Nikos Pappas (basketball)
Nikolaos "Nikos" Pappas (Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Παππάς; born July 11, 1990) is a Greek professional basketball player for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League. He is 1.95 m (6 ft 4¾ in) tall.[1][2]
Player profile
Pappas began his career playing as a combo guard in national team youth tournaments, and in his early club career. After maturing as a player, he became a swingman, that plays at the shooting guard and small forward positions. Due to being an excellent ball handler, he can also play as a point forward, if needed. He is considered to be one of the best Greek swingmen.
Professional career
Pappas made his professional debut in the Greek League with Panellinios, during the 2006–07 season. He made his debut in Europe's continent-wide second-tier level competition, the Eurocup, with Panellinios during the 2007–08 season. He signed a 5-year contract with the Spanish League club Bilbao Basket in 2008.
He was loaned to the farm club of Real Madrid, Real Madrid B, of the Spanish 4th Division, for the 2008–09 season. He was loaned to the Greek League club Kolossos Rodou for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons. He was named the 2010 Greek League Best Young Player. In February 2012, he joined PAOK. He moved to Panionios for the 2012–13 season.He also was the 2012-13 best scorer of the greek basket league with 15 points per game and he named to the all greek basket league first team as the best shooting guard of the league
Panathinaikos
On 20 June 2013, Pappas joined the Greek club Panathinaikos. He was announced as a new player of Panathinaikos, for the following three seasons, along with his Panionios teammate Vladimiros Giankovits.[3] During his second season with Panathinaikos, Pappas switched his jersey number from 15 to 11.
On 22 April 2015, after winning his first Euroleague MVP of the Week award, after the third week's game of the Euroleague playoffs, in which he scored 25 points against CSKA Moscow,[4] it was officially announced that Pappas had renewed his contract with Panathinaikos until 2018.[5] On 16 May 2015, Pappas suffered a torn ACL injury, and a tear of his meniscus, in a Greek League game against Kolossos Rodou, after falling awkwardly, after being fouled on a play by Vassilis Toliopoulos. He was operated on the day after, and his return to playing basketball was scheduled at 5-6 months time, at the earliest.[6] On November 30, 2015, in a Greek League game against Lavrio, Pappas made his first re-appearance in an official game, 6-and-a-half months after his injury. He scored 2 points in the game.[7]
Greek national team
As a member of the junior national basketball teams of Greece, Pappas won the silver medal at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. He was named the MVP of the 2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament,[8] where he also helped lead Greece to defeat Team USA during the tournament, by scoring 27 points in the game against the US.[9] He also won the gold medal at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he was also voted to the All-Tournament Team.[10]
Pappas also played at the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit, where he helped the World Select Team to defeat Team USA 97-89.[11] He also won the silver medal at the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship with Greece's junior national team, where he was also voted to the All-Tournament Team.[12] Pappas also won the gold medal at the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship and the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading the tournament in scoring.[13]
He first trained with the senior men's Greek national basketball team in 2010.
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating |
| Bold | Career high |
Euroleague
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | Panathinaikos | 13 | 2 | 8.3 | .500 | .385 | .750 | .8 | .5 | .3 | .3 | 4.8 | 3.5 |
| 2014–15 | Panathinaikos | 22 | 1 | 20.2 | .552 | .387 | .909 | 2.3 | 1.9 | .8 | .3 | 10.8 | 12.2 |
| Career | 35 | 3 | 14.4 | .539 | .387 | .872 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 8.6 | 7.8 |
Awards and accomplishments
Pro career
- Greek League Best Young Player: (2010)
- 2x Greek League All-Star: (2013, 2014)
- Greek League Top Scorer: (2013)
- Greek League Best Five Team: (2013)
- Greek League All-Star Game MVP: (2014)
- 3x Greek Cup Winner: (2014, 2015, 2016)
- Greek League Champion: (2014)
Greek national team
- 2007 ISF World Schools' Championship:
Gold - 2007 ISF World Schools' Championship: Top Scorer
- 2007 ISF World Schools' Championship: MVP (40 points in the final)
- 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship:
Silver - 2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament: Gold
- 2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament: Top Scorer
- 2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament: MVP
- 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: Gold
- 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: All-Tournament Team
- 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship: Silver
- 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship: All-Tournament Team
- 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship: Gold
- 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship: Silver
- 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship: Top Scorer
- 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship: All-Tournament Team
References
- ^ Esake.gr Nikos Pappas Height 1.95 Template:El icon.
- ^ NIKOS PAPPAS Height: 195 cm.
- ^ Euroleague.net PANATHINAIKOS ATHENS adds young guns Pappas, Jankovic.
- ^ Playoffs Game 3 bwin MVP: Nikos Pappas, Panathinaikos Athens.
- ^ Expansion of cooperation with Pappas.
- ^ ΣΟΚ με Παππά! Template:El icon.
- ^ GAME: LAVRIO 72 - 79 PANATHINAIKOS.
- ^ Draftexpress.com Pappas MVP of 2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.
- ^ AST-basketball.de USA 79 : 91 GRE.
- ^ FIBAEurope.com All Tournament team.
- ^ USABasketball.com XII Annual Nike Hoop Summit -- 2009.
- ^ FIBA.com NZL- The Best Selected.
- ^ FIBAEurope.com - MVP Albicy Headlines All Tournament Team // 18 July 2010.