PF/C Kosta Koufos (CSKA Moscow)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

KOSTA VISITS

It was nice to see GlenOak graduate and Utah Jazz first-round pick Kosta Koufos back in his old stomping grounds. Koufos attended GlenOak's season opener and signed autographs for kids. He's off until training camp starts next month out in Utah. But it's not the kind of "off" you'd think of.

"I'm not going on vacation," Koufos said. "Just playing basketball."

 

[Buckskin86]

How they got here
Myriad paths from A to B
Jazz's Koufos, Bees' Bonilla, RSL's Russell all took disparate roads to their professions
By Kurt Kragthorpe
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 09/08/2008

Kosta Koufos was on his way to becoming the world's tallest outfielder.
Henry Bonilla once wondered what baseball was all about.
Robbie Russell was always into his sport, partly because he owned the only soccer ball in his neighborhood.
Circumstances conspired to launch these three toward the careers that brought them to Salt Lake City.
Even for pro athletes, the rates of development vary. "Some guys have always been the studs, everywhere they go," said Bonilla, a Salt Lake Bees relief pitcher. "It's kind of embedded in them. . . . [Other] guys have been OK, and kept getting better and better."
Everybody starts somewhere and arrives here from different directions, as these stories show:

Kosta Koufos

Koufos is a 7-foot-1 rookie center for the Jazz, but he loved baseball just as much as basketball while growing up in Ohio.
He was big from birth - "off the growth charts, from the very beginning," said his mother, Kathy. Because his growth was steady, he avoided any awkward stages and developed all-around skills.
"He just practiced a lot to lose the awkwardness out of his system," said his mother, a high school counselor who would often leave him in the gym while she worked during the summer.
Koufos' height allowed him to play competitively with older children, and he even played point guard in youth leagues in Canton, Ohio.
He also enjoyed baseball, playing until ninth grade as a 6-9 center fielder.
"I robbed some home runs," he said, smiling. "I was actually pretty good at pitching, too. I kind of intimidated some of the players on the opposing team. I was so tall - a Randy Johnson-type player. I was actually a pretty good hitter, too, but basketball came more naturally to me."
So Koufos moved from the outfield into the gym full-time, becoming a McDonald's All-American in high school and a first-round draft choice after one year at Ohio State.

Myriad paths from A to B - Salt Lake Tribune

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Utah Jazz: Fresh faces

The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 09/28/2008 03:13:08 AM MDT

Without much size on their roster, the Jazz desperately wanted a center or power forward to slip to them in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft. They got their wish. With the 23rd pick, the Jazz selected Ohio State's Kosta Koufos, a 7-foot-1 center who won't turn 20 until next February.
Just two years ago, Koufos was a McDonald's All-American at GlenOak High School in Canton. Lastaveraged 14.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks at Ohio State, after which he turned down a multi-million dollar offer from a professional team in Greece to enter the NBA draft. Koufos was projected as a late lottery pick, but unexpectedly slipped all the way to the Jazz, who gladly picked him late in the first round even though his game probably isn't rotation-ready.
"He's got some of the same skills as Memo [Okur]," vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor said after the draft. "He can pass the ball a little bit and he can shoot it a little bit. He seems to know how to get open."

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Rookie impresses even Sloan
Utah Jazz: Koufos' work ethic impresses team's brass

The 19-year-old takes advantage of the team's 24/7 practice facility
By Ross Siler
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 10/03/2008 02:18:17 AM MDT

BOISE, Idaho - Even though he never got the chance to bring in Kosta Koufos for a workout or sit down with him before the draft, Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor had some idea what he was getting in his newest first-round pick.
The Jazz had done their research, best as they could, on the 19-year-old center from Ohio State. O'Connor had talked to his college coach, to rival coaches in the Big Ten, to his high school and AAU coaches in Canton, Ohio, and to his agent.
All his reports mentioned the same thing: Koufos was young, but he was a tremendous worker. So much so that he often would head to the gym in the middle of the night after returning from a road trip with the Buckeyes.
Once considered a potential lottery pick, Koufos unexpectedly slid on draft night. The Jazz owned the No. 23 pick, were in the market for a big man, and didn't hesitate in selecting Koufos, even if it was largely sight unseen.
As unlikely as the marriage might have seemed at first, the early returns for Koufos and the Jazz have been encouraging. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, for starters, said his rookie 7-footer's attitude was "as good as you could get."
"I think he has come farther than I probably expected from where he was in summer league," Sloan added. "He's picked stuff up pretty good, he's a lot more relaxed trying to do the stuff, and just played."

Cont...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Utah Jazz: Brass impressed with rookie's effort


[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]By Tim Buckley[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]Deseret News[/FONT]
Published: Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008 12:52 a.m. MDT


BOISE ? He has a penchant for saying "Yes, sir," even after being told the "sir" part is appreciated but really not necessary.
He speaks only when spoken to and doesn't question authority.
He's preppy, polite and the picture-perfect poster of just what a 7-foot-1 Eagle Scout should look like.
No wonder Kosta Koufos is one rookie Jazz coach Jerry Sloan ? shhhh, don't spread the news ? actually may like.
The teen's attitude, especially for a first-year NBA player, is ? according to Sloan ? "as good as you can get."
So is his work ethic, which has included midnight workouts in the summertime at the Jazz's practice facility and sessions with new mentor Mehmet Okur. "He's a pleasant guy to be around," Sloan said, "because he works hard and doesn't say anything and just tries to do his job.

Continued...........

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Rookie Kosta Koufos finished with 11 points, knocking down a three-pointer and showing impressive dunking ability.

Canton

Being a gym rat in high school endeared Kosta Koufos to his coach at GlenOak High School, Jack Greynolds Jr. That same attitude is making Koufos popular with his bosses in the NBA.

Koufos spent much of the last month working out at the Utah Jazz practice facility, sometimes staying there beyond midnight shooting or lifting.

"It's a 24/7 facility, so I'll just use it to the max," Koufos told the Salt Lake Tribune.

That work ethic is one reason why Jazz General Manager Kevin O'Connor selected the 7-foot Koufos with the 23rd pick of the first round. "And if you're that size and you work hard and you've got some skills, you usually succeed," O'Connor told the Salt Lake Tribune.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Rookie Kosta Koufos checked in with 1:39 left in the first quarter and knocked down a 21-footer on his first shot. Koufos suffered a left hamstring strain and did not return, though the injury is not believed to be serious.

 

[Brutus1]

Showing impressive dunking ability

He's a 7-footer, he should be able to dunk.

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Utah Jazz notes: Koufos shoots ball better, but Sloan still not smiling


[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]By Tim Buckley[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]Deseret News[/FONT]
Published: Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 12:06 a.m. MDT
DENVER ? He didn't just get the memo. He apparently read it, too. After a dismal 0-for-5 shooting performance in last Sunday's preseason loss at Portland, Jazz rookie Kosta Koufos took mostly safe shots in Wednesday's 120-119 overtime exhibition loss at Denver.
And he made 5-of-7 from the field as a result.
Still, even after Koufos had one block and seven rebounds to go with his 11 points in 20 minutes, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said the 7-footer from Ohio State has "a long ways to go."
"He's got to figure out what's going on in the game, what's happening out there, who he's guarding," Sloan said of Koufos, who got caught out of position on one critical defensive play in particular.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Kosta Koufos, who suffered a strained hamstring two minutes into his NBA exhibition debut with the Utah Jazz, strained coach Jerry Sloan's patience in his second game and was benched after only nine minutes.
"He shot it every time he touched it," Sloan said of the first-round draft choice from Ohio State, who was 0 of 5. "He's got a green light to go rebound. He's got a green light to pick up loose balls and those things that young guys should do when they step out on the floor. He can shoot the ball, and that's one of his strengths. But we'd like for him to fake to the other guys once in a while, just to let them know they're in the same game."
Cont...

 

[jimotis4heisman]

Brutus1

In memory of MSgt Mark J Seward

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Showing impressive dunking ability
He's a 7-footer, he should be able to dunk.

Showing impressive drunking ability

are they talking about saw and buckyle?


ps how many times in his one year did he slam it off the front of the rim? 2-3?

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Koufos' comeback

After going 0-for-5 Sunday against Portland, rookie Kosta Koufos finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in the overtime loss to Denver. But Sloan didn't hesitate in saying afterward that Koufos still "has a long ways to go."
"I think everybody's pulling for him," Sloan added, "but he's got to be held responsible for not knowing where he's supposed to be after a while.
"He's got to learn how to get to the right spot, know what play we're running, know what we're doing defensively."

 

[LitlBuck]

"He shot it every time he touched it," Sloan said

If he thought that Matta could get on somebody, there is one coach in the NBA that I would not want getting on my case and unfortunately for Kosta that coache is Jerry Sloan.

 

[Taosman]

People forget he is just a kid. If he has the desire to work he will be fine.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

People forget he is just a kid. If he has the desire to work he will be fine.

hes no longer just a kid, hes a pro athlete. pro sports are businesses. the business world is a cold harsh world...