• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

PF/C Kosta Koufos (CSKA Moscow)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Good question. In the first game he was in a little bit of foul trouble. In the second game he got a foul early. After last year with Mr. Oden's propensity to get in foul trouble early and often perhaps Thad was working KK a bit to get him to keep the fouls down.

The other reason is that we still need to develop the other big men (and keep them happy) and there's no experience like game experience.
 
Upvote 0
He looked pretty good last night. I'm still waiting to see what he can do against big, athletic centers and power forwards. From what I saw, he needs to work on his explosiveness around the rim and keeping the ball at a high release around the hoop.
 
Upvote 0
CPD

Koufos committed to development


Thursday, November 15, 2007Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
Columbus
- Kosta Koufos could have been the $5 Million Kid. Instead he played his first Ohio State basketball game Monday night in the NIT Season Tip-off. He did not shoot the one free throw he tried with the wrong hand.
Then again, Koufos did not dunk like thunder pealing or disrupt everything Wisconsin-Green Bay tried to do with his mere presence. "I am not Greg Oden. Greg Oden was a very valuable player for us," said Koufos.




Cont...
 
Upvote 0
Link

The Next Big Buckeye

With Oden gone, OSU turns to Koufos
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 By Donna Ditota
Staff writer
When Kosta Koufos considered the colleges that courted him out of Glen Oak High School in Canton, Ohio, he was drawn to in-state Ohio State partly because the Buckeyes had already attracted Greg Oden.
Koufos longed to be paired with Oden in the Buckeyes' frontcourt. He believed that working each day against the pure post player would both steel him and sharpen him for his own NBA career. And when Thad Matta recruited Koufos, he salivated at the scenario.
"We looked at him," Matta said, "and said it would be great if they could play together."

Continued......
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
FOX Sports on MSN - Sports News, Standings, Stats and more

Koufos may be another OSU one-and-done
author_arrow.gif
JEFFREY MARTIN
FOXSports.com, Updated 41 minutes ago
The plan, according to Ohio State coach Thad Matta, was for Greg Oden and Kosta Koufos to play together for one season.

But everyone involved knew that was wishful thinking.

"I had a good idea he'd be in the NBA," said Koufos, a freshman.
Instead, here Matta and the Buckeyes are, in New York City, unblemished at 2-0 and preparing to meet Syracuse in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden. Seems Koufos, at 7-foot-1 and 265 pounds, has a varied offensive repertoire, one complete with soft jump hooks, mid-range jump shots and the ability to step out and shoot the three. He's a center, perhaps in name only, because he can face the basket and score ? which explains only a few of the disparities between he and his one-season predecessor.

Continued......
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
I don't even want to guess on the Odds but ...

Kosta passed up the opportunity to sign a $5 million dollar contract already. Maybe, just maybe he is looking ahead to make a mark on college basketball (Hey, I can dream). Can you imagine him playing with B.J. Mullens and all the great recruits coming in next year, let alone the great guys he already has this year? One can only dream and hope he sees the legendary teams that Thad is cultivating now and thereafter. So hopefully he isn't "One and Done" like some of the sports writers would like to believe.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
There is no hiding KK...He is too good...

He is an NBA lottery pick, and the only way he comes back is if he truly has his heart set on coming back to play another year here, but it won't be a situation of whether or not he is going to be a high draft pick or not...

He has already proven himself in just 3 games, and he will only continue to get better...

Enjoy him while he is here...
 
Upvote 0
Koufos shines on the brightest stage
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: November 22, 2007

NEW YORK -- Ohio State coach Thad Matta had no idea how 7-foot freshman forward Kosta Koufos would handle the New York stage.

Panagiotis Giannakis and Nikos Kerameas did.

Giannakis, the current Greek national team coach, and Kerameas, last summer's 18-and-under Greek coach, know all about Koufos facing pressure situations.

Koufos was the spry American kid with a Greek mother who took home MVP honors as he led the Greek team to a silver medal in the European championships in Spain last summer.

So, naturally, the Greek basketball contingent took in Koufos' national debut in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night to see their investment first hand.

I've never seen anything close to this class.
--Jim Boeheim

In front of them Wednesday was the future of Greek Olympic basketball. And, if this keeps up, he'll be an anchor for Ohio State this season and possibly beyond, and a likely name to know in the NBA sometime soon.

Koufos led the Buckeyes, last season's national runner-up, with a career-high 24 points and nine boards in a 79-65 victory over Syracuse in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals. While Syracuse was flustered with trying to stop veteran point guard Jamar Butler (14 points), it was Koufos who caused the most angst with his ability to do a little bit of everything quite well.

"I'll tell you what kills me is him blowing up after three games in college," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta, trying to downplay the situation of the Greek coaches in attendance as he deals with another hyped freshman big man. "I didn't know how he would respond [in New York]."
Click to expand...

ESPN - Katz: Koufos yet another freshman to excel - Men's College Basketball
 
Upvote 0
p1_koufos1.jpg


Ohio State's next big star
Freshman Koufos steps into Oden's spot, the spotlight
Posted: Thursday November 22, 2007 3:14PM; Updated: Thursday November 22, 2007 3:15PM

NEW YORK -- As Kosta Koufos, the 7-foot, 265-pound Ohio State freshman with the ethnic name and the matching European-style skill set, stood at Madison Square Garden's center court Wednesday night, a sobering-up Syracuse fan voiced his feelings on the Buckeyes' newfound star.
Click to expand...

"I just had to come in and play my own game. [Oden] was a more dominant player in them post, and I'm more of an inside-out guy," says Koufos, who played against the No. 1 draft pick in open gyms last year. "I wish he stayed, but we have to work at getting better ourselves."
Click to expand...

SI.com - Writers - Kevin Armstrong:?Ohio State's next big star - Thursday November 22, 2007 3:14PM
 
Upvote 0
Kosta Koufos a big boost for Ohio State as Greg Oden's replacment
Friday, November 23rd 2007, 4:00 AM

Ohio State's Kosta Koufas averaged 26.5 points, 13 rebounds and 3.5 blocked in the European championships in Spain.
He is technically Greg Oden's replacement. But Ohio State's 7-0, 265-pound freshman center Kosta Koufos is rapidly emerging as the newest Greek god.

Koufos put on an Herculean effort Wednesday night in the semifinals of the preseason NIT. He scored 24 points, grabbed nine rebounds, blocked two shots, made two three-pointers and generally dominated Syracuse's front line with his varied offensive repertoire and stifling defensive presence in a 3-2 zone in a 79-65 victory at the Garden.

There is a strong possibility that Koufos could play for the Greek Olympic team - which upset the United States in the semifinals of the World Championships in 2006 - in Beijing next summer. Koufos is from Canton, Ohio, but has dual citizenship because his mother, Katerina, is from Greece.

"It's been a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid," he said of playing for the Olympic team.
Click to expand...

Kosta Koufos a big boost for Ohio State as Greg Oden's replacment
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top