Koufas of OSU goes NBA

[Mr. Neutral]

We fight because we love.

[muskieman]

OH, I just thought you loved to fight.

[MarionHall4ever]

Hey guys,

it appears that my post has been the proximate cause of some unpleasantries. That was not my intention. Perhaps I should provide a little background and context for my thoughts.

First of all my comments about the young man going to Greece to play ball had a lot to do with the fact that it has been widely reported (at least in Northeast Ohio) that he was offered a substantial contract to go to Greece to play ball straight out of high school. It's also been reported that the offer is still out there for him to do so.

Could he make more money in the NBA than in Europe? No doubt. If drafted in the NBA, does he project as an immediate starter? I sincerely doubt it (although, I'd say the same thing about Josh). Could/would he start in Europe? Given the existence of the offer mentioned in the preceding paragraph, I'd have to think that is a good possibility.

I'm pretty sure that he has family in Greece and that he already spent some time there. Culturally, the transition probably would not be that dificult for him. If, as suggested on another post, he will be playing for Greek's Olympic team, then my "god" reference will be all the more meaningful.

I actually remember reading about Koufas as a high school kid. I'm pretty sure he attended Canton Glenoak. That school is better known for its football and tennis programs than basketball. While I did not see him play back then, from what I read I think that Koufas pretty much was the team. I also have it in the back of my mind that he missed his entire junior year with a broken leg and that they didn't do much that year without him.

Stories that I had read about him said that his Father was a physiaicn. That tidbit, and the fact that he attended GlenOak suggest to me that he didn't grow up "in the 'hood" and that basketball did not have to be his path in life. He played it because he wanted to play it and because he had the physical gifts and skills to play it.

I am actually a little surprised that he has chosen to make himself eligible to go pro at this time. I compared his situation to that of Tyler Hansbrough at North Carolina. Hansbrough is also a doctor's kid who, presumably, had some other life options in addition to basketball. I noticed that Hansbrough has announced that he was coming back for his senior year at North Carolina. That's what I expected from Koufas. Not all players have NBA tunnel-vision.

I think it's quite possible that Koufas' decision may have been influenced by the imminent arrival in Columbus of OSU's prized freshman 7-footer, B.J. Mullins. Mullins, like Koufas, lives in Stark County. Koufas had to have been familiar with him and, maybe he thought that the arrival of Mullins was going to cut into his playing time (I know that you could play them both on the floor at the same time, but I'm thinking out loud here). If that's the case, then the opportunity to play in Europe next season would not be such a bad thing. If a lucrative contract accompanies that offer to play in Europe, well, as Martha would say, "that's a good thing."

Koufas has some skills, and he'll get better, but he's not a physical "big-man" and I doubt that he ever will be. I got the impression that he wasn't that comfortable with the physical style of play in the Big 10. If he goes to Europe, he'll be playing in a league that puts a premium on skills and finesse. That has to have at least some appeal to him. And since he's only 19, there's really nothing to prevent him from coming back to the NBA someday. European basketball is increasingly a source of talent for the NBA. Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki seem to have made the transition pretty well.

I concur with Wise' evaluation of Koufas' talents, but I have to respectfully disagree with his projection of Koufas as a middle of the first round pick in the NBA draft. Not this particular draft. I think there's enough talent in front of Koufas that he drops to the bottom of the first round is he gets picked in the first round at al. Consider that Memphis State's entire starting five and most of Kansas' starting five are eligible for this draft and most of those players are going to be picked before Koufas would be picked -- and those are just two teams. There's a couple guys from Texas who will be picked before him, Mr. Beasley from K-State, Mr. Love (and a couple of his buddies from UCLA), O. J. Mayo, at least one of the Stanford twins, a couple I.U. guys, a couple North Carolina guys and -- well, you get the idea. He may have been a mid-first round talent in another draft, but not this one.

As for my comparison between Koufas and Josh, I think that Josh will be more attractive to NBA teams. As Neutral stated, Josh does have the NBA body. Koufas, as already noted, is relatively slender and he has already had to deal with a broken leg. I'm not saying that he's fragile, but big guys and broken legs are a bad combination. Just ask poor Sam Bowie. Any NBA team that does its due diligence is going to "red-flag" him for that. And maybe my thought process (preferring Josh over Koufas) is a little clouded by the fact that I am a biased Xavier grad, but I can't imagine that anybody on this board is going to be too upset with me for that.

[XavierMatt]

BJ Mullins is not from Stark County. He went to Canal Winchester, somewhere near Columbus. Playing with BJ would allow him to play the 4 and not be stuck at center which would benefit his game. Staying one more year could push him way up in the draft as next year's draft does not look nearly as deep. However, it is tough to pass up those millions.

[Wisexuowl]

<MarionHall4Ever made the initial statement (which, oddly enough, you haven't taken issue with, which means you don't care about disagreeing with the statement; you just want to disagree with ME).>

Poor Gary, he’s hurt because he got singled out. You just want to “legalese” your statements to divert attention to Marion. It doesn’t work.

<But it does make some sense as Koufas' game is more suited (at this point) for European play than the NBA>

Gary, even if you had stayed at a Holiday Inn, this shows your lack of any knowledge of the game, let alone logic. But then you told the world that Xavier would be a “Bubble Team” in mid-December, and that alone should tell us just how little you know about the game.

The NBA scouts, three of whom I spoke with last week, said that Koufas is a mid-first round pick, and could go as high as #12, or as low as #18. And they pointed out that after whatshisname took off the shackles and osu started to play a full court game, Koufas averaged better than 18 ppg, six rpg, shot 60% from the field and 50% from beyond the line.

Now, if a player’s potential after one year of college (with no coaching) is that high, anyone who says it makes “sense” that Koufas’ game is “more suited” for European play, than the NBA is flat out silly.

I also asked you to name the NBA draftee who passed up NBA careers to go to Europe. You haven’t and can’t.

<Last but not least, apparently you forgot about the multitude of comments made by OSU game announcers about efforts being made to bring Koufas overseas to play>

Placing any validity in what two extended mouths of the OSU Sports Information Office and OSU’s basketball office is too funny. They are hired guns Gary, they say what they are told to say.

<So, Wise, feel free to live it up in your sad, narrow, cliche-filled BizarroWorld. I can only imagine how boring you must be in person.>

No Gary, my world and my life is anything but sad, or narrow. In fact it’s fun-filled, happy, and anything but boring. It is full of warm friendships, a wonderful woman, four great children and grandchildren.

I am sorry that just doesn’t fit in with your description of me, but then even with your mystic powers how could you know what I am like or what my lifeis like. You don’t even know me. But, then your previous description of me was … “you’re a f@cking a$$hole.”

Classy!

[Mr. Neutral]

Wise, first let me apologize for calling you a "f****** a******". It was overly harsh and rude.

One simple question-how come you don't have any issue whatsoever with MarionHall's initial comment, and lengthy follow-up, but you do have an issue with my agreeing with Marion?

If you just hate me, and want to take issue with everything I say, which is your right, then just say so. But don't pretend that you're taking issue with the point itself, because if you did, you'd be firing the same bullets at MarionHall, which you're not.

This example may clarify things. Assume the President makes a lengthy policy speech. The next day, the Veep answers a reporter's question about the speech, agreeing with the President's position, but in a much shorter, less-detailed fashion. You go after the Veep's follow-up, but not the President's initial speech.

So, if you've got a beef with the merits of my posts, Wise, you've got a bigger beef with Marion's preceeding and following (and lengthier) posts as well. If you don't do that, you're not concerned about the merits, you just want to argue with me.

And, no, Wise, nothing you say could ever "hurt" me. To hurt my feelings, I'd have to care about what you thought about me, which I clearly don't.

I would also suggest that it's more childish than not to not call another grown man by his given name. It's Thad Matta, our coach of 3 years who I'm sure you supported while he was here. Don't align yourself with the knuckleheads who calls refs "zebras" and management "suits"-you know, losers who think they're being irreverent but basically they're just being cliched idiots.

[joetitan]

not taking issue with "Wise" here, but Danny Ferry opted to play in Europe even though was NBA draftee. The $$$ Ferry received in Europe were not so disparate to NBA contracts at that time and of course he did return to NBA a few years later.

[MarionHall4ever]

XavierMatt,

my bad. You are correct about Mullins and Canal Winchester. For some reason, I confused Canal Winchester (the school) with Canal Fulton (the town). The latter is just north of the Massilon (Stark County) area -- which, coincidentally, is the home of another pretty good high school basketball player, Mr. Kenny Frease. Wonder what I was thinking?

[George Remus]

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasket ... y/10798501

[Mr. Neutral]

Interesting article, but the article ignores the fact that while 4 years of college was clearly not necessary for the guys listed (except for Miller), who's to say that the guys who did attend at least some college didn't benefit from it?

And certainly those playoff teams include dozens of players like West and Korver who DID play four years of college ball and were better off for it.

There's the emotional maturity factor as well, which can't be quantified, but IS present when dealing with teenage instant millionaires.

There's no "right" answer, just different opinions.