Georgios Printezis

Giorgos Printezis
Γιώργος Πρίντεζης
Giorgos Printezis.jpg
Printezis as a member of the Greek national basketball team.
No. 15 – Olympiacos Piraeus
Power forward
Personal information
Born (1985-02-22) February 22, 1985 (age 28)
Athens, Greece
Nationality Greek
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft 2007 / 2nd round, 58th overall
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Pro career 2002–present
League Greek Basketball League
Euroleague
Career history
2002–2009 Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece)
2006–2007 → Olympia Larissa (loan) (Greece)
2009–2011 Unicaja Málaga (Spain)
2011–present Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece)
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's Basketball
Competitor for  Greece
FIBA EuroBasket
Bronze 2009 Poland National Team

Georgios Printezis (alternate spelling: Giorgos) (Greek: Γιώργος Πρίντεζης; born February 22, 1985, in Athens, Greece) is a Greek professional basketball player. He is currently playing with Olympiacos. He is 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)[1] tall and he plays at the power forward position. He is best known for his game-winning shot against CSKA Moscow at the end of the Euroleague 2011-12 season's Final. His nickname is "The Greek Lightning".

Professional career

Early years

In the 2006-07 season, Printezis was loaned by Olympiacos to Olympia Larissa in the Greek League, where he averaged 11.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. At the Greek All-Star Game weekend that season, he won the slam dunk competition.[2] At the end of that season, he was also voted the Greek League Best Young Player.[3] Following that success, he returned to Olympiacos.

Malaga

In 2009, he signed a 3 year contract with an NBA escape clause after the second year, worth €3.6 million euros with the Spanish ACB League club Unicaja Málaga.[4][5]

Back to Olympiacos

On April 27, 2011, Printezis returned to his previous club, Olympiacos,[6] after being transferred from Málaga.[7] In the Euroleague 2011-12 season's Final, he hit a game-winning shot with .7 seconds remaining on the game clock, to give Olympiacos the Euroleague championship, with a victory over CSKA Moscow.[8]

On July 12, 2012, he signed a new three year contract with Olympiacos, worth 2.7 million euros net income. Prior to that, he had considered a three year, 4.5 million US dollars net income contract from Fenerbahçe Ülker, but chose to stay with Olympiacos instead.[9] With Olympiacos, he also won the 2012-13 season championship of the Euroleague.

NBA

Printezis was selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round, with the 58th selection overall of the 2007 NBA Draft. The draft rights to Printezis were then acquired by the Toronto Raptors, in exchange for their second round draft pick in the 2008 NBA Draft (Spurs used that pick to draft Goran Dragić, and immediately traded Dragić to the Phoenix Suns to acquire the draft pick they used in 2009 to draft future NBA All-Rookie Second Team member DeJuan Blair).[10][11] On January 20, 2011, the Toronto Raptors traded his draft rights to the Dallas Mavericks for Alexis Ajinça, a conditional second 2013 second round draft pick and cash.[12]

On December 10, 2011, the draft rights to Printezis were traded to the New York Knicks, along with Tyson Chandler and the draft rights to Ahmad Nivins, in a three-way trade. The Mavericks received Andy Rautins from the Knicks, and a second round pick from the Washington Wizards. The Wizards received Ronny Turiaf from the Knicks, in addition to a Dallas 2012 second round pick, a 2013 Knicks second round pick, and cash considerations.

In the summer of 2012, Printezis turned down a one year contract offer from the Knicks, that reportedly was for slightly more than the minimum NBA salary.[13] On July 16, 2012, his and Kostas Papanikolaou's rights were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, in a deal that sent Raymond Felton to New York.[14] On February 21, 2013, his rights were subsequently traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a deal that sent Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers.[15]

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Greek national team

With the junior national teams of Greece, Printezis played at the 2001 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, and at the 2004 and 2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championships. He was selected to the senior men's Greek national basketball team that played at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. He won the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2009, and he also played at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

He was also a member of Greece's national team that played at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

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Euroleague career statistics

Legend
  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
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2002–03 Olympiacos Piraeus 3 0 2.0 .000 .000 .000 .3 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
2003–04 Olympiacos Piraeus 3 0 .9 1.000 .000 .000 .3 .0 .0 .0 .7 .7
2004–05 Olympiacos Piraeus 1 0 5.2 .000 .000 .000 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 -1.0
2005–06 Olympiacos Piraeus 8 0 8.9 .611 .500 .500 1.1 .1 .3 .0 3.8 2.4
2007–08 Olympiacos Piraeus 21 10 19.0 .513 .238 .609 3.2 .6 .3 .2 6.7 6.2
2008–09 Olympiacos Piraeus 20 15 18.7 .636 .500 .517 3.3 .6 .4 .1 8.8 8.5
2009–10 Unicaja Málaga 12 6 24.2 .517 .421 .750 4.3 .8 .7 .2 11.7 11.2
2010-11 Unicaja Málaga 14 8 15.6 .386 .182 .688 2.7 .3 .2 .1 5.6 3.7
2011–12 Olympiacos Piraeus 21 4 21.8 .500 .310 .864 4.1 1.2 .3 .3 10.6 11.3
Career 103 43 17.7 .521 .319 .686 3.1 .6 .3 .2 7.7 7.2
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Awards and accomplishments

Pro career

Greek national team

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References

  1. ^ ACB.com Georgios Printezis 2.06 m.
  2. ^ FIBA.com Official Player Profile Won Greek Dunk Contest.
  3. ^ FIBA.com Official Player Profile Best Greek Player 22 And Under.
  4. ^ Gazzetta.gr Printezis signs with Unicaja Málaga (Greek).
  5. ^ Sportando.net Printezis to land in Malaga.
  6. ^ Olympiacos Inks Giorgios Pritenzis.
  7. ^ ACB.com Giorgos Printezis abandona el Unicaja (Spanish).
  8. ^ Euroleague.net Final Four Game 2 - May 13, 2012 - SINAN ERDEM ARENA GAME REPORT CSKA Moscow 61 - 62 Olympiacos.
  9. ^ Eurohoops.net Printezis said “no thanks” to Knicks.
  10. ^ Raptors Acquire Draft Rights To Giorgos Printezis
  11. ^ Raptors Add Greek Forward Giorgos Printezis On Draft Night
  12. ^ "Raptors Acquire Ajinca, Draft Pick And Cash Considerations From Dallas". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. January 24, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2011. 
  13. ^ "Printezis said “no thanks” to Knicks". Eurohoops.net. July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012. 
  14. ^ "Trail Blazers Acquire Jared Jeffries From New York". iamatrailblazersfan.com. 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2012-07-16. 
  15. ^ "Thunder trade Eric Maynor to the Trail Blazers for Giorgos Printezis". 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2013-02-21. 
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External links
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Last modified on 15 May 2013, at 12:31