Zaza Pachulia

Zaza Pachulia
Pachulia with the Hawks in 2008
No. 13   Atlanta Hawks
Center
Personal information
Date of birth February 10, 1984 (1984-02-10) (age 28)
Place of birth Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, USSR
Nationality Georgian / Turkish
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 275 lb (125 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft 2003 / Round: 2 / Pick: 42nd overall
Selected by the Orlando Magic
Pro career 1999–present
League NBA
Career history
1999–2003 Ülkerspor (Turkey)
2003–2004 Orlando Magic
2004–2005 Milwaukee Bucks
2005–present Atlanta Hawks
2011 Galatasaray (Turkey)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Zaza Pachulia[1] (Georgian: ზაზა ფაჩულია; born Zaur Pachulia February 10, 1984), is a Georgian professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA.

Contents

Early athletic career

Pachulia was a very successful basketball player at a very early age in Georgia. He was approximately 6 feet 8 inches (2.04 meters) at the age of 13. He was scouted and recruited by the Turkish professional team Ülkerspor when he was a teenager. He became a member of the national basketball team of Georgia at a young age and led his team as a center to beat other Eastern European rivals, such as Belarus and Bulgaria.

National Basketball Association

Once he distinguished himself with Ülkerspor, Pachulia was drafted in the second round by the Orlando Magic during the 2003 NBA Draft. After being selected in the 2004 expansion draft by the Charlotte Bobcats, Zaza was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks where he played the 2004–05 season.[2] While with the Bucks, Pachulia averaged 6.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game off the bench. After he spent one season with the Bucks, the Atlanta Hawks became interested in him.

Pachulia signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks[1] in the 2005 off-season and became the Hawks' starting center, when he averaged 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game during the 2005–06 season. He began as the starting center during the 2006–07 season but later came off the bench. An on-court altercation between the relatively obscure Pachulia and Celtics star Kevin Garnett led one writer to dub Pachulia "Balboa" after the lead character from the Rocky series of movies.[3] Pachulia officially re-signed with the Hawks on July 13, 2009, agreeing to a multi-year contract.[4]

Return to Turkey

During the 2011 NBA lockout, Pachulia signed with Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball League.[5]

National team

Zaza Pachulia is a captain of the Georgia national basketball team. He also holds Turkish citizenship.[6]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 Orlando 59 2 11.3 .389 .000 .644 2.9 .2 .4 .2 3.3
2004–05 Milwaukee 74 4 18.9 .452 .000 .746 5.1 .8 .6 .5 6.2
2005–06 Atlanta 78 78 31.4 .451 .000 .735 7.9 1.7 1.1 .5 11.7
2006–07 Atlanta 72 47 28.1 .474 .000 .786 6.9 1.5 1.1 .5 12.2
2007–08 Atlanta 62 5 15.2 .437 .000 .706 4.0 .6 .4 .2 5.2
2008–09 Atlanta 77 26 19.1 .497 .000 .709 5.7 .7 .4 .3 6.2
2009–10 Atlanta 78 1 14.0 .488 .000 .650 3.8 .5 .5 .4 4.3
2010–11 Atlanta 79 7 15.7 .461 .000 .754 4.2 .7 .4 .3 4.4
Career 579 170 19.5 .460 .000 .731 5.1 .9 .6 .4 6.8

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008 Atlanta 7 0 15.0 .280 .000 .714 2.9 .3 .3 .0 4.1
2009 Atlanta 11 1 23.6 .415 .000 .762 6.9 .3 .4 .3 6.9
2010 Atlanta 11 0 14.6 .514 .000 .625 3.5 .3 .2 .6 4.6
2011 Atlanta 11 0 17.7 .478 .000 .773 4.9 1.2 .2 .1 3.5
Career 40 1 18.0 .426 .000 .725 4.9 4.7 .3 .3 4.9

Notes

  1. ^ a b HAWKS: Hawks Sign Zaza Pachulia, Aug. 11, 2005; article retrieved March 21, 2007
  2. ^ Bobcats Acquire Draft Picks In Two Trades
  3. ^ HAWKS: Everything You Need To Know About...Hawks vs Celtics | Game 6 | May 2, 2008
  4. ^ "HAWKS SIGN MIKE BIBBY, ZAZA PACHULIA". NBA.com. 2009-07-13. http://www.nba.com/hawks/news/Hawks_ReSign_Bibby_Pachulia_071309.html. Retrieved 2011-04-24. 
  5. ^ Galatasaray brings in Zaza Pachulia
  6. ^ "Atlanta Hawks: If NBA lockout lingers, Zaza Pachulia may play in Turkey". http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2011/07/08/atlanta-hawks-if-lockout-lingers-zaza-pachulia-may-play-in-turkey/. 

External links

First round
Second round
4 Gamqrelidze | 5 Boisa | 6 Boisa | 7 Pachulia | 8 Tsintsadze | 9 Shermadini | 10 Parghalava | 11 Markoishvili | 12 Georgiev | 13 Sanikidze | 14 Shengelia | 15 Tskitishvili | Coach: Kokoškov

0 Teague | 1 McGrady | 2 J. Johnson | 5 Smith | 6 Hinrich | 7 Pargo | 12 Sloan | 15 Horford | 24 Williams | 27 Pachulia | 33 Green | 34 Collins | 42 Stackhouse | 44 I. Johnson | 77 Radmanović

Head coach: Drew | Assistant coaches: Conner | Bender | Hill | Gattison | Radulovic