Childress Interviews

Here are choice excerpts from four ESPN interviews concerning Josh Childress' foray into Greece:

In this short sit-down, we learn:
1. There are only three other players on his old Atlanta Hawks team that he feels maybe would make it playing abroad as he has:

• Al Horford (a Dominican)
• Zaza Puchulia (a Georgian)
• Marvin Williams (only a US citizen)

2. He has three goals -

• Win the Triple Crown - his A1 Greek league (Olympiakos, 5-0, is currently tied with Panathinaikos for 1st), the Greek Cup, and the Euroleague
• Become a better player
• Have fun doing it

In this interview titled "My Big Fat Greek Contract," we see:

• Childress' "J-Chill" private pool - part of a team-funded private chef, maid service, car, and 3-story apartment package that Childress estimates saves him more tahn half a million a year.
• The scope of J-Chill's popularity in Athens is not necessarily commensurate to the size of the arenas he plays in. He made his Greek League debut in a gym holding around 1,000.
• When he runs onto the the courts of these gyms during the pre-game announcements, the Greek announcer bellows his name: "TZOSSSS CHİLDRESSSS"!
• The owners of Olympiakos said it was not "logic[al]" to offer Kobe or LeBron $50 million to play one season. But they are confident there are numbers that would lure higher-caliber players than Josh, who signed a 3-year, $20 million deal.
• Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, who played and coached for more than 20 years in Italy, said that Kobe or LeBron would never play abroad because, essentially, their egos would not allow them.
• They both want to be considered the best to ever play, he said, and to do that they have to play with the best, in the NBA. Also, in playing a year abroad, they sacrifice a year in which they could be adding to their NBA statistics.

Below, Panayiotis Angelopoulos, who owns Olympiakos with his brother, discusses what he perceives as the main difference between European club owners and NBA owners - NBA's owners assess players according to the salary cap and whether their market value will increase over a 2-3 year window whereas European owners, without a salary cap, have a more season-by-season approach.



Alright, ya'll, below we get to see that "J" truly is a "Chil" guy:

• He's picked up about 10 Greek words so far, including the expected bad ones.
• Skinned rabbits at the local grocery store freak him out.
• He looks at a dead, frozen octopus eye and doesn't flinch. If nothing else - you gotta check out the last 15 seconds of this video - it's redunk!

So when not staring down dead seafood, how is Josh faring in his league, you ask?
Here's the update:

Courtesy of Eurobasket:

Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus Statistics

Season: 2008-2009 Field Goals Rebounds # Game min fgm-a 3pm-a ftm-a off def tot ast pf st bs pts 6 Childress, Josh 5 23.6 67.6% 16.7% 85.2% 1.0 2.2 3.2 0.2 1.2 1.6 0.8 14.4 16 Printezis, Giorgos 5 18.4 61.8% 25.0% 63.6% 0.8 2.4 3.2 1.0 1.8 0.4 0.2 10.4 10 Halperin, Yotam 5 19.8 77.8% 46.2% 75.0% 1.0 2.4 3.4 1.2 0.4 0.2 0.2 7.6 11 Greer, Lynn 5 17.0 77.8% 30.8% 85.7% 0.2 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.6 0.6 0.0 7.6 18 Teodosic, Milos 5 20.2 66.7% 54.5% 66.7% 0.4 3.0 3.4 1.4 2.4 0.4 0.2 6.8 9 Bourousis, Giannis 4 17.0 66.7% 50.0% 75.0% 2.0 5.5 7.5 0.5 1.3 0.5 0.8 8.3 17 Erceg, Zoran 5 14.6 50.0% 25.0% 77.8% 1.0 2.0 3.0 0.8 2.4 0.0 0.2 6.4 7 Vujcic, Nikola 4 21.0 47.4% 0.0% 63.6% 0.5 3.0 3.5 1.3 2.0 0.0 0.5 6.3 4 Papaloukas, Thodoros 4 20.0 60.0% 25.0% 100.0% 0.3 3.0 3.3 5.0 1.5 1.8 0.0 5.8 15 Schortsanitis, Sofoklis 2 10.0 80.0% 0.0% 60.0% 2.5 0.5 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 9.5 5 Pelekanos, Mihalis 4 12.8 50.0% 37.5% 25.0% 0.5 3.3 3.8 1.8 2.0 0.3 0.3 3.5 13 Vasilopoulos, Panagiotis 3 16.3 75.0% 33.3% 100.0% 0.3 1.7 2.0 1.0 1.0 0.3 0.3 4.7 14 Vougioukas, Ian 3 8.3 66.7% 0.0% 66.7% 0.3 2.7 3.0 0.0 1.7 0.0 0.3 4.0 19 Sloukas, Costas 2 6.5 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 1.0 8 Milosevic, Igor 2 6.5 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0

He leads the team in minutes, points, steals, and blocks (the latter two showing his defensive versatility and superior athleticism). But notice how the stronger "team play" in Europe can be seen in individual statistics. Nobody dominates the scoring, rebounding, or assist column like the best players do in the NBA. Admittedly, it is strange to my American eye to see half the team average 3-4 rebounds and 1-2 assists a game...

No Joshing Around

Prior to his transoceanic relocation, it seems Olympiacos' Josh Childress was already quite the worldly fellow. From a recent NY Times interview, I've learned that he and Jamal Sampson, who played at the University of Califonia at Berkeley, travel internationally every summer, to places like Brazil and Spain. One imagines he learned a thing or two about the quality of European basketball while in Spain.

Even the ardent Spanish fans, though, cannot compare to some of the Greek fans Josh is now experiencing. On Greece club basketball's strongest rivalry, Panathanaikos v. Olympiacos:

It’s to the point where if we have a home game, their fans can’t come. The same thing goes for our fans if we play there. I don’t know how long ago it was, but they were shooting flares to the other side and throwing firecrackers. After the games, they would organize places to meet and they would go brawl.

Childress isn't joshing around, either. Here's flare-filled proof from a 2006 championship game:



His experience, unbelievably, makes my Turkish one seem lame by comparison.

As I've pointed out before, Childress was drawn to European basketball because of its emphasis on a more team-oriented game. He's not expected to be the biggest block of cheese in the cupboard:

I’m not expected to come in and drop 30. They don’t want that. Me coming in and taking 20 shots a game is something that they really don’t want. It’s good, because it’s something that I don’t want to do. I’ve never been a volume shooter, I’d rather take the good shot than shoot to shoot.

He emphasized it's hard to score, period, because not only are FIBA games shorter (40 minutes compared to the NBA's 48) but:

It’s tougher to score here. There’s no defensive three seconds. They play zone. There’s all kinds of ways that make it tougher to score; the game is a lot more physical. It’s more of a team game. It’s a little more evenly spread. Like you [NY Times reporter] said, 15 points in 27 minutes is a good number.

Not Just the Green

In my previous article about NBA-to-Europe posterboy Josh Childress, I mentioned that his primary reason for playing in Europe is the vertitable Aegean sea of Euros he'll swim in for making the jump.

Still, saying that was his sole reason is cynical and short-sighted.

Instead, as this interview with Frank Lawlor of euroleague.net shows, he's thinking of more than buckets of purple, yellow, green, orange, blue, a kind of mauveish rouge, and grey.

To wit:

As a player who proved himself at all levels in your own country, what attracted you to the European game in the prime of your career?

"I think just seeing the style of play here in terms of getting back to a team game was something that really attracted me. I had been four years in the NBA and it's a different game. This is little more team-focused, team-oriented, which is something I felt like it would be good to get back to."

Some people have called Euroleague game a perfect hybrid between the NCAA and the NBA: the very passionate crowds and team basketball of the former, with a skill level that is always getting closer to the latter. Do you see that comparison as accurate?

"I think it's a very accurate comparison. It's the same exact thing that I would say, both ways. And I think that year after year that skill level is getting higher. European basketball is getting better and more skillful at the same time."

Do you consider yourself a trailblazer?

"People have called me that, and I do agree to an extent. I guess I am just the first guy in my position who wanted to try Europe at this stage of his career. And I'm going to give it my best shot. Whether a trailblazer or not, I felt comfortable that this was a good fit for me. I am sure it will be an eye-opener for other guys who will see me and maybe give Europe a shot, too."

Josh Childress - Hotlanta'ed No More

Like Brandon Jennings, Josh Childress is about to embark on an unprecedented voyage.
In signing with the Greek team Olympiacos Piraeus, he became the first upper-tier American NBA player still in the prime of his career to choose to jettison the League for Europe.
He chose to do this in part b/c

1) he was a restricted free agent over the summer, meaning he essentially was not able to sign with any other NBA team offering more money unless the Hawks allowed him
2) the Hawks did not want him to go to another team for more money this summer and did not want to pay him more money. They thought they had him cornered
3) Being "cornered" does not scream "trusting relationship" and, expectedly, when Childress and his agent discovered a way out - to the Athens' port city - they acted quickly.

Why?
Mainly for more money.

• Childress will make more per year with 20 million dollars over three years - a Euroleague record. Additionally, as the dollar devalues, his euros will become more valuable in his U.S. savings accounts.
• He also gets perks such a car and a nice house paid for by Olympiacos, benefits unknown stateside.
• Finally, he can opt-out and come back to the U.S. after any season. That should soften any regrets if he undergoes severe culture shocks a few months in.

Childress' progress will be as important to mid-tier NBA players looking for a market alternative for their services as Jennings' progress will be for high school players not wanting to undergo a year of collegiate seasoning / familiarization with the American public for future NBA marketing purposes.


It looks like our ex-Hawk hasn't forgotten how to take flight.
Here's footage of Josh Childress' first action in Greece - an intrahellenic preseason game.