Welcome to Clutchfans! Don't worry about the complaints. We love complaining about everything. When the team is playing bad, we criticize the players. When the team is playing well, we fight among each other. Too much adrenaline, I guess We LOVE Papa. From the first game in the preseason. Rockets coaches love him, that's why he plays heavy minutes. His teammates love him. I, for one, believe he had something to do with raising DMo's confidence level. He gets Howard easy looks at the basket. He's always looking to make the extra pass instead of looking for his shot. McHale turns him into a 4, because in the past 2 years since Harden has been here, our small-ball line-up has been very productive. If Papa can hit the outside shot, he draws away the opposing PF from the lane so Harden and Howard can have more space to drive. That usually makes the opposing coach substitute a smaller guy on him too. For an example, the Pelicans' preseason game when Papa made that ridiculous scoop shot over Anthony Davis, the next play or 2 after that, the New Orleans coach put another guy to defend Papa. The coaches know they're asking Papa to adjust his game, and are also working him out on his shot. Even McHale and Harden were practising with him the other day. Coaches are giving him special attention because he's very important in our game plan night in and night out.
That was also the worst draft class in a long time. I'll guess Wiggins or Parker, but Pops has a nonzero chance at it if he can get his shooting up.
DMo and Pap knows each other from the 2008 European championship under 18, the played against each other in the final ... Pap won the title and DMO was MVP
Kostas Taking Off in Houston. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Mggoay0yzh0?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Sitting on the bench w/ ice on his right knee. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rockets?src=hash">#Rockets</a> RT <a href="https://twitter.com/jennydialcreech">@jennydialcreech</a>: Kostas Papanikolaou out with a right knee strain.</p>— Adam Wexler (@awexler) <a href="https://twitter.com/awexler/status/541073099102253057">December 6, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I found this interesting and thought I would post it. Papa seems to be defying the expectations that Euro players can't be as productive in the NBA but it is interesting to me thgat they seem to have answered their question in the article by saying he is experienced and a 2 time Euro league champion before he come play here. http://www.eurohoops.net/2014/12/flopping/63963 Kostas Papanikolaou, Bojan Bogdanovic and Nikola Mirotic have already created noise in the NBA and despite being rookies they should be judged according to what they really are, experienced players in the top level. Plus Papanikolaou’s NBA stats are better than those he had in Europe! Those three players were Euroleague starters, Papanikolaou is also a two times champion as a member of Olympiacos and his example proves that a top level player in Europe can make the jump to the NBA and be more than efficient in the right situation. Papanikolaou is considered an athletic player by European standards, but in the Rockets he adapted admirably using his basketball IQ. And that’s evident in numbers.
KPap it's not a normal rookie. He won practically everything that counts in Europe... Pap's intangibles did so much so far for the Rockets to win shorthanded in most games ... now that he is injured, fans would please to have him back even with a bad shooting percentage ... hope he gets well soon
I know some Lithuanian fans who have been pretty disappointed into DMo's performance on the national team and his play overall. Glad to see he is really developing into the player he can be.
lol I hate that Papa is out. He has become a huge part of the team with our starters out. We are lucky that Morey brought him over this year.
lol I watch every FIBA game I can and have seen Lithuania several times. Thew coaching is strange there as many European teams I watched in that it is jarring how they do substitutions. It is like a player can't get into any rhythm before substituted. Strange at times. I saw this a lot on the Greek team also.
@Jonathan_Feigen Papanikolau said he's been told he'll likely be out 10 to 15 days. https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/541441671246774272
Kostas "a couple of weeks to get back. It's a sprain. 10-14 days or so." He was thankful it wasn't anything worse. About two weeks or so sounds right.
