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PF/C Kosta Koufos (CSKA Moscow)

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Ready for takeoff
His departure from Ohio State was slightly turbulent, and his life has been a whirlwind ever since, but in the eyes of some NBA observers, Kosta Koufos is ready
Sunday, June 22, 2008
By Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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"I wanted to pursue my professional career. The best thing for me was to maintain my focus on basketball."

Kosta Koufos, on his decision to leave OSU for the NBAKosta Koufos called from an airport gate Thursday night. The background noise included announcements of flights headed here or there. He was about to board one.

Since the first week in June, when he landed in Toronto to audition for the Raptors, this has been his life. Here today, there tomorrow, interviewing, testing and playing for one NBA team after another that might take the 7-footer in the first round of the draft Thursday night.

It is a laborious routine, but the former Ohio State center is 19 and full of adrenaline, about to realize his dream.

"Not tiring at all," Koufos said of the whirlwind few weeks he has had. "I'm very excited about this. God has given me a wonderful opportunity ... a lifetime opportunity for me.

"I get to travel cross-country playing basketball," he said, and stretch his legs in first class while doing it. "I'm traveling good."

Looking good, too, according to some reports.

Once viewed as going 20th or lower in the draft, a reported combination of impressive workouts and better-than-expected athleticism, as well as some other first-rounders pulling out of the draft, have elevated Koufos to the fringe of the lottery, which comprises the top 14 picks.

"Koufos is gaining momentum at the moment" and has held the upper hand in most workouts against UCLA's Kevin Love, a higher-rated but shorter forward, draft insider Chad Ford wrote on ESPN.com last week.

Ford also predicted that Koufos would have been a top-five pick had he waited until 2009 to leave school. That being the case, he could have received twice as much in salary over the length of his rookie contract.

But "it's not about money," Koufos said when told of that projection. "I just want to play in the league. It's been a dream of mine. Now I have the opportunity."
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BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : Kosta Koufos: Ready for takeoff
 
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....I am not defending his decision but I can understand the logic behind it....I simply stated that individual workouts would be to his advantage due to his struggles this year in some areas
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I totally disagree with this statement by OBJ when he first posted it but it has come to reality that he seems to have improved his draft stock in individual workouts. I did not realize that in individual workouts a player when against another player who was in a similar category. However, it is interesting to note that some of the teams he has talked to talk to him about playing the 5 position while others talk to him about playing the 4. I just could not see him playing the 5 is the NBA. Maybe in five years but not in the near future IMO.
 
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espn.com

Chad Ford's Mock Draft, Version 6.0: Picks 1-30

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Golden State
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Kosta KoufosPosition: C
Height: 7-1
Weight: 265
Age: 19
School: Ohio State

The skinny: By all accounts, Koufos has been excellent in workouts and could have become a top-five pick had he waited until 2009. Golden State has taken several big men in recent drafts, but it will probably be drafting for talent, not need -- and Koufos' combination of size and offensive skill should be a nice complement to Biedrins' defensive and rebounding prowess.
Rider's Jason Thompson and Syracuse's Donte Greene are other possibilities with this pick.
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RISING STAR Kosta Koufos (right), playing against Michigan this past season, has seen his draft stock rise dramatically as teams have gotten a closer look at the Ohio State and GlenOak High School star.
AP FILE

Will all his hard work pay off?
Koufos finishes workout tour
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
By Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

When Kosta Koufos left for Las Vegas in April, he went to Sin City with a few hundred bucks in his pockets.

Every few days, his agent, Mark Termini, or a representative would check and see if he needed more money. A 19-year-old kid in Vegas all alone could find a way to go through some dough. Termini never did have to send more money.

All Koufos did was work out with renowned NBA trainer Joe Abunassar, play basketball and sleep.

"I wasn't there to take a vacation," Koufos said. "I was in Vegas to work hard, and it worked in my favor."

Koufos had a few minutes between flights Tuesday evening. He hopped a plane in Phoenix to head back to Canton. His NBA whirlwind workout tour is over. He hit 13 teams in 11 cities, and word is Koufos' stock is rising a day before Thursday's NBA Draft.

Tuesday was the second time the Suns worked out Koufos. The Cavaliers flew across the country to watch the 7-foot-1 GlenOak High School product. Seattle, Toronto and Golden State took in Tuesday's session as well.

"I studied video of the guys I'd be working against before I came in, and I felt very confident in my workout," Koufos said. "I performed well. I was confident in my ability to play well in workouts, and I'm just blessed. I'm not anxious or nervous (for Thursday's draft). I'm looking forward to it. I've done what I can do. It's in God's hands now."

There seemed to be growing sentiment after the Phoenix workout that Koufos could land a spot in the top 10. ESPN.com NBA writer Chad Ford has moved Koufos up to the second-best center available in the draft behind Stanford's 7-foot-1 giant Brook Lopez and in front of Florida's Marreese Speights.

"I feel very confident in my position in the draft," Koufos said. "I performed very well in every workout, and I have no regrets."

Koufos, generally, is being projected to be a lottery-to-mid-first-round selection. He has worked out for eight of the 14 lottery teams ? Minnesota, Seattle, New Jersey, Charlotte, Portland, Golden State, Phoenix and Sacramento. Two others are trying to scheduled last-minute interviews.

"From what I'm hearing, there is an outside shot of him going in the lottery," said Sam Amico, who writes for probasketballnews.com and NBA Inside Stuff. "I just think he would be a good fit in Cleveland. I hear Toronto might take him at 17, I don't think Washington will take him (18th)."
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CantonRep.com | The Canton Repository | Canton, Stark County & Northeast Ohio News, Community Events & Classifieds
 
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Ohio State Buckeyes' Kosta Koufos has improved his draft standing
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Mary Schmitt Boyer
Plain Dealer Reporter

Kosta Koufos will be home with his family in Canton when he learns his fate in the NBA draft tonight.

Koufos, 7-1, just finished his freshman season at Ohio State and is a 2007 Canton GlenOak graduate. He is the closest thing to a local player in the draft this year, although Ohio State's Othello Hunter also is in the draft pool. Koufos said he didn't know which team will select him, but he's not worried about it.

"Location is not a factor," he said Wednesday, 24 hours from the start of the draft. "I'm just blessed to be in this situation."
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Ohio State Buckeyes' Kosta Koufos has improved his draft standing- cleveland.com

Sports spotlight: Kosta Koufos' work ethic comes from his family
Thursday, June 26, 2008
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

PLAIN TWP. GlenOak High School was mostly empty Monday afternoon. It's summertime, and students and teachers are on vacation.

Kathy Koufos, though, was in the guidance office working. She was finishing paperwork on some of her graduating seniors.

That's pretty remarkable.

Not just that she was working during the summer, but that she was working less than a week before her son gets drafted into the NBA.

Kosta Koufos is certain to be a first-round pick tonight.

He is certain to have a bank account by the end of the summer that stretches into seven figures.

And Kathy Koufos still was at her job.

That says something about the kind of family in which Koufos was raised. And it should say something, however small, to the NBA team that lands him tonight.
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CantonRep.com | The Canton Repository | Canton, Stark County & Northeast Ohio News, Community Events & Classifieds
 
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Sports Special: Koufos sees upside with Utah
GlenOak graduate knows he found a good home with Jazz
Friday, June 27, 2008
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

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LONG WAIT Ohio State standout and GlenOak High graduate Kosta Koufos spent part of NBA Draft night at Munson's Home Plate Sports Pub in Jackson Township with his mother, Kathy, uncle Petros Alveras (rear, left), and cousin Dino Alveras. Koufos was selected No. 23 overall by the Utah Jazz.

REPOSITORY BOB ROSSITER

There were no long faces. No one turned the television off at Kosta Koufos' house after the Cavaliers passed on him with the 19th pick in the first round.

In fact, given every opportunity to use an excuse, Koufos refused to do so. So did his agent, Mark Termini.

More than two hours after the first round of the NBA Draft started, Kosta Koufos still didn't know where he would play in the NBA. There were center-forwards selected in front of Koufos that were head-scratchers to many fans, but those players fit a given need an individual team had that Koufos didn't.

Finally, though, the Utah Jazz looked up at their draft board and the 7-foot-1 center from Ohio State and GlenOak High School, the one with the sure-thing perimeter jumper, the baby hook, the 265-pound frame and 6 percent body fat still was available.

Jazz Head Coach Jerry Sloan and General Manager Kevin O'Connor couldn't dial Koufos' phone fast enough.

Koufos didn't pout about the money he didn't get Thursday night. That's not money he lost because he never had it.

Instead he looked at what was important: His situation.

In being selected by Utah, Koufos gets to learn behind a center, Mehmet Okur. The two are similar perimeter centers. He gets to learn Sloan's offense and run it with one of the best point guards in the game, Deron Williams and one of the best scorers in the game, Carlos Boozer.

"The Utah Jazz understand, appreciate and value the skill set and demeanor that Kosta is bringing to their organization," Termini said. "It's a great situation, and in the long run, it doesn't matter where he was picked, because he has the same opportunity."
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Koufos didn't slip because teams were gun-shy over whether he would bypass the NBA and play in Greece, where he would earn twice as much money. Koufos and Termini made clear the young player's intentions.

He's staying in the NBA. He will play for the Jazz.

"My main priority is NBA basketball," Koufos said. "I'm just focused on being on the Utah Jazz. I want to try to help them win games and work hard for their organization. ... I made it known my priority is the NBA and I'm sticking to it. I feel I can be a great player in the league. That's a dream of mine and I'm going to fulfill it."
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CantonRep.com | The Canton Repository | Canton, Stark County & Northeast Ohio News, Community Events & Classifieds

Koufos slides to Jazz at No. 23
7-footer from OSU goes later than most analysts expected
Friday, June 27, 2008 3:14 AM
By Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

By 9 p.m., Kosta Koufos' hopes of being an NBA lottery pick had ended.

A half-hour later, the former Ohio State freshman was bypassed for a player who averaged five points in a French league.

Koufos' wait ended a few minutes later when the Utah Jazz made him the 23rd pick of the draft.

If he was disappointed, he did a good job of hiding it.

"I have no regrets," Koufos said. "I'm very happy with my situation."

Koufos' wait was longer than most NBA analysts expected, a view the Jazz apparently shared. Koufos was not among the 28 players the team listed as having worked out for it. The Jazz likely didn't invite Koufos because it thought he'd be long gone.

Some expected the Cleveland Cavaliers to take Koufos, who's from Canton. But the Cavs took North Carolina State forward J.J. Hickson with the 19th pick.

With the next pick, Charlotte took Alexis Ajinca, a 7-footer who averaged five points and didn't start for his French team.

Koufos said he's excited to join a team that reached the Western Conference semifinals.

Utah has a rising star in guard Deron Williams and an experienced frontcourt led by Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur. The 7-foot Koufos is considered similar to Okur: a good shooter for a big man.

"I know a lot about him," Koufos said. "I'm very, very lucky to have a player like Mehmet Okur ahead of me. I'm going to learn from him, and he'll help me become a better player."
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BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : Koufos slides to Jazz at No. 23
 
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Link

Utah Jazz: Draft pick Kosta Koufos visits


[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]By Jody Genessy[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]Deseret News[/FONT]
Published: Friday, June 27, 2008 5:18 p.m. MDT


When introducing the Utah Jazz's first-round pick to local media Friday afternoon, Kevin O'Connor said the organization would give Kosta Koufos a week off.
"And then," said the Jazz's general manager, "we'll get started."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan needn't worry. Koufos, a 7-foot center out of Ohio State who was drafted with the No. 23 pick on Thursday night, said if he goes anywhere before returning to Utah for the mid-July Rocky Mountain Revue he'll make it a working vacation. "I'm going to work hard wherever I'm at for that week," he said at the Zions Bank Basketball Center."I'm just going to get better as a player, make sure I'm in shape for the summer league and just perform to my best ability."

Continued......
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