By Giorgos Orfanakis / info@eurohoops.net
The sample from this season is now large enough: 15 rounds, 120 clashes and thousands of minutes of basketball, with the big protagonists often outdoing themselves.
Eurohoops follows up on a tradition that began last season and presents the Top 3 players in every position for the first half of the season. The criteria that shaped the final selection are the following:
- Performance: A player’s performance and presence on the court in at least 10 games! His contribution in the different statistical categories and the degree to which he met the demands in terms of what was expected of him.
- Role: How important is this player in the overall picture of the whole? How crucial is his role for the team, and to what extent can it remain at the same level without him?
- Team’s course: It’s not enough for a player to have played well. He has to have guided his team on a decent course, according to the expectations that existed before the start of the season.
- Quality: There are some players who belong to the so-called “top shelf,” with their value and quality seriously taken into account.
- Subjective view: As is always the case in such matters, the subjective element has the final say. Besides, what could be better than conversations and arguments about basketball?
As you will see for yourselves, the power forward position includes names that have made and will continue to make history in the EuroLeague! Let’s take a look at what those names are…
1. Georgios Printezis
Team: Olympiacos
Stats: 12.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 14.3 PIR
Age: 32
Georgios Printezis has been Olympiacos’s reference point in the ‘4’ position for years and he is without a doubt, based on his value and accomplishments, one of the best power forwards in the history of the EuroLeague. As is completely logical, he’s at the top of this list since he has helped the Reds have an amazing course in the first half of the season.
In most games, Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad had to do without the services of Vassilis Spanoulis, which means that ‘Pri’ had to step up. And he did just fine! In 13 games, the Greek player averaged 12.6 points, 5.5 ebounds and 1.9 assists, but these figures are not enough to fully capture his fighting spirit and his many clutch baskets.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Printezis’s movements in the post have to be taught to younger kids that love basketball, and the same goes for his conduct and the way he respects teammates and opponents. Besides, the fact that he enjoys the recognition of all basketball fans regardless of the team they support is no coincidence.
Printezis’s show against Real Madrid