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Schortsanitis wearing his Greek national team jersey.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis (alternate spelling: Sophocles Schortsianitis) (Greek: Σοφοκλής Σχορτσανίτης) (born June 22, 1985) is a Greek professional basketball player. He was born in Tiko, Cameroon,[2] to a Greek father and a Cameroonian mother. He is listed at 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) and 156.5 kg (345 lb).[3] Schortsanitis currently plays with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Schortsanitis is a classic, "old school" style center that plays in the low post on offense and defends the rim and painted lane area of the court on defense. Schortsanitis was measured at the 2003 NBA pre-draft camp at a height of 6 ft 8¾ in (2.05 m) tall barefoot, 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) tall with shoes on, and with a 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) wingspan.[4][5] Pro career Schortsanitis started out as a competitive chess player (elo rating 1266) at his home town of Kavala,[citation needed] but he then turned to basketball. He began playing basketball at a professional level in the Greek League when he was a teenager, beginning with Iraklis, where he averaged 6.4 minutes and 2.6 points per game. He then went to play in the Italian League with Cantù. He then returned to Greece to play with Aris. For the Greek League 2005-06 season, George Garbolas chose him to be Olympiacos' new center. "Sofo" became a vital member of the team, and his performances impressed Panagiotis Giannakis, who picked Schortsanitis for the senior Greek national basketball team, following the season. He was offered a contract by the Los Angeles Clippers of the American league, the NBA, in the summer of 2006, after having been originally selected in the 2nd round (34th overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft, but he turned it down because he was still under contract with Olympiacos at the time.[6] In 2010, his contract with Olympiacos expired and he originally elected to participate in the NBA Summer League with the Clippers, with an eye towards joining the team. However, the Clippers were unimpressed and he failed to secure a contract. It was announced on August 5, 2010, that he signed a two year deal with the 5 time Euroleague champions, Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Super League.[7]
After some friendly matches and qualifiers, Schortsanitis' first appearance at a major FIBA competition was at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, where he helped Greece to win the silver medal by defeating Team USA by a score of 101-95 in the semifinals. At the 2009 FIBA European Championship held in Poland, Schortsanitis' performance was decisive in Greece winning the bronze medal match against Slovenia, as he scored 23 points, on 78% accuracy, grabbed six rebounds, blocked two shots and drew 12 fouls. Awards and accomplishments * Won the Italian SuperCup: (2003) Greek national team * FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship All-First Team Selection: (2001) Notes and references 1. ^ Interbasket.net Nicknames.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
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