Rockets have made a trade, pending league approval (UPDATE: Padgett for Tsakalidis)

HELLAS OLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

From Rockets website:

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Rockets_acquire_Tsakalidis_fro-210562-34.html

 

He''s Home in a New Land


Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
March 25, 2001

Only about six years ago, Iakovos Tsakalidis was a gangly, 6-foot-5 teenager with a promising future in swimming and an interest in aeronautics.

Then a funny thing happened to the son of Russian factory workers. He grew seven inches. In one summer.

Turns out, he would see the world from up there.

Now 21 years old, Tsakalidis stands 7 feet 2 and weighs 285 pounds. He lives in a desert on the other side of the planet, plays with the best basketball players that inhabit it and answers to the name "Jake."

"New country, new language, it's difficult, different," the Suns rookie said with a shrug.

To say the least.

Tsakalidis was born in Rustavi, a city on the Kura River in southeast Georgia.

That would be the Republic of Georgia, a former piece of the Soviet Union about the size of South Carolina that's sandwiched between Turkey and Russia.

It's a country that prides itself on the arts, with geography as diverse as Arizona's, from the beaches and warm lowlands near the Black Sea to the Caucasus Mountains, which include some of the tallest peaks in Europe.

Tsakalidis' parents, Nikolai and Valentina, and a sister left Georgia to move to Rybinsk, a cultural and industrial center on the Volga River about 175 miles north of Moscow, for work.

"My father works 25 years in the factories," Tsakalidis said. "Tough work. No money. My mother, the same. Hard work.

"After 25 years, pain in the body. I play basketball so they can stop working."

In Rybinsk, Nikolai worked in what Tsakalidis described as a "cable factory" that manufactures wiring for lights, telephones, and televisions. His mother worked in a sausage factory.

"I let them retire," he said, smiling.

After that remarkable growth spurt, Tsakalidis gave up swimming and moved to Greece, joining the professional basketball club AEK (pronounced "ike") in Athens.

In Greece, a player can sign an amateur contract as a teenager, then become a "professional" at age 21.

Tsakalidis played his first organized basketball with AEK and quickly developed into a prospect because of his size and surprising athleticism.

Skiles was impressed

Suns coach Scott Skiles, who coached in Greece, remembered seeing Tsakalidis as a teenager and asking, "Who is that monster?"

The monster was studying the game and became a fan of Arvydas Sabonis, the Lithuanian center of the Portland Trail Blazers who was a star of the former Soviet Union teams.

And he set his sights on joining Sabonis in the NBA.

"I had heard about him," said Suns teammate Daniel Santiago, who was playing in Italy when Tsakalidis was in Greece. "I hadn't seen him play, but I was always hearing about him and hearing that he wanted to come over and play in the NBA."

That meant leaving AEK, which didn't give him up without a fight.

The Greek club informed the NBA's 29 teams on the eve of last summer's draft that it had a binding, professional contract with Tsakalidis, who vowed never to play for AEK again.

That scared most teams away, and he slipped from a probable top 10-pick to No. 25, where the Suns decided he would be worth waiting for even if the contract turned out to be valid.

The Suns and NBA went to arbitration in a London court with AEK, and Tsakalidis won the right to play immediately in the NBA.

AEK is seeking an appeal, arguing that the arbitrator did not have jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, Tsakalidis is adjusting to a new lifestyle, new language and, essentially, a new game in the NBA.

He even got married Feb. 5 to his girlfriend of eight years, Veronica Radchik, a metallurgist from Rybinsk.

"It's better for her now," Tsakalidis said through interpreter Andrew Wright. "For her, it's been more difficult.

"I'm the one who doesn't have any time, practicing, games, traveling.

"She's made a few friends and acquaintances that have popped up. This makes it easier. For her, it's the first time she has been away from her parents for an extended period of time."

They were wed in a ceremony held on the balcony of Jerry Colangelo's America West Arena office, a long way from the banks of the Volga or the cramped streets of Athens.

The changes have come quickly for Tsakalidis, who understood some English but did not speak it when he arrived for a news conference after the draft last summer.

"It's a little difficult, but we like it here," Veronica said. "We're learning English watching TV, and we go to the movies and speak with other people. It's very different from Europe, but he likes it better here. He likes this organization. This is what he always wanted, and he did (it) by himself. He worked hard."

Now, Jake Tsakalidis is practically at home. He does an occasional interview without the help of an interpreter, and he drives around the Valley without much trouble.

"First month, it's difficult," Tsakalidis said of navigating the Valley. "Not bad now. Everything is parallel."

And proving that male stubbornness is cross-cultural, Tsakalidis admits he used to get lost but wouldn't stop to ask for directions.

"No, just keep going," he said, smiling.

Usually, though, the trips are only to the arena or to his and Veronica's favorite Italian restaurant, Un Bacio Ristoranti in Scottsdale.

"We go out sometimes," he said. "But I like home cooking. My wife, I like her cooking."

Smart guy. Tsakalidis is learning more than the language quickly.

Santiago can relate. He is from New Mexico and played two years in Italy as well as for the Puerto Rican national team.

"There's a different environment, different culture, food, styles of play," Santiago said. "It all affects you on and off the court.

"You have to change a lot of things in your game, but he's adjusting pretty well."

And Tsakalidis is grasping the subtle nuances of the game's vernacular, Santiago noted.


Coach Scott Skiles first saw Tsakalidis play while coaching in Greece.
"He has to clean up his language a little bit," he said. "You learn all the bad words first because you hear all those about a thousand times more than the good words. And that's in one day."

"C'mon," Tsakalidis responded.

The Suns discovered that Tsakalidis learns everything quickly, and he works hard at his craft.

Phil Weber, a Suns assistant coach who is in charge of player development, said he knew Tsakalidis would be fine when he heard that Tsakalidis learned the Greek language in less than four years.

"We were in New York in February shooting before the game, and Jason Kidd was doing something with him," Weber said. "He started saying something, and he finished a complete sentence.

"We just looked at each other in amazement. Jason said, 'He's got a whole sentence already.'

"He's come a long way, but I think he already understood the language of basketball. And from the first couple of times we worked with him, we found out he remembers what you tell him or show him."

Tsakalidis has even managed to impress Robin Pound, the team's strength and conditioning coach.

Pound also serves unofficially as the club's conscience. He isn't easily impressed.

"He does everything I ask of him and never tries to get out of anything," Pound said. "He has a real-world perspective.

"He doesn't take anything for granted. He recognizes the opportunity he has, and he's trying to make the most of it. It's refreshing."

Pound said Tsakalidis used to call him several hours before practice, asking whether he could come in to lift weights.

"I finally told him, 'Jake, this isn't a 24-hour Nautilus. You can come an hour before practice and get in everything you need to get done.'

"There aren't many players with that kind of desire and commitment to put in the extra time.

"Any time I have to pull the reins in on somebody, you aren't going to have to worry about them. There aren't many guys like that -- Dan Majerle, Mark West, Steve Nash -- they're usually pretty successful."

And it's paying off. Tsakalidis, whose body fat is 7 percent to 8 percent, is naturally strong, Pound said.

"It's innate, genetic," he said. "And his weight room strength has greatly improved. He's made significant gains in every area."

Nobody has to show the charts to his teammates.

"He's strong," teammate Tom Gugliotta said. "He's well-built, and as big and strong as he is, he can prevent you from going somewhere if he wants to. It took one time playing with him to understand he likes contact. Doesn't mind it at all.

"You can tell when guys shy away from body contact. He likes to create body contact."

Weber recalls watching tape of a game the Suns played against Utah, when Tsakalidis was guarding Jazz power forward Karl Malone, one of the strongest players in the NBA.

"Karl was trying to back him down," Weber said. "He was banging him, and Jake was not moving. He's got some kind of natural, raw strength about him. And that's one big body to move."

But the Suns have brought Tsakalidis along slowly. He arrived in training camp in poor condition after going through the arbitration process and sitting out almost a month with an inner ear infection. In those first days, he looked like a project player who wouldn't help this season at all.

Before going on the injured list, he was playing behind veteran Chris Dudley and Santiago. But after spending some time on the injured list and working on his game, Tsakalidis broke into the rotation and then took over the starting job. Understandably, the Suns are trying to keep the pressure of great expectations off Tsakalidis.

Not there yet

And he still has a long way to go. He gets into foul trouble too easily and has few offensive moves. But he's a presence in the paint on defense that the Suns have not had in the past.

"I'm glad we made the decision to bring him off (the injured list) and start playing him," Skiles said. "I think we would have really kicked ourselves if we had waited until the end of the year.

"No matter how much you work with a guy one-on-one, and he's more than willing to work, there are still those game conditions you can't simulate. He's gained a lot from those game conditions."

Tsakalidis is running the floor much better, anticipating more quickly on defense and catching the ball better on the offensive end. But the grind of his first 82-game NBA season sometimes shows, and Skiles has to work at containing his enthusiasm for the potential Tsakalidis has shown.

"He's 7-2, 290 and this is an athletic guy," he said. "This is not just a big guy out there banging around. Teams are already trying to adjust to him, but I don't know how you adjust to his defense.

"And you have to remember, this is a guy who didn't start playing at all until he was 14, 15 years old."

Back when he was a swimmer named Iakovos who wanted to build airplanes in another part of the world.

Copyright 2001 ARIZONA CENTRAL. Used with permission

 

It can help us,Mutumbo was overused these days.but it is not a good trade.

 

This has got to be one of the worst trades in rockets history. I mean come on, Tsakalidis? Hes only averaged 2.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11 minutes. Sounds like another Lampe.

 

ha ha

hater

 

You guys are so funny!!!!

 

I was hoping Matt Haryasz was the mystery man!!!!!

 

okay stat guru



im going to take a sit back and see approach to this trade.

some might want to do the same or else end up eating crow.

 

No way, Jake is decent.

He will probably be kept for relativley cheap contract since Rockets would have his bird rights.

He's probably going to be kept as Yao's primary backup.

 

one of the worst trades in history?

If we have Howard or Hayes go down Battier can move to the four and even Novak can get some minutes but if Deke goes down we are screwed. There are not many 7 footers who we can go out and get in a pinch.

Now if there is a good option at PG for Sura CD will make that happen.

Hell maybe Memphis releases Scott we end up buying out Sura and resign Scott as the 15th player.

 

Bingo

 

Jack Marin
eddie griffin
dan langhi
Gerald Fitch
any new york knick
Spanoulis

 

Good move. Nothing big but we do get our 'insurance' policy in case Deke/Yao go down for a prolonged period of time with an injury.

It's a good move for the Rox, they lose a player that contributed less than nothing and get a guy that actually help out a bit until Yao gets back, and an extra big body to take the beating of guys like Shaq and other big centers in the league.

He's big, he's physical, he fills a need and he knows Greek (can keep VSpan company)...not a bad move at all.

Good stuff...

 

Wow, that's harsh. I don't think you can call anything "one of the worst in Rockets history" when we didn't give up anything except an expiring TE for him. A little hyperbolic, maybe?

Plus, it's human nature for us to IMMEDIATELY liken him to -- guess what?-- other European big men.

Actually, he may be a little closer to someone like Jason Collins -- except with a better FG% and bigger.

Maybe he'll be able to bring another big body to the front line and give us some spot duty as others have mentioned. Not a blockbuster by any means, but not terrible either.

 

This is practical GMing right here...not a splash, but another solid mending piece that all teams need here and there...

1) No Loss in talent - Padgett was a hanger-on with very few skills--yes, he helped us with a few wild threes in the final seconds, but he is not a gamer....he works hard, but is slow and has gives us know inside prescence or help at the 5.

2) Player Wear and Tear Reduced - This move takes 10-15 minutes off Deke for the next month, which is a deep concern while Yao makes it back.

3) Minimal Risk/more upside - There is minimal risk here...we gave up Padgett...who I bet we will sign up again for a summer league team!

4) Minute Planning and the Playoffs - In the playoffs...big bodies are very nice to have. What if Jake finds his 7pts/5 rebs per game along the way like he had in Phoenix....giving us another big body to throw in there...

 

How in the world are people calling this trade "horrible"? Actually, I can't think of a SINGLE negative (except Scotty the Body being a mentor to Novak or something). Depending on Deke to play 35 min. is a bit much to ask. He will wear down eventually.

 

This was a good trade. With the way we are playing right now, I didn't want anyone who could mess up chemistry. A 7 footer (with an expiring contract) for a player that did nothing is awesome. Way to go CD.