Giorgos Papagiannis explains his role with Greece and his ability to stretch the floor. The big man evaluates his first season with Fenerbahce and admits that he'd like to come back for the second year of his contract.
When coach Vassilis Spanoulis deployed a starting lineup featuring Nick Calathes and Thomas Walkup to fend off Nikola Vucevic's Montenegro squad in Greece's first friendly game, a recurring question appeared again:
How will Greece overcome the two players' subpar shooting, especially when Giannis Antetokounmpo shares the court with the team's guard duo?
"Maybe not even Walkup and Calathes didn't think they could play together," Spanoulis admitted after Greece's comfortable 86-57 win last Wednesday night. Obviously, creating the best spacing possible is a challenge for the former Peristeri play-caller.
In this context, Giorgos Papagiannis can provide some comfort. The 2.20-meter big man had always been a decent midrange shooter.
However, over the past two seasons, he has turned into a reliable outside threat as well. Papagiannis has converted almost half of his 3-point attempts in EuroLeague action with Panathinaikos (48.6% in 2022-23) and Fenerbahce (48.8% in 2023-24).
Yet, he didn't make a single 3-point shot in Fenerbahce's last six Turkish playoff games, where he went 0/8.
Papagiannis took a total of four attempts in the Acropolis Tournament, where, apart from Montenegro, Greece also brushed aside the Bahamas (102-75). Even though his shooting volume is low, it's his efficiency that matters the most.
"It all depends on how coach Spanoulis wants to play," the 27-year-old center recently told BasketNews.
"Sometimes, I would come off some pick-and-pops at Fenerbahce. Of course, it also has to do with the players you'll be on the court with at that moment," he added.
Papagiannis played 59 games with Fenerbahce across the two main competitions (EuroLeague and Turkish League) last season.
He averaged 11.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.0 block while shooting 31.3% from behind the arc in 21 minutes in the Turkish league. His EuroLeague numbers were less impressive -- 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 16 minutes.
Still, Fenerbahce won both domestic titles and made the EuroLeague Final Four, where they fell to eventual champs Panathinaikos in the semis and lost the 3rd-place game to Olympiacos.
The highest NBA Draft pick in Greece's history (at No. 13 in 2016) said he relished his season in Turkey and wouldn't mind coming back for the second year of his contract.
"Okay, it's kind of an open secret
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