3rd-place Game: Lithuania: Greece

[fasoulaki]

well he cant be considered as a Center when he cant play inside the basket... thats funny..
he can only shoot and dunk. he cant play against the basket...

and he makes incredible blocks. The problem is he does not play with his back turned to the basket.

[EverGreen]

well he cant be considered as a Center when he cant play inside the basket... thats funny..
he can only shoot and dunk. he cant play against the basket...

Unfortunately for Bourou he hasn't had the luck playing along side great centres to learn how to post. This year he improved his distance shooting. Hopefully he will learn to post this year. He is a great investment for Greek basketball. I've always liked his attitude.

I can also say that Greece WON Vasilopoulos in this tournament. He will be even better in the future as he finds his legs and place. Definately to be a future NT captain.

[Victorious]

Papadopoulos out?
For who? Guys, he had a bad tournament overall. Relax. We owe a lot to these guys. Papadopoulos should remain the center of the Greek NT for at least another two years. Then Koufos can start taking over along with Sofo or Bourousis. We'll see how these players will evolve.

[reignman]

Papadopoulos out?
For who? Guys, he had a bad tournament overall. Relax. We owe a lot to these guys. Papadopoulos should remain the center of the Greek NT for at least another two years. Then Koufos can start taking over along with Sofo or Bourousis. We'll see how these players will evolve.

οnly a pure Greek has these kind of thoughts.

so lets wait for koufos to get 25-30 years old before he stop being a "talent" after all Greece is well known for their "talents" which are 25 years old... like we screwed Diamantopoulos talent...

anyway.

Papadopoulos should get kicked from the NT along with Kakiouzis , Ntikoudis.
Papaloukas will probly wants to rest.. so if he comes to the olympics it will be his last tour with our NTs colors.


p.s

Koufos not only can play but he can be our leader starting from the olympic games

[EverGreen]

Papadopoulos should get kicked from the NT along with Kakiouzis , Ntikoudis.
Papaloukas will probly wants to rest.. so if he comes to the olympics it will be his last tour with our NTs colors.

I disagree with you about Dikoudis. He was our best "big man" this tournament. I don't think we are in the position to let Papaloukas rest. 2-3 changes at most. It's not as if we have to build a new team after a disaster.

Papadopoulos really got on my nerves this tournament. He only played 1/2 a gmae when he should have stepped up with Fotsis and Sofo's absence yet I think he spent too much time making statments about the state of Greek basketball than concentrating on being ready (physically and mentally) for the tournament.

[reignman]

its not about US letting papaloukas rest he will retire from the NT.
if not before the pre-olympic , after the olympic games for sure trust me

[EverGreen]

its not about US letting papaloukas rest he will retire from the NT.
if not before the pre-olympic , after the olympic games for sure trust me

I hope your knowledge(???) doesnt come true. That would be a big blow for us.

btw..once Saras signs for us will you keep your avatar?

[KONSTANTINE]

Papadopoulos out?
For who? Guys, he had a bad tournament overall. Relax. We owe a lot to these guys. Papadopoulos should remain the center of the Greek NT for at least another two years. Then Koufos can start taking over along with Sofo or Bourousis. We'll see how these players will evolve.

papadopouloas never ever helped thin team.he is the most overated center ever and the worst center of this tournament.

did papadopoulos played well against usa? no.when yannakis put him out we covered the margin and won the game
remind me a game where he played well


the fact is we didnt have a center in this eurobasket.papaloukas and diama without good and clever center are useless in attack.i remember they gave him some incredible passes and he couldnt score.tsartsaris was the only one fighting but was alone.
the fact is we need a center

[reignman]

btw..once Saras signs for us will you keep your avatar?

i change it for now.. till the time he signs and turns red

[GR8BBALL]

Papadopoulos is a good player, he had a bad tournament but he's got a very good offensive game and he is bulky and can occupy the paint. Major weaknesses: speed and defense (especially blocking) leave a lot to be desired. In european competitions he is one of the best centers (Euroleague stats from last year here-->http://www.euroleague.net/competitio...asoncode=e2006)
I think he made 2nd all Euroleague team in the last season. Problems arise when he has to face nba caliber centers/forwards--then his weaknesses are exposed, plus he wasn't well prepared for this Euro.

Do I want him in this team? Definitely yes.
Does our team need more athleticism/skill in the paint? Sure

The big question is if Koufos can fill this gap. IMO he isn't ready to be the leader of our nt because he's inexperienced. He just came out of high school and he had an amazing U18 tournament with Greece. He's just 18 years old and next year he will be 19 and have only 1 year experience from NCAA competition with Ohio State under his belt.

Is this enough to lead a team in the Olympics? I don't think so. In a couple of years maybe IF he becomes the player all of us want him to be but not right now.

Can he be a useful player and show flashes of greatness next year? IMO he's capable of doing that and elevate our inside presence.

And one more thing, we all have to thank his mother for the good job she's done raising him and the Greek awareness that he has so we can be proud of having a very good player playing on our side.

[Petran]

Just some thoughts:

1) Many thanks to Nikos Chatzivrettas. Although he was turned from a pure scorer to a role-player he never complaided and he was playing 100% at all time.. If he wants to rest then it so...

2) Papaloukas won't retire from the NT, atleast before the Olympics. He has stated many times that he will be there when we need him.

3) Regarding Papadopoulos - It is very silly wanting him to retire from the NT. I agree he has limited moves and problems with fast and athletic players but he moves he posseses are executed in perfection. And at 28 he still has many years left.

4) Sofo and Fotsis would be great additions to the team. I don't know who will be left out. If this was this year's team I would have taken out Pelekanos and Bourousis. Bourousis is great and may evolve but for now this would be the choice. I don't see Dikoudis and Kakiouzis out. First of all, Dikoudis played exceptionally this year. And you need someone like Kakiouzis who seems to possess the best mind skills in the team.

5) Guys, I know Koufos is phenomenal but I would hardly see him as anything else than a 12th player, even in next year. The international level has risen too fast and I really can't think of any recent 1st year NCAA player that made the difference. Patience please...

Some general comments - I think we go too far in proclaiming that people should retire from their NTs when start to reach their 30s. I believe that with todays scientific skills you can have players at their top in 32-33 yrs.

If people want to retire, then it is ok. But in Greece, most people simply where available until they stopped playing.

[c_fish]

We're talking about NT here not a club and the replacement choises are limited.It is not about simply kicking out whoever doesn't play good but it is about having someone better at his place.Now do we have another center capable of playing with his back on the basket better at it than Lazo?Koufos must first join the mens NT and show his abilities against mens NTs,not underaged.Despite his weaknesses,and his recent bad performance, Lazos is the better inside scorer we have.Ofcourse we can also kick him out and have Bourousis starting,also kick Dikoudis and Kakiouzis out,bring in Printezis and Tapoutos so all of them alongside with Fotsis can lineup at the 3p line shooting 3s and leaving the inside game to Diamantidis

[T.W.Is.M.]

We're talking about NT here not a club and the replacement choises are limited.It is not about simply kicking out whoever doesn't play good but it is about having someone better at his place.Now do we have another center capable of playing with his back on the basket better at it than Lazo?Koufos must first join the mens NT and show his abilities against mens NTs,not underaged.Despite his weaknesses,and his recent bad performance, Lazos is the better inside scorer we have.Ofcourse we can also kick him out and have Bourousis starting,also kick Dikoudis and Kakiouzis out,bring in Printezis and Tapoutos so all of them alongside with Fotsis can lineup at the 3p line shooting 3s and leaving the inside game to Diamantidis

I agree with most of what u say(however Sofo is the best inside scorer we have and Dikoudis can score more points in small periods than Papadopoulos), but the fact is that Diamantidis is better at the low post than Bouroussis, Tsartsaris, Kakiouzis and Fotsis!That's more than half of our frontline

[LuDux]

Lithuania welcomes home Lithuanian NT

LIVE

http://www.lrt.lt/archyvas/?channel=234940&section=5&quality=high

http://www.lrt.lt/archyvas/?channel=234940&section=5&quality=low

[uRAgan]

Lithuania welcomes home Lithuanian NT

LIVE

http://www.lrt.lt/archyvas/?channel=234940&section=5&quality=high

http://www.lrt.lt/archyvas/?channel=...=5&quality=low

Excellent !
Players national heroes!