PF/C Kosta Koufos (CSKA Moscow)

[osugrad21]

ABJ

OSU's Koufos hears from mom Buckeye center welcomes her critiques of his play
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008
Psst! Don't tell Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta, but one of his star players is getting advice elsewhere.
When center Kosta Koufos hits the hardwood at Value City Arena, his eyes invariably look to the stands for his mother, Kathy, a guidance counselor at GlenOak High School.
''My mom tells me what I need to do to improve every game. It's great to have a parent like that to tell me straight up what I need to work on,'' Koufos said.


Cont...

 

[akronbuck]

he needs someone to toughen him up. I love his MOM.

 

[LitlBuck]

I think Kosta showed some toughness last night against White. He rejected him a few times which I loved. Thought he played his best game of the season last night. Hope he stays.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

OSU men's basketball: Koufos warms to the low post
Freshman sees his future as a forward
Saturday, March 1, 2008 2:57 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

When they played in the gym this summer and 7-foot Kosta Koufos had the ball 20 feet from the basket and asked for a screen, Matt Terwilliger knew Ohio State's low-post offense would be a work in progress this season.
"He used to get the ball on the wing and say, 'Come set a ball screen for me,' " Terwilliger said yesterday with a smile. "We were like, 'No, you give me the ball and I'll throw it to you in the post. You're our one true post presence. You've got to stay in there.'"
Koufos, an American of Greek ancestry, always has seen himself -- as have coaches and scouts -- as a European-style power forward who can shoot from the perimeter. But Ohio State needed a center to bridge the gap between Greg Oden and B.J. Mullens.

Continued.....

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Koufos improves thanks to Lauderdale's tough love

Posted by [URL="http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/about.html"]Doug Lesmerises[/URL] February 29, 2008 20:06PM

Categories: Ohio State
Columbus -- Ohio State freshman Dallas Lauderdale is averaging fewer than four minutes of action in his team's past 13 games, but the freshman from Solon is trying to bludgeon the Buckeyes into the NCAA Tournament.
In the often-ugly style of the Big Ten, coach Thad Matta's free-flowing 3-point offense has bogged down this year. So Ohio State's best chance over its final three regular-season games, including a visit to Minnesota this afternoon, might lie with 7-foot freshman center Kosta Koufos, whose inside game has blossomed under Lauderdale's practice beatings.
"He says, 'Come on, don't foul me that hard,'?" Lauderdale said. "And I whisper in his ear and say, 'That's what they're going to do to you in the games, just picture me as some other big man and take my head off.' I'll get my head taken off as long as he succeeds."

Koufos, most comfortable playing outside, is now in the third phase of his development, which started well but slowed down during his conference acclimation.

Continued....

 

[osugrad21]

Rivals

Article discussing Kosta's progression since the last MSU game.

 

[Messi18Man]

KOUFOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Well...that post really contributed something to the thread.....

KK had a string of 12 straight games in double figures snapped by Purdue and he has played well for most of the season. The expectations prior to the season were unrealistic looking back at it now.....

 

[mross34]

I agree the expectations were too high coming into this season, but everyone's still acting like he's a sure bet to go to the league after this season. I just haven't seen an NBA game out of him yet. I know he's got the talent, it's just a question of putting it all together. It sure would be nice to have the high-post/low-post game he and BJ would provide being on the court at the same time.

 

[osugrad21]

The expectations prior to the season were unrealistic looking back at it now.....

So you have changed your tune from the other day?

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

So you have changed your tune from the other day?

No...my personal expectations were not that far off from what KK has accomplished so far. In my mind he has done great. Regardless of the growing pains. Now, some people may think he has underachieved and that is where the unrealistic expectations come in. When speaking about expectations and reality, the issue really boils down to each person's opinion on that player.

Now, I understand your point about expectations before landing on campus and I would say the expectations are to high for most incoming players but an individual cannot let an entire fan base blind them from keeping realistic expectations.

 

[osugrad21]

No...my personal expectations were not that far off from what KK has accomplished so far. In my mind he has done great. Regardless of the growing pains. Now, some people may think he has underachieved and that is where the unrealistic expectations come in. When speaking about expectations and reality, the issue really boils down to each person's opinion on that player.

Now, I understand your point about expectations before landing on campus and I would say the expectations are to high for most incoming players but an individual cannot let an entire fan base blind them from keeping realistic expectations.

So you feel that the expectations were too high in retrospect...yet they are according to the individual...yet you feel he did great but the expectations were too high?

You are talking both sides of the fence.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

So you feel that the expectations were too high in retrospect...yet they are according to the individual...yet you feel he did great but the expectations were too high?

You are talking both sides of the fence.

At this point, I am not sure what point I am trying to make...... to clarify the first post in this discussion, I was directing the unrealistic expectations towards the team as a whole and not his individual play. I have stated my personal expectations were not that far from reality....FWIW. Now, the fan base and their expectations are open for debate.

 

[osugrad21]

At this point, I am not sure what point I am trying to make...... to clarify the first post in this discussion, I was directing the unrealistic expectations towards the team as a whole and not his individual play. I have stated my personal expectations were not that far from reality....FWIW. Now, the fan base and their expectations are open for debate.

Even so, those misguided expectations were highly reliant on the expected "impact" of several unproven players which is the same possible mistake for next year.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

expectations....

What do you think his stat line will be next year?

Pts, Rebs, etc???

not as good as odens in big ten play. what do you think thump?

KK will approach Oden's scoring average but I don't think he will come close to his rebounding.......different type of player. He is a great passer and he will get some assists......

I will say that he goes for 12pts, 6rbs, 2assts, and 1block /game...

He will have better numbers than those in every category, including assists. He's going to be playing around 30 minutes a game, and he's only going to be good for 12-6 with one block per game? Seriously doubt it. And how will he not approach Oden's numbers on the boards? Oden was not a great rebounder over the course of the season.

17 pts, 8 rebs, 3 assists, 2.5 blocks.

Here is the reason why I said those numbers...

I think that with Butler, Lighty, Diebler, KK, Hunter, Turner, that he will average somewhere around 12 pts/game...Yes he will have games where he goes for 20 or so, and yeah maybe 12 is a little low, but until we really see how the offense is going to be structured it is kinda hard to say how many points he will score, but just keep in mind that usually the guards do a lot of scoring in Matta's system...

As for the rebounds, 6 rbs/game is pretty good, and I am not saying it might not be higher, but with big guys like Hunter, Madsen, Twig, and the guards wing guys standing 6'5'', 6'6'' and 6'7'' there won't be quite as many rebounds to go around like there were last season...When Oden and Harris were in the game it was basically up to Greg to get a lot of the defensive rebounds...

I'm thinking numbers closer to that of what Habanero said. While I think we will have a pretty balanced scoring team, KK is going to be a mismatch against just about every team we play, so I think he will be the focus on offense most of the time. I also think KK's rebounding numbers are going to be about equal with GO's if he is guarding the post which I believe he will. GO had more athleticism and natural rebounding ability, but he was rebounding with one hand (which probably cost him 1-2 boards a game), wasn't in tip top shape all season and had some foul trouble in games. If KK gets 30+ min a game (which I think he will), then I think he will get 8-10 boards a game as he is a good position player and has great hands.

I agree, I thihk people are getting a little ahead of themselves in the great things they are predicting for Kosta.

I say if he averages about 10 pts. a game and maybe about 5 boards, that would be a great start.

more than 10. no doubt whatsoever. none.

15?