The kids got some fire!With the possiblity of Girogos joining the Raptors for the 2009-2010 season, we turned to Chris Denker from NetScouts to give us a scouting report on the Greek adonis:
Printezis is a 6′8 220 PF/SF who plays for Olympiacos Piraeus in Greece. He is a 24 year old guy who the San Antonio Spurs drafted in the 2nd Round in 2007. The Raptors acquired him in exchange for their 2008 2nd Round pick. He has been considered to be one of the better up and coming Greek players since winning the Greek League Best Young Player (aka. Rookie Award) in ‘07. He also played for the Greek National Team in the 2008 Olympic Games. His team Olympiacos, features Josh Childress (Stanford & Atlanta Hawks), Lynn Greer (Temple), and Jannero Pargo (N.O. Hornets) and played in the EuroLeague Final Four this season losing to eventual champ and Greek rival Panathinaikos ultimately settling for fourth place.
In EuroLeague action this year he averaged 8.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. One thing he has always been is efficient offensively. He shoots a very high percentage because he usually scores in transition, on pick & roll to the rim sets, or on the offensive glass with put-backs. Although his stroke is decent he doesn’t look to shoot much beyond 15 feet and shoots a low % from the International 3-point line which is obviously closer than the NBA line.
Olypmpiacos to Toronto?He won the Slam Dunk Contest at the Greek League All-Star game in 2007 which shows he has some athleticism, however he is a bit of a tweener size & skill wise. He runs well but isn’t overly quick laterally but possesses good strength and leaping ability. At 6′8 and 220 he’s a bit smaller than Luis Scola who took all kinds of knocks prior to his arrival in Houston about being too small to play PF in the NBA. Keeping in mind Scola was one of the best Spanish ACB and EL players as well as all of his FIBA exploits representing Argentina. I’m a huge Scola fan and as I’ve said in prior posts on this site, I much prefer a guy who has proven he can produce rather than worrying about how tall he is. However, with respect to Printezis, his numbers are nowhere near that of a player like Scola AND he’s an inch shorter and gives 20+ pounds.
Although he’s not a SF in my opinion from a skill perspective, I do think he possesses the toughness and a good amount of athletic ability to defend that spot as well as the PF position. Perhaps the Raps, with the ability of their current bigs to play outside/in, could utilize Printezis as a rim runner, slash cutter against rotations, and overall garbage guy on the offensive end while playing solid defensively at a couple positions. One of our scouts at NetScouts Basketball, Dionysios Nikiforos, has a sound knowledge of the Greek League and has suggested that Giorgos is a hard working guy, very coachable, very tough, who shows up to compete night in and night out.
On paper he seems to be a solid 2nd round pick-up with a chance to become a good role player for the Raps. Only time will tell.
Follow Chris
Follow me
Follow us: (@altraps @arsenalist)
Grab the feed
39 Raps
he seems to be like a walter hermann without a jumpshot…im willing to give him a roster spot over joey graham in order to see what he can do.
I would love to have walter hermann on the raptors. he would be a nice compliment to the front court. i’d give him a roster spot over joey graham too, no question.
Project or no project, I think the pertinent question regarding GP on this years Raps team is; What kind of salary will he command, and what is his buyout status?
Literally the million dollar question. I’m good with brining him over if the contract is similar to the first one we gave Calderon ($2mill/per)
Great point! I think he’s actually a free agent right now. It’s been reported that his agent has been using the option joining the Raps to leverage a better contract from his Greek team.
I’d leave him in Greece for another year. He’ll get more playing time there and he sounds like a role player. Maybe a good role player but there’s no rush and he’ll be better for getting the minutes in the 2nd best league(s) in the world than sitting on a bench in Toronto.
And Joey isn’t coming back whatever the Raps do so we can all probably stop talking about him like he’s on the team.
Joey is going to Oklahoma.
what, back to school? is that allowed? that’s where his game would flourish…
oh, you mean the thunder. ok then…good thing, i’d rather he went to the WC, wouldn’t want him playing against the raps. er, wait…
LOL I would love for him to play against us. I’d send him to someone in the atlantic division…
I agree. Getting playing time in Greece for another 1-2 years as opposed to riding our pine is in everyone’s best interests.
The one thing GP has going for him is that he’s only 24 years old. (Luis Scola is 29).
I gotta give huge props to Chris Denker for providing us with this honest scouting assessment of GP’s game and potential. :)
(Jorge Garbojosa – Jumpshot) + (Jamario Moon – Jumpshot/Grin) = Giorgos Printezis.
So he’s the Greek Reggie Evans. The Kapono trade makes even more sense now.
He’s got Jamario’s grin. ;)
That ain’t a grin!!! That’s the Alice in Wonderland CAT SMILE…
Since when did Jamario ever have a jumpshot?
my mistake… *airballs/grin*
Basically another Reggie but at the SF position. I think he will be an effective SF playing along CB and AB. His Athletism can contribute by playing defense, rebouding, and getting put backs. Doing the things moon was suppose to do. With Reggie, when he’s subbing for CB, AB will be the only Frontcourt offensive option. I think B.C’s belives GP can also brings what Marion can do for a much cheaper price.
How many garbage men do we need? Pops, Hump, Evans, O’Bryant, Jawai. The Scola comparison is tempting but Georgie’s nowhere near a player Scola was before he joined the league.
Based on Denker’s lateral quickness comment playing the 3 seems unlikely so it’ll have to be the 4 for him and thats the position where there’s a logjam right now.
Raps Fan: Just wondering where you’re getting the impression that Printezis may be joining the Raps this year? Doug Smith has stated several times in recent weeks that it’s highly unlikely that GP will be on the Raptors this year, if for no other reason than that he’s several years away from being worthy of playing in the NBA. I don’t always agree with Doug’s opinion, but his reports are usually correct.
“There is no way Sam Mitchell is going to be fired”
Amen
LOL
BC mentioned it a couple times since the end of the season. He probably wont be joining the team, but the chatter made me want to learn more about him.
“The Raptors aren’t going to make any major moves after Voskuhl”
He said that in December when the JO/Marion trade discussions were going on.
I think the real value in bringing Georgie over this year is that he is not currently under contract. He won’t be looking to generate income for a buyout, so the value that we have to pay could be much less than if he had to do so. Obviously he won’t be dealing with a Rubio style buyout, but every little bit of savings under the cap is welcome.
Although like Sam said, he could use the next couple years to polish his game overseas and we could grab him when his next contract is up. Although if players are any good, don’t teams like to sign them to extensions?
I’d bring him over and put his ass on the bench. He’s tough, coachable and I would assume hungry. That’s the kind of guy you want on the bench and in practice.
So here’s a report from a Greek insider and an Olympiakos/Raptors & Pridezis fan
Ok, Pridezis is a SF, in greece he would sometimes play PF to take advantage of his speed against taller guys but in the NBA that’s not gonna happen
he’s REALLY hard working and 100% coachable, as correctly noted above…
i don’t understand why he is compared with J moon, he’s more like a Marion Type of player, Capable rebounder, creative and effective on the inside, and good perimeter defender. he will eventually knock down the 3 but it’s not his strongest spot. He’s really good in transition too..
The only thing tha conserns me is that he might lack the physicality for the NBA and still has to work on that, but look at bargnani, he spent two years of hard work and now his talent exploded like a volcano!
Giorgos has HUGE potential too and you could see it coming out on the floor more & more every year he spent in greece!
I as an olympiakos am very sad to see him go from my team (but we’re close to signing Anthony Parker so that makes up for it ;) but if there’s one team i’d love to see him go, that would be the raptors!
i think the raptors should use them in their rotation this year.. he can will make a good option off the bench+if he gets his opportunities and raptors work with him, he will make a fine NBA player
use Him* sorry
This is simply a question based around an opinion and am curious if anyone can truly answer it.
Since 2006-7 when B.C. took over as our GM we have gone deeper into the Euro market for players, besides the break out season in 07 (Which i still honest to god believe is due to the fact that the Atlantic Division was a landfill) this ‘international’ team has not exactly planned out the way it was suppose to. My biggest concern with most EURO league players is the lack of defensive game play they bring to the NBA due to the fact that many of those leagues do not focus immensely on defense. With this said, why does the front office continue to try and land these players in hopes that they will be like the Gasols, Scolas etc….. don’t get me wrong I think Caldeorn is fantastic as a PG and that this year was just awful due to the strain of playing a full year, but with all that said I think the raptors should focus on trying to establish the Free Agents already established in the NBA….
I realize its very easy to criticize and I am not really trying to. I just don’t understand why our city is not considered a marketable city to get prime athletes. It is one of the most media frenzy markets and one of the best cities in the world. Can someone justify that with proper cap spending why we cant land more players of the Chris Bosh type of caliber? I mean, i’m not a fool and in no way shape or form do I believe our team/our city could attract the players like Kobe, Wade, or even James, but why not more players similar to Bosh as far as quality of a player/attitude?
Also my other question is if weather or not BC feels that by drafting a player like Bargani vs a guy like Brandon Roy (NOT saying it was a bad choice just asking here!) is an easier choice because he feels that these players will have more of a loyalty factor to the team and thus resign with them? (Pending how they play in their initial contract year.) When we look at some of the major stars the city has helped to develop I believe that BC is smart in that sense, look at who we drove out: T-Mac, Vince (although he was being a real ass), Billups, Staudamire etc…..
If someone can please give me a response that would be awesome.
————————————–
re: I just don’t understand why our city is not considered a marketable city to get prime athletes. It is one of the most media frenzy markets and one of the best cities in the world. Can someone justify that with proper cap spending why we cant land more players of the Chris Bosh type of caliber?
————————————–
Mis-management of the resources available to MLSE … since it’s assumed full control of the hockey and basketball operations … is the primary reason for the lack of Quality players on the Maple Leafs and the Raptors. Period. Exclamation mark.
If those employed by MLSE to run the hockey and business operations properly do their job in a Top Notch way, there is no good reason for these two teams to repeatedly fail to produce a League Championship for the great City of Toronto … as you’ve accurately suggested, above. There are plenty of outstanding athletes who would love playing in Toronto. It is up to the management of MLSE to:
A. Find them;
and,
B. Show them, accurately, the benefits of living, working and playing in this city.
IMO, individuals like Scott Bowman, Bob Gainey or Joe Nieuwendyk [for example] and Jerry Krause, Jerry West or Julius Erving [for example] are a significant part of what is currently missing with the day-to-day operations of both the Maple Leafs and the Raptors.
It’s a people-based business … and, unless you have the right people in place, running your operations, the rest is a waste of time, as far as ever winning a league championship is concerned.
Sorry … that should read as:
If those employed by MLSE to run the hockey and basketball operations …
i have been living in the midwest for the last few years, and the states does not market anyone besides kobe and lebron, others playing don’t exist, so if its endorsements/fame they want, they will not find it in any market, let alone toronto. however, if players are looking to show off their skills on national tv, the player has a way better chance being on an american team to do that (i.e. double header fridays on espn, tnt’s double header coverage, abc after christmas).
i think the infatuation with an american athlete being in america is because it is simply their home. my hypothesis is fueled by how an athlete will choose utah over toronto or sacramento over toronto which just boggles my mind, i’m talking straight flabbergasted (explain that otherwise). america is different than canada…way different, and we know this…
but anyways, bosh and other american athletes playing on the raps have a way better chance to get endorsements, albeit in canada b/c like i said, if you aren’t lbj or kobe its pretty much a wrap. dwight had that one commercial with vitamin water, but he had to ask for that. KG has that HP and gatorade commerical that i have seen like once.
deron williams, cp3, tim duncan, those players aren’t on t.v. unless they are playing basketball. end of fucking rant.
As a writer on San Antonio’s blog mentioned, regarding Euro Players,
if GMs have to choose between 2 players of equal talent (as Bargnani and Aldridge were considered at the time, NOONE thought Roy would be this good!)they would jump at the chance of choosing the international player because the market value of that player compared to an American from say Indiana is a great plus. We as fans sometimes forget that the stands don’t fill themselves and all the media coverage, magazines, photo-ops, commercials and shirts sold in a huge international market make the Euro player way more desireable for management. If a GM can sell the supposed talent of an int’l player to his fanbase, he’ll do that in a minute, as Colangelo has done.
IMO Colangelo came and was chosen to come to make money for MLSE. We have a huge int’l community. We have covered so far the Latin community, the Italian community, the East-Europeans, we’ve got an Australian God knows why (maybe for the commonwealth flag), and now we’re ‘tapping’ into the big Greek community. All that’s left is a Portuguese defensive flopper. (let’s sign Brazilian Varejao!)
As a European I am testifying that this sort of move sells. It garners the attention of a whole country, even the non-basketball fans. It generates news in the int’l media everytime said int’l player breathes, dates someone or goes back to visit his homeland.
What kind of attention do American role-players generate in ESPN?
I agree that this Raptor roster is taking it too far. The Lakers, Magic and the Spurs of years past have been extremely successful with a maximum 3 very good int’l players. Anything more and it’s addition by subtruction.
Point 1. You are incorrect when you say that “no one” thought Brandon Roy was going to be this good at the time of the 2006 NBA Draft. The fact is … I did, and said so at the time, prior to that draft.
Point 2. IMO, any suggestion of a type of “quota” or “perceptual limit” to the maximum number of “Euro”/”International”/”non-American” players a top flight team in the NBA can have, if it’s going to be able to succeed in a big way, is patently ridiculous.
There have been, and are today, outstanding players from all over the world …
Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon was a great basketball player.
Arvydas Sabonis was a fantastic basketball player.
Oscar Schmidt was a fantastic basketball player.
Steve Nash is a tremendous basketball player.
Manu Ginobili is a terrific basketball player.
Dirk Nowitzki is a terrific basketball player.
Dikembe Mutombo was a very good basketball player.
Toni Kukic was a very good basketball player.
Vladi Divac was a very good basketball player.
Drazen Petrovic was a very good basketball player.
Yao Ming is a very good basketball player.
Luis Scola is a very good basketball player.
Hedo Turkoglu is a very good basketball.
Mehmet Okur is a very good basketball player.
Tony Parker is a very good basketball player.
Fabricio Oberto is a very good basketball player.
Andrew Bogut is going to be a very good basketball player.
Mickael Pietrus is going to be a very good basketball player.
Luc Richard Mbah A Moute is going to be a very good basketball player.
etc., etc., etc.
including the USA …
e.g. Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, etc.
with outstanding leadership skills and the character traits required to become one of the very best at playing a game which combines INDIVIDUAL ABILITY and TEAM PLAY.
A collection of athletically talented, highly skilled, hard-nosed, physically tough basketball players, committed to a Team Concept is what it takes to build a championship organization in the NBA. Where exactly any individual player actually comes from is irrelevant in terms of what “type” of basketball player he happens to be. Period. Exclamation mark.
I know nothing of this Giorgos but the description of his game sounds much like Marion’s.
FYI … a video clip of Giorgos Printezis.
Yikes if Athleticism is his selling point he’s in trouble…. Not that hes a “Garbo” but he’d be a very average athlete in this league… Leave him in Europe and tell him to find a jumpshot and bball IQ.
I don’t get it …. aren’t you supposed to build a championship contender and then build with solid role players? Would this be the second time in the BC era where the raps started to load up with a good supporting cast – only they forgot that CB4 can’t be Batman and Robin
One Trackback
[...] Q Public – Jim Tracy: Six Two And Even! Raptors Republic – Who the **** is Giorgos Printezis? Intentional Foul – Kareem Answers Some Questions Fansided – Year One: “Rebuilding Process” Fan [...]