# The Next Shaq His From Greece / He Is 16



## Balla123456789 (Jul 15, 2002)

#6

Sophocles Shortsianitis 
Birthdate: 6/22/85
NBA Position: PF/C
Ht: 6-9
Wt: 253
European Team: Iraklis Salonica
Hometown: Kavala, Greece 





NBA Comparison: Eddy Curry

Strengths: A Greek Baby Shaq? A super prospect with developing offensive skills. He plays with aggressiveness, intelligence. a solid inside game with post moves, baby hooks, and his shot from the 16-18 feet is excellent. Unselfish player with great agility. He sets up screens extremely well. Has the smooth moves of a forward combined with muscles that allow him to be dominant on the boards. He jumps impetuously for rebounds, both on offense and defense. He can handle the ball well from the one paint to the other. His approach to devloping his game is very mature.

Weaknesses: Inexperience. Must stay focused. Gets into foul trouble easily (mainly due to his passion to play good defense). Needs to work more on his free throws in order not to face problems in the future. Still has a ways to go in terms of development, but with such a strong work ethic, there's no telling how good he can be. Still isn't asked much of because he is playing against much older and more experienced players. He is being nurtured along slowly to best facilitate his skills and potential. (Could be closer to 6-8, but at just 16, he figures to continue to grow.)

Notes: The first thing that comes to mind when watching this kid is that its rare to find a body with such amazing strength and size at the age 16 ( born in June of 1985). Son of a Greek father and a Nigerian mother, Shortsianitis impressed last year Iraklis American player, Tony Farmer ( former Golden State Warriors Forward), who gave him the name “Baby Shaq”, because of his beast-strength and his inside game. Another impressive element of his game is his fighting spirit on defense. He is a quick learner and a pearly character. He will probably be a 7 footer of 280 pounds full of muscles and strength. Sophocles will benefit greatly from the fact that he has competed against professionals in a very tough league from age 15. He has similar game to Eddy Curry of the Chicago Bulls. Right now , he is a "Baby-Shaq" that spends hours upon hours in the gym lifting weights or training both with the youngs and the pro players.

5/23 - Schortsianitis had a 6 page interview in the biggest basketball magazine in Greece, saying that he will most probably enter the 2004 NBA draft. 

6/5 - Sofocles Schortsianitis most probably will take part in the Benetton Big Man basketball camp. He was invited , but the thing is that he 'll have to stay with the Cadet's National Team for the European Championship. Alongside this, Schortsianitis is invited to take part to a camp for big men in Miami in the late July-early August, so you ll most probably have the chance to take a closer look at him! Hot Summer for this kid! 

-Dimitris Armadoros 

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Sofoklis has African blood, his mother is from Cameroon and his father from Greece. His real height is 204 cm, his weight is 120, maybe 130 kilos! He has an incredible power, strength and body control, so at the junior level is an illegal weapon! He can slam the ball after an offensive boards or a teammates’ dish, and has confidence underneath to find a solution. He could improve his range, but has decent touch and is able to control the ball in the open court at high speed. He is playing with the majors already with Iraklis Thessaloniki in the Greek League averaging 6.4 minutes and 2.6 points per game. 

-Romano Pettiti 


Flash.gr article Translated to English:






Watching a colored player of enormous dimensions rise from the bench of Iraklis, in the second period of the game against Olympiakos, the Olympiakos’ fans in the Glyfada’s Basketball Hall must have wondered: "What happened to playing against teams without foreigners on their roster?" Of course, he is not a foreigner. Welcome the greatest hope of Greek basketball in many years. His color is dark. But his name is as Greek as it gets, as is his background: Sophocles (Shortsianitis). Sophocles finished the game with 11 points (on 5/6 2point shots) and 5 rebounds ( he also had a block and an assist), making those that did not know about him... become well acquainted. For many fans, his presence in the second period of the match was a surprise. Not for the 16 year old (He’s born in the 22nd of June 1985 (YES!!!), of 2.05 height (6’10” ) and weight of 115 kilos ( 253 pounds) Greek center. It was the 17th February of 2001, when Iraklis team was facing Panionios, in the Ivanofjio Hall. "Sophocles, stand up. You are in the starting five", said the former coach of the “Aged” (nickname of Iraklis team), Elias Armenis. Those words changed the life of the 16-year-old boy center. In the two first phases of that game he made an "and-one" and gained another foul. According to “testimonies”, Kostas Maglos of Panionios ( remember him? He was the starting center of Boston College back in 1997) had said to his coach, at that time, Lefteris Soubotic ( now coach of Olympiakos): "But, these were supposed not to have a second foreigner. When did they brought him?”. "He is not a foreign player, Kostas. He is Greek and in particular 16 years of age ", replied Subotic. Maglos was astonished. Afterwards, in the press conference, his coach Iljas Armenis declared: "This kid, in two years time, he will be in the starting five of Iraklis and in 2004 (Olympic Games in Athens) he will be playing in the National team!” But how Iraklis bring this "black diamond" to it's team’s roster? It was one from the few things that former president of the team, Emfietzoglou left behind when leaving the team. The former big shareholder of Iraklis had a “passion” to bring talents to his team from Macedonia terrace and the Thrace terrace (north Greek territories. Iraklis is located in a Macedonian city called Thessalonica) . Thus, the scouts of the team started searching Northern Greece for talents. At some point, they went to the city of Kavala. And. they were “frightened” with what they saw. A 15-year-old, monster of force who, during games was making his opponents in the EKASDYM (amateurs championship for northern Greek teams) look like fools. Immediately, Iraklis began it's acquisition process. Young Sophocles was not pleased playing for such a small team, like Iraklis Kavalas (his former team had the same name as his current team – Iraklis, is the mythical Greek hero, that in English is called Hercules) . But, Iraklis had to compete against other big teams in order to acquire the kid. Not only fellow citizen team PAOK, but also the AEK Athens had scouted him also. Suddenly, it began a battle, which didn’t ever see the light of publicity. The interconnections of Mr Emfjetzogloy in Kavala (He had intense enterprising activity) played a decisive role. "When they told me that Iraklis wanted to acquire me, I was madly happy. And promised that I will do everything in order to succeed", he says. From the first day that he stepped into Ivanofjio Hall, Sophocles Shortsianitis became an object of intense study for the European scouts that work for NBA teams. He has already played some games for the young national team. Sunday afternoon, in Glyfada’s Sports Hall, there were scouts that were impressed by the spectacle that they saw. Impressed were those who hadn’t seen him before, of course. Logically, in Monday morning he would have a reason to be proud of his performance toward one from most complete "front lines" in Europe ( Olympiakos team front line contains James Forrest-one of the best American players in Europe-, Spanish international De Miguel, German international Patric Femerling and Russian international and future NBA prospect Zevrosenko ). But he says "I do not care for what others say about me, nor do I ever feel proud of what I achieved. I just have hard work to do. This is my life-phrase". When these words come out from the mouth of 16-year-old child, then, yes, he is the true prospect of Greek basketball! And he is not only saying words that float in space.On Iraklis’ team they all speak highly of Shortsianitis' work ethic and desire. Of course, he is child and it’s logical for a child to dream. But Iraklis current coaches Kostas Pilafidis and Paraskeuas Mouratidis work a lot on Sophocles talent, doing a very good job on him, and one day the dream may be reality.

translated by: Dimitris Armadoros


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## Quasi-Quasar (Jul 18, 2002)

He turned 17 in June and his name is spelled Sophocles Schortsianitis (there's a "c" after the "S" i his last name) and he is more offensively developed then Eddy Curry, he has the drive, his two questionables are his size and his D.

1. His size- his team reports him as being 206 cm or roughly 6-9, but he measured in at the European Junior Mens Championships at 210 cm or 6-10 & 1/2, and although he is listed at 253 lbs he weighed in at 270 lbs at the Tourney and all of the measurements were without shoes. So if he is 6-11 and change in shoes and grows an inch or two his size will be unstoppable.

2. His D- although he averaged roughly 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals in the Tourney he averaged less than one block per game. The coaches seem to think it's that he doesn't want to play good D, but I think he lacks essential bigman coaching, ie he plays like a Euro SF. If he receives the proper coaching he will be a monster on both ends because he is so agile and athletic (more than even Diop).

His potential is unlimited because he has the work ethic and the nasty streak Curry lacks, he just will not be a shotblocker for his first season or two until he understands all of the coaching he will get. He will play hard D and prevent and intimidate scorers, but his shotblocking will need to catch up. His O is great though, very much like Shaq, and when he dunks everyone runs.


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## CoolHandLuke (Jun 8, 2002)

The potential of a top American big man recruit like Kendrick Perkins or Eddy Curry, and the fundamentals of a European player... same with Milicic. I can't think of a scarier combination possible in someone that age not named LeBron.


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## bender (Jul 15, 2002)

Is there any chance that he will attend a college in US? (Does he playing pro are amateur?)

@TheGoods

His size: On his Eurobasket profile and on the Team Greece page from the EJC, his height is 206cm. Where have you read he is 210cm?


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## CoolHandLuke (Jun 8, 2002)

No, he's not going to US college.


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## Quasi-Quasar (Jul 18, 2002)

Soph can't play NCAA ball because he's played 2 years for Irakalis (Hercules) which is a pro team so he has no eligibility......As for his size I said he measured in at 210 cm at the Tourney (European Junior Mens Championships).


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## Mem-fizz (Jun 29, 2002)

> Originally posted by *TheGoods *
> As for his size I said he measured in at 210 cm at the Tourney (European Junior Mens Championships).


Nope, He is listed at 206 cms in European Junior Men Championship Oficial Web site:

http://www.basketball-bund.de/junioren-em/english/teamportraits/teams_griechenland.htm


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## bender (Jul 15, 2002)

It's not the "Official Site of the EJMC". It's the website of the German Basketball Association (in German: "Deutscher Basketballbund"). The website of the EJMC is this: http://www.youthbasket.com/. But somehow peculiar Sofocles isn't listed in the Greece roster.


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## Mem-fizz (Jun 29, 2002)

> Originally posted by *bender *
> It's not the "Official Site of the EJMC". It's the website of the German Basketball Association (in German: "Deutscher Basketballbund"). The website of the EJMC is this: http://www.youthbasket.com/. But somehow peculiar Sofocles isn't listed in the Greece roster.



Schortsianitis is not listed because youthbasket.com is about Under-20 European Championships played in Lithuania. It´s named "European Championship for Young Men". Schortsianitis didn´t play this Championship. He played Under-18 European Championship ("European Championship for Junior Men", or "Basketball Europameisterschaft der Junioren") in Esslingen, Ludwigsburg and Böblingen, Germany. It´s organized by German Basketball Association, and that´s the oficial website http://www.basketball-bund.de/junioren-em/english/index.html


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## bender (Jul 15, 2002)

My fault, I'm sorry. But he's listed only 6'9" there.


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## starbonis (Aug 7, 2002)

The problem about Sophocles is that there aren't a lot of young European with a caliber physic like him. He will certainly dominate for a long time, but the biggest gape for him will be to play and to adapt his body when he'll play at top Euro competition.


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## Batman17 (Aug 8, 2002)

*He's not fat*

Trust me the kid is muscle


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## starbonis (Aug 7, 2002)

I am not saying he is fat !!!!.
In Europe most centers have a Divac-like body : strong and lean or a Tsakalov-like body : wide but not over-muscled. 
Sophocles has a real Shaq-like body: long, large and mostly very developped. I just say that in the youth categories, no one has such a body (Europeans are not known for lifting weight), and that's why he dominates. His problems will come when he will face more mature bodies in the Senior competition.


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## bender (Jul 15, 2002)

BTW: What's his real name? I've seen a few versions of his first name (Sophocles, Sofocles, Sofokles, Sofoklis) and last name (Schortsianitis, Shortsianitis).


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## Balla123456789 (Jul 15, 2002)

*He is a MonstAR*


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## bender (Jul 15, 2002)

He isn't ranked in NBAdraft.net's 2004 mock draft anymore. Does anybody know why? Are there rumors that he won't declare?


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## bender (Jul 15, 2002)

Schortsianitis is listed at 208 cm (6'10") at the website of the "Albert-Schweitzer-Turnier" in Mannheim, Germany.

BTW: He averaged 22.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1 block and 65.6 FG% in 5 games.


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## bender (Jul 15, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>TheGoods</b>!
> Soph can't play NCAA ball because he's played 2 years for Irakalis (Hercules) which is a pro team so he has no eligibility.


I think you're right, but could you tell me why Erazem Lorbek is eligible to play for MSU, although he played for Olimpja Ljubljana in Europe (which is a pro team IMO).


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## Zelena Hracka (Dec 16, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>bender</b>!
> BTW: What's his real name? I've seen a few versions of his first name (Sophocles, Sofocles, Sofokles, Sofoklis) and last name (Schortsianitis, Shortsianitis).


It's Sofoklis Schortsianitis. The "SCH" is not pronounced as in "Schumacher". Instead it is pronounced as "S-kh".

That is: S-kho-r-tsee-ah-nee-tees.

As for his first name it's Sofoklis (an ancient greek name).(Pronounced as :Soh-foh-clees). However the americans often use the english version of "Sofoklis" which is "Sophocles". That's why there is some confusion over his name.


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## starbonis (Aug 7, 2002)

Lorbek can play in the NCAA, because he played in the pro team, but he wasn't paid, as he was a member of the junior team. 

But he did benefit from the structures of the club and from the training of the pros


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## Jugonic (Jan 19, 2003)

*Schortsianitis*

Hi all basketball fans! I am a Spanish guy and I'm new at this forum. I was told it's fantastic and I hope I can discuss with you about many interesting facts. But please excuse my English, it's far from perfect.

About Schortsianitis... I was at Stuttgart this summer and watched him playing. First I have to say no way he's even 206cm. All scouts, club's directors and journalists agreed that he has to be 202-204cm. That's his worst problem. Other one is that he's playing against kids and his body is adult's. So he can do power moves, but has not many skilled moves to play 1-on-1 against true big men, especially in the NBA. Another bad point on him is quickness and lateral mobility, even fatigue (perhaps he was not fit, but he didn't seem to have a good physical condition).

However, he's a huge body, very strong, and knows how to use it. He even has to great skills for a center: good percentages in free throws and fantastic passing skills. If he is double teamed, he can assist his mates, especially the open men in the perimeter.

Anyway, I have to say those are my impressions of Baby Shaq in the European Junior Championship. I haven't watched him playing against pros.

By the way... I liked more than him Kostas Vasiliadis. What a kid!


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## <<<D>>> (Jul 15, 2002)

*Re: Schortsianitis*



> Originally posted by <b>Jugonic</b>!
> Hi all basketball fans! I am a Spanish guy and I'm new at this forum. I was told it's fantastic and I hope I can discuss with you about many interesting facts. But please excuse my English, it's far from perfect.


Welcome aboard Jugonic, thanks for visiting.
Your English and post is just fine


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## bender (Jul 15, 2002)

*Re: Schortsianitis*



> Originally posted by <b>Jugonic</b>!
> ... I haven't watched him playing against pros. ...


He's doing well against pros, too. 12.5 pts and 6.6 rbs per game is pretty good for a 17 years old.


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## open mike (Jan 3, 2003)

haha hes so *Their will be NO Masked Cursing allowed*

 


but anyway hes not "the next shaq"... justbecuz of his body


i mean look at robert traylor for godsake...


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