Why did Nikos Galis never play for the Boston Celtics?

[Lakas Fan Yo]

You love to twist the truth don't you. You're such a Euro homer and that's fine, but don't tell these little white lies, it just makes you look bad.

Galis in his prime scored 50 in losing effort. A blowout actually in an exhibition game against UNC. I can't find any other info on the game. So If Jordan really guarded him I don't know, if the game was taken seriously I don't know. But Jordan wasn't Michael Jordan then. He was 19.

Jordan was 20. And yes Jordan guarded him. They played against each other the year before. Galis scored I think about 25-30 against Jordan. After the game Jordan told Galis he was not good and could not play in the NBA.

So Galis remembered that. The next year, Jordan (age 20) played him again and guarded him again. Galis scored 50 on him. After the game Jordan stated that Galis was a complete player that could do everything on the court and that he was a superb level talent.

But of course YOU know more than Jordan does. The only homer here is you.

[Lakas Fan Yo]

Wasn't UNC pretty stacked in those days? With Worthy and Daughtery?

Just as an aside, Greek Basketball (at least there national team) was HORRIBLE in the 80s before Galis came to the scene. He alone revolutionized the country's basketball landscape.

Not much shame in losing to UNC considering how untalented the Greek team was back then.

Ignore those guys. They think scoring 50 points in a 40 minute game on a college team of that level is laughable. They are probably THE definition of why NBA fans have a bad name everywhere in the world outside the US.

Players on that UNC team that played in the NBA included:

Michael Jordan
Kenny Smith
Joe Wolf
Sam Perkins
Brad Daugherty
Dave Popson

Scoring 50 points on that UNC team in a 40 minute game is something only a very handful of players could do.

[Jinxed]

Lakers fan,

do you have a link with more info about the game?

[Nikos1982]

I really wish there was more info on that Galis vs UNC games. I really wanted to see the boxscore or highlights.

As for the Chris Paul, it seems Galis has a better vertical on his jumpshot. But Paul probably has the quicker hands and superior playmaking skills to go along with his excellent scoring. He has developed into an out of this world PG. He is an elite NBA player who can score, pass, assist, and create turnovers. I have a hard time imagining Galis would be better than CP3 is now, but I do think he had all star type of talent.

Then again I think Chris Paul is better than any PG not named Magic Johnson in recent NBA history.

It does seem that Galis could have an excellent scorer even in the NBA. I am thinking he would be something like a more efficient and better passing Gilbert Arenas if he played in todays game? Maybe not considered a superstar, but an allstar who can score with the best of them.

Had he played in the 80s? Who knows, he might be at Isiah Thomas type of level? Isiah played great when the playoffs came and wasn't really a dominant regular season player. So Galis might have had a chance at being a multiple all star caliber PG.

I have searched all over for info on Galis, but I can only seem to find the stats in the link I posted earlier in this thread. Along with the same quotes from Norris, Mcadoo and MJ at UNC.

I wonder if he was turnover prone for Seton Hall or Aris. If he wasn't that speaks even more volumes about the dominance of his game his Senior year at Seton Hall and in Greece.

Doesn't seem to be too much info though.

[Nikos1982]

BTW where is Psileas, the guy who posted earlier in this thread. He seemed to know a lot about him and I can't PM him or get him to rejoin this thread. Maybe he has more stats and info?

[Nikos1982]

Lakas I noticed some of the boxscores in the Euroleague Semis and Galis seemed to do relatively poorly. Why is that? Poor supporting cast? His stats in his career are ridiculously good in terms of output AND %'s.

Just bad games?

[Nikos1982]

Just realized on Youtube the other day after watching some Retro NBA highlights.

If I had to compare Nick Galis to any successful NBA player in terms of style it would have to be Kevin Johnson.

Strong Penetrator, Strong Scorer, Good Elevation on Jumper, Good at Creating for Others and For Self.

Kevin Johnson had more of a vertical than Galis and was faster -- but Galis might have been a more crafty scorer and had better change of speed and hesitation moves to score with one on one.

Both were about 6 feet tall and were able to elevate suddenly and shoot over the defender.

[Nikos1982]

Whatya think Lakas? Good comparison?

[Lakas Fan Yo]

Whatya think Lakas? Good comparison?

Sure it's pretty good. But Galis had a 40 inch vertical so I'm not sure about KJ jumping higher.

[Nikos1982]

Sure it's pretty good. But Galis had a 40 inch vertical so I'm not sure about KJ jumping higher.

Was it really that high? I guess it could have been, but I have only seen his games from 1987 and on -- maybe it was more apparent in his earlier playing days for which their seems to be little highlights of.

I guess watching KJ dunk over Olajuwon made it seem like he had more HOPS than Galis, although he was hardly a slouch in that department. One jumper I saw from Galis the other day reminded me of KJ's when he went off the dribble and went really high, and was even somewhat off balance, but still in control.

BTW

How tall was Galis? Was he closer to 5-11 then 6-1? It listed him as 185Ibs, but he looks heavier than that. He seemed to have big legs and shoulders (similiar build to Vinnie Johnson). I would guess he was closer to 200Ibs and probably 5-11ish barefoot. Seem accurate?

[Lakas Fan Yo]

http://www.arisbc.gr/index.php?SCREE...nu=52&LangID=2

As you can see, the games were very low scoring just like now. So that is a total MYTH that his stats were inflated.

[chitownsfinest]

Jordan was 20. And yes Jordan guarded him. They played against each other the year before. Galis scored I think about 25-30 against Jordan. After the game Jordan told Galis he was not good and could not play in the NBA.

So Galis remembered that. The next year, Jordan (age 20) played him again and guarded him again. Galis scored 50 on him. After the game Jordan stated that Galis was a complete player that could do everything on the court and that he was a superb level talent.

But of course YOU know more than Jordan does. The only homer here is you.

Link?

[Lakas Fan Yo]

Was it really that high? I guess it could have been, but I have only seen his games from 1987 and on -- maybe it was more apparent in his earlier playing days for which their seems to be little highlights of.

I guess watching KJ dunk over Olajuwon made it seem like he had more HOPS than Galis, although he was hardly a slouch in that department. One jumper I saw from Galis the other day reminded me of KJ's when he went off the dribble and went really high, and was even somewhat off balance, but still in control.

BTW

How tall was Galis? Was he closer to 5-11 then 6-1? It listed him as 185Ibs, but he looks heavier than that. He seemed to have big legs and shoulders (similiar build to Vinnie Johnson). I would guess he was closer to 200Ibs and probably 5-11ish barefoot. Seem accurate?

Galis was 6-0 barefoot and 6-1 in shoes. I am not sure about his weight, but he was known for being incredibly strong for his size, being able to bench press 400 pounds.

[Carter_17]

I am tired of all those European people that think top players from their leagues could be star player for an NBA team. I am from Greece and i have heard lots of times that Galis and other famous Greek players could easily play on NBA. But all those people cant understand that all star NBA players except from their clutch,passing, shooting , etc skills are great athletes too. I will tell u some of reasons that most of those european stars couldn't be more than a bench warmer for any NBA team (of course there are expectetions like Dirk,Gasol,Divac etc:

1. NBA teams play at least 82 (48 minutes game) games per season while european players are ultra tired and easily injured after 30-40 40 minutes games ( Some of them deny to play with their National team too ). And when an NBA team goes to playoffs they train for 8-10 hours per day . Not to mention big shooters like R.Allen of G.Arenas who train their shooting 1-2 hours after the team training

2.90% NBA players are taller,stronger,faster than European. So yes Dirk or Gasol or Divac who are 6.10-7.2 and strong enough can compete Shaq , Howard and other big athletes. But Galis ... come on . Wasnt as fast and as other star playmakers like Stockton or Payton or as great shooter as them

3. You see those "great" defensive teams like Panathinaikos and say : "European defense is way better than any NBA defense" and you dont mention that European leagues aint use the 3 sec defense rule and the referies wishl rediculous fouls. T.Duncan played for USA team once and he had 3 fouls on like 2 minutes or something

So think about them the next time u say that galis or somebody else could be as good as M.J or Kobe... Maybe he would bring them the water or clap them for playing good from the bench

P.S as i said before i am European citizen but still think that European basketball is some classes below NBA mostly cause of people that manage it and take decisions about it

[Lakas Fan Yo]

I am tired of all those European people that think top players from their leagues could be star player for an NBA team. I am from Greece and i have heard lots of times that Galis and other famous Greek players could easily play on NBA. But all those people cant understand that all star NBA players except from their clutch,passing, shooting , etc skills are great athletes too. I will tell u some of reasons that most of those european stars couldn't be more than a bench warmer for any NBA team (of course there are expectetions like Dirk,Gasol,Divac etc:

1. NBA teams play at least 82 (48 minutes game) games per season while european players are ultra tired and easily injured after 30-40 40 minutes games ( Some of them deny to play with their National team too ). And when an NBA team goes to playoffs they train for 8-10 hours per day . Not to mention big shooters like R.Allen of G.Arenas who train their shooting 1-2 hours after the team training

2.90% NBA players are taller,stronger,faster than European. So yes Dirk or Gasol or Divac who are 6.10-7.2 and strong enough can compete Shaq , Howard and other big athletes. But Galis ... come on . Wasnt as fast and as other star playmakers like Stockton or Payton or as great shooter as them

3. You see those "great" defensive teams like Panathinaikos and say : "European defense is way better than any NBA defense" and you dont mention that European leagues aint use the 3 sec defense rule and the referies wishl rediculous fouls. T.Duncan played for USA team once and he had 3 fouls on like 2 minutes or something

So think about them the next time u say that galis or somebody else could be as good as M.J or Kobe... Maybe he would bring them the water or clap them for playing good from the bench

P.S as i said before i am European citizen but still think that European basketball is some classes below NBA mostly cause of people that manage it and take decisions about it

Galis always played the entire 40 minutes of every game. You clearly have never seen Galis play.