By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
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.
Papanikolaou averaged 6.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 1.1 apg in Euroleague. His best numbers were registered in the 2012-13 season with Olympiacos (9.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.6 apg) and last season in Barcelona his stats were a little bit worst (6.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.8 asp). So it’s really surprising that so far his numbers in the NBA so far are slightly better than his Euroleague career averages with 6.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 3.1 apg, as he passes the ball better than ever.
And yes, numbers don’t always tell the truth, but also Mirotic’s and Bogdanovic’s stats are really close to those they averaged in Europe. The Spaniard has 7.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 1.1 apg with the Bulls compared to 10.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 0.9 apg in his Euroleague career and Bogdanovic is even better with 10.1 ppg, 3 rpg and 1 apg with the Nets, while he averaged 12.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg and 1.1 apg in Euroleague.