By Lefteris Moutis / moutis@eurohoops.net
On Ioannis Papapetrou basketball ID, next to the word “position” it says “small forward,” but this year in Olympiacos he plays more as a power forward.
Indeed, in recent years positions have been “abolished” and most players cover more than one position in order to be more effective and useful for their teams. In fact, according to a modern version of positions in basketball, the five “classic” positions (point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center) no longer exist, but instead, there are only two kinds of player: those who play facing the basket and those who play with their back against the basket.
Ioannis Papaterou, then, came to Olympiacos as a ‘3’, but in this year’s Euroleague he has played more as a ‘4’ without even being any injuries in this particular position.
The Piraeus team are going to play against Cedevita without Georgios Printezis (and without Vassilis Spanoulis or Patric Young, but that’s another story) and so Giannis Sfairopoulos will be called to place Ioannis Papaetrou in the position of the “power forward” for quite a while, alongside Dimitrios Agravanis and Michalis Tsairelis.
But is this something new for the 21-year-old forward? Of course not! From the 74 minutes in total Ioannis Papaetrou has played in the first round of the regular period of the Euroleague, he’s spent only 25 of those in his natural position (21 of those alongside Mantzaris, Spanoulis, Printezis and Young, who constitute Olympiacos’s “permanent” starting line-up).
However, during games Giannis Sfairopoulos very often chose Papapetrou to cover the ‘4’ position in order for Olympiacos to have a more flexible line-up, a steady option behind the three-point line and a threat in playing with the back against the basket.
Even more interesting is that Papapetrou has moved into the center position for about 8 minutes in Olympiacos’s… epitome of “small ball.”
So, in which position does Papapetrou play?