D-mo was the only capable big man we had. Somebody had to play the 5 when D-mo took a breather. Dorsey and Capela are garbage and Black certainly looks like garbage right now.
Its not even that bro this guy is not an olympiakos supporter from where Pap originaly hails from in BB terms.No this guy is a die hard panathinaikos fan our eternal enemies in greece something like tha Dallas Mavs for you guys over in the US..no Olympiakos supporter i know wants PAP to fail in houston we consider him the best possible fit and an ambassador of greek basketball and we very happy to see that u guys give him the time and support he need to get used to the game over there knowing that its a big difference in quality and speed but that he got the right tools and attitude to suceed everything else coming from this guy's (Jim) mouth is total B.S. and self serving since none of his team's big time overhyped players never made it to the NBA. And the one who did FOTSIS returned the year after with his tail between his legs. PAP is going no place except hopefully moving up in the ROX rotation by start hitting his 3s cause kid got game just needs to be polished bit
It's international! Not that lull will ever come over... But if he does you can beat Barcelona supporters will be here talking ****.
What's the feedback among Greek fans? Are more people watching NBA now because of Papa? What do they think of the new roles the Rockets have given Papa to handle the ball more and create? If you watched the Golden State game, the Toyota Center audience was cheering his every rebound and steal. He is a fan favorite already.
Hopefully those poo heads will get banned if Llull ever makes it over and they come like flies to dung.
Regardless of his age, he is a rookie and will be up and down. But he has shown the talent and smarts and it's very easy to predict that eventually he will settle down with the swing in performances and become consistently good.
Call me a POF... Man i love that this guy brings the hustle every night (NO STATS FOR THAT)... His outside shot has to get better, but man he brings the fight.. He reminds me of the Junk Yard Dog, he want back down.. T_Man
No doubt everybody is tuned in when the Rockets have a game night the same goes for the Bucks because of Giannis Ante the difference is that PAP played for Olympiakos the best supported team in greece which means plenty of fans who want him to do well and plenty of the opposition who wants him to fail..Giannis on the other hand came from the second division of Greece from a neighborhood team playing in front of family and friends drawing 50-100 people "strong" crowds every weekend..rivalry in greece is sick to the point where when domestic teams play internationaly in the euroleague more times than not rival fans actually back the foreign teams for the win so there is no love lost between..personaly i love seeing PAP having more responsibility with the ball which is different to his time at olympiakos where everything revolved around Spanoulis scoring/creating and the rest of the team fighting for scrubs ..that said maybe PAP wasnt really ready for more back then but i iam happy to see that his game is getting more rounded and thats what i like about the NBA too that they treat athletes like grown ups with responsibillities giving them time to prove themselves and not like eternal talents that need to get to 30 years old till theyready for the game..
except he can't take the corner 3 with consistency and he didn't take a basketball to the face thrown by danny Ainge.
Wow, thanks for the good information about the Greek basketball leagues. So you understand our heated rivalry with the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets coaches know it takes about a year to adjust to the NBA, including the NBA 3pt distance. Rockets trainers also have said he'll have a more NBA-ready body by season-opening next year. With those disadvantages, he still has surprised us with his motor (constant energy)--always hustling for rebounds and steals. His court awareness--goes to the right spot on defense and offense. His passing--opens up the game for his teammates. His intelligence--most of what he does is instinctive. He reminds us a lot of ex-Rockets Shane Battier and Chandler Parsons (in his rookie year). Every team needs glue guys like them--whatever gap the team has, they seek to fill it.
Time Out, we also did not expect to be playing so well this early. So I guess Papa is thrilled to be part of a team that's winning many games. He came over at the right time.
I don't think it's an issue of PAP not being ready for more duties. His only major issue is his shooting. If he can get that fixed everything else is actually fine. In fact, having even a passable 3 point shot would make the rest of his game even better.
I love the great insight from the Greek fans, but I'm sorry Pana-Olympiakos is more akin to Boston-Lakers than any rivalry we have.
I think Time Out meant Papa was not ready for more duties on his Euro teams. That's why they didn't feature the other facets of his game that we are now seeing because the Rockets are giving him lots of freedom in this offense.
