Georgios Papagiannis, the ghost from Panathinaikos
In 2016, when Georgios Papagiannis was drafted 13th overall in the NBA by Phoenix Suns, everybody hoped that the Greek giant will make there something big. He was one of the best young players in Europe at that moment.
But it was hard for the young player to catch some minutes in the best league in the world and, of course, the best decisions was to come back to Europe where he can shine. And in Europe, where, if not to his former club Panathinaikos?
It seemed to be a nice story and a big deal for both sides: the player and the club signed a 5 years contract, which included an NBA option. But nobody understands what happened after. The big hope of the Greek basketball, one of the tallest players in Euroleague (2,20 m) and in his best age to play basketball, coming with a big American experience became quickly a GHOST.
Every game is playing fewer minutes and worse basketball. Even more, his confidence and his instinct to fight for the ball totally dissapeard. If you look at his season til now, it’s a complete mess: he scored only 10 points and had just 12 index rate. Yesterday, he was included by Xavi Pascual in the 5 starters, but in spite of this, he played just 6 minutes, grabed 1 rebound and had 0 on efficiency. Why didn’t he play more time? When the other young center, Konstantinos Mitoglou had 20 points and 27 index rate, but he was more than 21 minutes on the court.
The few minutes per game given to the ghost of Georgios Papagiannis are an enigma for all the basketball specialists, but there are involved more than just minutes. The Greek giant, Papagiannis, the coach Xavi Pascual, the entire PAO organization has to think a bit that this is always the perfect way to take a big hope player from HERO to ZERO.
Gratian Cormos, info@brainbasketball.net
