Kevin Pangos: Overseas

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IceManLikeGervin
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Kevin Pangos: Overseas

Post by IceManLikeGervin » Thu Dec 03, 2015 6:34 pm

https://twitter.com/CanBball
Canada Basketball ‏@CanBball
Our own @KPangos making a big splash in rookie campaign via @FIBA
Read: http://www.fiba.com/olympics/2016/news/ ... e-campaign

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IceManLikeGervin
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Book Info

Post by IceManLikeGervin » Sat Dec 19, 2015 1:11 am

Site http://www.cantmisskid.com/

Amazon http://www.amazon.ca/Cant-Miss-Kevin-Pa ... 1514426552

https://twitter.com/CantMissBook
CantMiss ‏@CantMissBook
A boy and the many factors that go into fulfilling his dream. Its "Can't Miss", on sale now! http://www.cantmisskid.com

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Last edited by IceManLikeGervin on Thu Dec 24, 2015 9:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

IceManLikeGervin
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In The News

Post by IceManLikeGervin » Tue Dec 22, 2015 11:27 pm

Click link for full National Post article & video: http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/can ... th-the-nba
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It was the end of a gruelling summer for Kevin Pangos when the Canary Islands came calling.

Prior to the 2015 NBA Draft on June 25, the Gonzaga product spent about a month bouncing from city to city attending pre-draft workouts with 13 teams. Then came the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in July, where the Holland Landing, Ont. native played with the Dallas Mavericks after a personal invite from head coach Rick Carlisle. Drained from the arduous schedule, he began to struggle as the tournament wore on, and an NBA contract offer never materialized. However, the point guard did receive one intriguing offer in Las Vegas.

Pangos and his agent were approached by representatives from Gran Canaria, a team based in the city of Las Palmas in Spain’s Canary Islands. This archipelago of seven volcanic islands off the coast of northwest Africa is closer to the Senegalese capital of Dakar than it is to Madrid. Virtually unknown to the average North American basketball fan, Gran Canaria might seem like an unlikely stop on the road to the NBA. However, over the past few seasons, the club has been among the best teams in Spain’s Liga ACB — arguably the second-best basketball league in the world.

With his sights still set on pursuing a career in the NBA and a role with Canada’s men’s basketball team, Pangos inked a deal with Gran Canaria in late July and booked his ticket to Las Palmas. “Obviously, I was disappointed because I didn’t get an NBA offer, which has been my dream since I was a kid. But I told myself I was going to use this as an opportunity to enjoy myself, maybe learn some Spanish and to continue trying to get better with the NBA goal in mind,” Pangos says.

With Pangos, Gran Canaria added a player who led Gonzaga to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament last spring. The 6-foot-2 guard also claimed West Coast Conference Player of Year honours in his last season with the Bulldogs and finished his collegiate career as Gonzaga’s all time leader in three pointers.

Pangos has made a near seamless transition to the professional game. The boisterous, yet somewhat laid back crowd at the colourful Gran Canaria Arena has witnessed the exceptional vision, quickness and shooting that made him a college star.

He leads the team with 12.2 points and 4.1 assists per game as Gran Canaria is off to a 7-4 start to the ACB season. Pangos has been even better in Eurocup play (the second-tier European club competition) where he has put up 14.7 points and 5.3 assists in 10 games. Pangos plays only about 25 minutes a night, as teams in the ACB tend to spread out playing time more evenly.

Gran Canaria assistant coach Israel Gonzalez attributes Pangos’ smooth transition to the European game to his high basketball IQ. “He’s an exceptionally smart player, so he’s able to execute the ideas of the head coach really easily, and he executes the pick and roll extremely well, too,” Gonzalez says.

In a Dec. 6 home win against Rio Natura Monbus Obradoiro, Pangos put up 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including five three-pointers, in just 22 minutes. His family was in attendance for the first time in his professional career.

“They never miss a minute of any of my games, even if it’s on a blurry, fuzzy stream on the Internet,” Pangos says. “They have seen me play at every stage, so for them to see this one is cool because it’s different in its own way. I was glad I had a great game for them and now, I’m just looking forward to showing them the island.”

Gran Canaria, known as the miniature continent because of its wide variety of microclimates and diverse geography, is popular with European sun-seekers, who flock to the island for its hot, dry weather year-round. Las Palmas, in the north, where Pangos lives, is the island’s biggest city, home to Las Canteras Beach, grand, colourful colonial architecture and a vibrant restaurant scene. The southern coast is lined with massive resorts along vast stretches of beach and undulating sand dunes. Further inland, the forested hills, cliffs and rocky outcrops of Cruz de Tejeda, offer altogether different natural vistas.

Since arriving in early September, Pangos and his girlfriend Katey Pennington have embraced the surreal experience of living in Gran Canaria — a stark contrast to that of Holland Landing or Gonzaga’s landlocked location in Spokane, Wash. “I wasn’t that nervous when I arrived. Playing overseas for Canada as a teenager, I experienced playing in places where I didn’t know the culture and didn’t speak the language,” he says. “The lifestyle here is way different, but we’ve been having a great time exploring the island. We go to the beach anytime we get the chance, and the hikes in the mountains are great.” Pangos and Pennington also take regular Spanish lessons.

While the pace of life in the subtropics may be more relaxed, Pangos knows he needs to work at rounding out his game in order to offer the full complement of offensive weapons demanded of today’s NBA point guards. He’s developing these skills in a league that can be punishing for those driving the lane. “The game here is way more physical,” Pangos says.

As Pangos’ career progresses, his parents are not the only ones back home streaming his games online. Rowan Barrett, assistant general manager and executive vice president for Canada Basketball’s senior men’s program, says he keeps close tabs on the 22-year-old. “Obviously, he’s a tremendous shooter,” says Barrett, who first met Pangos in 2010. “He’s a really good perimeter quarterback. He controls the game, he controls the tempo, he gets his teammates involved. But the area in which he’s growing now is his ability to get into the painted area and make plays, so that he can have the total complement of skills at the position, to go inside or outside.”

Pangos was too busy this last summer to be considered for the Pan American Games and the FIBA Americas Championship teams but projects to be in the mix for the role of backup point guard behind the Toronto Raptors’ Cory Joseph next summer.

As for the NBA, Pangos says adopting the right mindset is a key to both his success and his happiness in life. “Some people might look at it like, ‘Well, he’s over in Europe, he didn’t make it in the NBA, he’s done.’ But for me, this is perfect. I’ve got a great situation here because I’m playing and getting better. If I was in the NBA, I’d be on the bench. But here, I’m playing great competition, travelling the world and I still have a shot at the NBA. It’s not going anywhere.”

IceManLikeGervin
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Joined:Wed Apr 04, 2012 4:42 pm

Canada Basketball POW

Post by IceManLikeGervin » Wed May 18, 2016 11:46 pm

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IceManLikeGervin
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1st Season Recap

Post by IceManLikeGervin » Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:46 pm

Click link for full SSF article: http://www.slipperstillfits.com/2016/6/ ... ing-abroad

Kevin Pangos (Gran Canaria - Spain)

Pangos spent his first year away from Gonzaga at Gran Canaria of the Spanish Canary Islands (I think I might have to award him with the nicest international location on this list). True to form, Pangos led Gran Canaria in assists with 4.6apg, while also scoring 11ppg while shooting 51.2% from three. Pangos missed some time with a concussion, but started 43 of the 53 games he played in while helping Gran Canaria finish 5th in the Spanish ACB league. Gran Canaria also finished 2nd in the Spanish Cup and 3rd in the Eurocup.

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IceManLikeGervin
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Joined:Wed Apr 04, 2012 4:42 pm

Kevin Pangos Signs W/ Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania)

Post by IceManLikeGervin » Sat Jul 16, 2016 2:31 am

Site http://zalgiris.lt/

Twitter https://twitter.com/bczalgiris

NEWS

TSN http://www.tsn.ca/canadian-pangos-signs ... b-1.527702

https://twitter.com/bczalgiris
BC Zalgiris Kaunas ‏@bczalgiris
#Zalgiris signed Canadian guard Kevin Pangos to 1+1 deal. Welcome to #Kaunas and @EuroLeague, @KPangos! http://www.talkbasket.net/21326-kevin-p ... giris.html #ManoKomanda

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