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Theodoros Papaloukas

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Template:Infobox Euroleague Player

Theódoros "Theo" Papaloukás (in Greek: Θεόδωρος "Θοδωρής" Παπαλουκάς; born May 8th, 1977) is a Greek top professional basketball player. He is currently with the Greek League and Euroleague club Olympiacos. A perennial All-Euroleague selection and competition icon, Papaloukas symbolizes the rise of European basketball in the new millennium.

Player profile

Papaloukas is a 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) in height player that can play as either a point guard, shooting guard or point forward on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. He is a pass first play maker, or "pure point guard" with a distinctive style of play. His play making ability and pass first or "pure" point guard skills at his height, combined with his versatility to play multiple positions on the basketball court on both ends of the floor make him an extraordinary player.

He is also the Euroleague's all time record holder in both career steals and assists. Papaloukas was selected to the Euroleague's 50th anniversary Euroleague's 35 Greatest All-Time Players list in 2008. He has been given the nickname "The Computer" due to his ability to analyze the court. He has been given the nickname "The Thread" because of his unique ability to complete passes through opposing defenses, like threading a needle.

Professional career

Greece

A native of Athens, Greece, Papaloukas began his career at the small local Athens junior team Ethnikos Ellinoroson. He then played for another small, but at the time rising club called Ampelokipoi, with whom he began his pro career with in 1995. He then transferred to Dafni Athens of the Greek A2 League in the year 1997 and then he next transferred to Panionios, a traditional basketball club of the Greek A1 League in the year 1999. Papaloukas finally moved to Olympiacos, a long-time Greek League power as well as one of the long-time powers of the Euroleague in the year 2001.

With Dafni BC, Papaloukas won the Greek A2 League Championship and league MVP award in the 1998-1999 season. With Olympiacos, he led the Greek A1 League in assists in the 2000-2001 season. After what was an embarrassing 2001-2002 season both for him and for Olympiacos, he moved to another Euroleague powerhouse, the Russian Super League club CSKA Moscow in 2002.

On June 20th, 2008, Papaloukas was released from his contract by CSKA Moscow and he signed a 3 year contract with Olympiacos BC, making a return to Greece and his former team. Papaloukas signed through the 2010-2011 season, with an annual salary of €3.5 million euros net income. He has a Nike shoe contract.

CSKA Moscow

With 19 points in the Euroleague 2005-06 semifinal against FC Barcelona, and another 18 points at the final against back-to-back European Champion Maccabi Tel Aviv, Papaloukas was awarded the Euroleague 2005-06 Final Four MVP, having also been named the best point guard of the Euroleague for 2005-2006. Alongside him on the first team were the best shooting guard Juan Carlos Navarro of Barça, best small forward Anthony Parker of Maccabi (the Euroleague 2005-06 MVP), best power forward Luis Scola of TAU Cerámica, and best center Nikola Vujčić of Maccabi.

In 2007, Papaloukas was voted the MVP of the Euroleague 2006-07 for the regular season. CSKA advanced to the final against Panathinaikos held on the Greens' home court of Athens Olympic Indoor Hall (which had been chosen as the site more than a year in advance). Panathinaikos won the game by a score of 93-91 in a very exciting game. Papaloukas scored 23 points and dished out 8 assists, but a number of sportswriters intimated that he did not receive adequate support from his CSKA teammates and thus his team lost the final. Papaloukas was also a key member of CSKA's Euroleague 2007-08 championship team.

Papaloukas has been pursued by the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, and the Miami Heat to fill their point guard spot. On July 7, 2007, Greek newspapers reported that Papaloukas agreed to a newly-structured 3-year contract with CSKA, worth €10.5 million euros net income. He had the option to leave his contract with no buyout at any time, and he did so just one year later, when he signed with Olympiacos.

Euroleague statistics

Euroleague official website, Theodoros Papaloukas' page. [1]

SEASON LEAGUE TEAM GP MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG
2001-02 Euroleague Olympiacos 19 27.0 8.4 2.9 4.0 2.0 0.2
2002-03 Euroleague CSKA Moscow 21 16.5 4.7 2.0 3.4 1.1 0.0
2003-04 Euroleague CSKA Moscow 21 17.4 6.3 1.7 2.7 1.5 0.1
2004-05 Euroleague CSKA Moscow 23 18.5 7.6 2.3 3.8 1.3 0.1
2005-06 Euroleague CSKA Moscow 24 22.8 9.3 3.1 4.0 1.8 0.3
2006-07 Euroleague CSKA Moscow 25 24.4 9.8 3.2 5.4 1.7 0.2
2007-08 Euroleague CSKA Moscow 23 21.8 7.7 2.7 4.6 1.2 0.0
2008-09 Euroleague Olympiacos 22 25.0 8.0 2.7 5.2 1.1 0.0

Greek national team

Olympic medal record
Representing Greece
FIBA European Championship
Gold medal – first place 2005 Serbia Greece
FIBA World Championship
Silver medal – second place 2006 Japan Greece

He is a core element of the Greek National Basketball Team. He has played at the European Championships of Eurobasket 2001 in Turkey, Eurobasket 2003 in Sweden, Eurobasket 2005 in Serbia and Montenegro, and Eurobasket 2007 in Spain.

Papaloukas, who was already well-established in European basketball as a result of appearances in three consecutive Euroleague Final Fours with CSKA Moscow, achieved an acclaimed position among the elite of European basketball at the Eurobasket 2005 in Serbia and Montenegro. After a series of mediocre performances in the first round, he led Greece to a victory over the Russian National Basketball Team in the quarterfinals and orchestrated a major comeback against the French National Basketball Team in the semifinal, when Greece was down 7 points with 47 seconds left on the clock.

In the final against the German National Basketball Team, led by the prodigious NBA All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, Papaloukas scored 22 points, leading Greece comfortably to its second European title, eighteen years after its first win at the 1987 Eurobasket. As such, Papaloukas was selected to the top-5 team of the 2005 European Championship, along with fellow Greek team player Dimitris Diamantidis, Spanish National Basketball Team shooting guard Juan Carlos Navarro, French National Team swingman and NBA player Boris Diaw, and Nowitzki, who also claimed the MVP title.

Papaloukas also joined the elite club of players who have achieved the European title at both the national and club levels during the same year, as he won the Euroleague title with CSKA at the Final Four in Prague, 28 April-30, 2006.

Papaloukas climbed to the second position of global basketball as he, along with his fellow Greek team players, drove Greece to the final of the 2006 World Championship in Japan, losing there in the final to the Spanish National Basketball Team. In Greece's win over Team USA in the semifinal by a score of 101-95, Papaloukas had 12 assists, 8 points and 5 rebounds. He also earned a place on the all-tournament team, which also included the tournament MVP Pau Gasol of The Spanish Team, Gasol's teammate Jorge Garbajosa, Team USA's Carmelo Anthony and Manu Ginobili of the Argentina National Basketball Team.

His most formidable personal recognition came on January 26, 2007, when he was voted by fans and journalists as the FIBA Europe Player of the Year for 2006, topping the likes of Nowitzki, Gasol, and Tony Parker. In the summer of 2008, Papaloukas became the captain of Greece's national team.

Awards and accomplishments

Pro Clubs

Greek national team

Video highlights

References

  1. ^ Euroleague stats.

Template:Greece Squad EuroBasket 2003 Template:Greece Men Basketball Squad 2004 Summer Olympics

Template:Greece Squad EuroBasket 2007 Template:Greece Men Basketball Squad 2008 Summer Olympics

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