is far ahead of Gasol at a younger age. And I think he's taller and longer too. So to draw the conclusions you are drawing shows you are unable or unwilling to envision what the guy can become with experience and physical development. The most prominent years of growth for any player are 19-22 and he is staring those years square in the eye. If he was 22 now, I would be concerned. But he's going to grow into his body get lean and strong, and get experience and make impact just due to his sheer size and force.

There are two things you can't teach: size and speed. Papa has the size and the coordination and hands a lot of "big white stiffs" cannot attest to having.

The real question is not is the guy going to be a bust or not, the real question is do you plan to confess to the error in your ways when this guy turns into a legitimate player? I think he will playing 10-20 MPG next season because (1) he already sets the best picks on the team (Boogie is not interested in setting picks, FYI), (2) he's going to keep opponents off the glass just by taking up so much room in the key. When he leans down and gets his wind, he will be challenging more shots, running the floor, and getting put backs. Nothing to see here but a rookie finding his way. Have a little patience in said player and faith in Vlade and ye shall be rewarded.