Surprised to hear McHale say this. Watched Papa's youtube highlights and barely saw any playmaking. Always saw him as more of an Ariza clone in terms of handles.
Not sure what Pops will be just yet, but his awkward bump shots are money in the bank. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/f4ZqJzm60pg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
OP just posted an article and said nothing outside of the title. I agree it's too early to say much, but no one is really jumping the gun here. If anyone is doing so it's technically McHale.
He seems to have a really good feel for team play, especially moving without the ball and passing to keep the offense fluid. His playmaking seems to stem more from taking advantage of holes in the defense to drive and dish. Definitely a useful skill, but I'm not sure how much those opportunities would consistently present themselves in the regular season.
Yeah right. If Papanikolaou is a point forward, then how come there aren't any videos of him passing?
You dont need to be a great dribbler to be playmaker. You can be a playmaker by keeping the team offense flowing and making opportunistic plays which frees up yourself or your teammates and I think this is what McHale is saying. Disclaimer: I am not saying Kostas is or will be this guy. I am just saying that based on what McHale has seen of him so far, thats what he is hoping Kostas can do for the team.
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He had several of those nifty pocket passes to guys cutting to the basket and able to score. Actually surprised he had that in his arsenal. He has solid fundamentals and reads the defense well.
Those jumped out to me as well. Teammates will need to be ready for bounce passes as they drive to the basket. He will also need to resist the urge to be too cute with passes.
Against inferior talent like Euroleague he might be. But against NBA defenses he's no more of a point forward than T-Jones is.