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Authored by Christopher Reina - 16th June, 2008 - 12:16 pm
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Kosta Koufos is already a highly skilled shooter, comfortably and confidently attempting shots from 20-feet and beyond. He has a step back jumper from 19 feet and is great on the catch-and-shoot above the free throw line.
Koufos has a high release, good follow through, and surprisingly good lift on his spot-up perimeter shot. He shoots it like a guard and doesn’t move or look like a 7-footer whatsoever when he is a jump shooter.
His balance in the post could use improvement. He has good post moves and is able to lose his man, but this lack of balance makes finishing more difficult than it should be. He will do a very quick spin move baseline with a wide-open flight to the bucket but not always convert the lay-up.
He has a great turnaround with one hand off the glass. He can split the defenders beautifully and get into the lane but then miss a five-footer. All of his technique is there as a scorer; the game just moves a little too fast for him sometimes and, like the problems with his balance, it is a sign of age that will eventually dissipate.
Koufos cannot afford to get his shot blocked by smaller defenders as he occasionally did at Ohio State.
He is an ideal fit for a team that likes to use its bigs on the high post. He can shoot it efficiently from here and also is good with the dribble down the lane. He will reverse pivot often in this area, but he needs to face the rim even more frequently when catching the ball away from the basket since that part of his game is so good.
Koufos has a good first step and can definitely beat his man off the dribble, which is enhanced by how closely defenders must respect his shot.
He has a nice pull up jumper dribbling into the mid-range from the perimeter.
I would like to see Koufos get to the rim quicker when he has a seam.
He lets defenders affect his course to the basket too much, avoiding contact in the air instead of attacking the rim and defender on a straight path.
He is an active screener, gets good body on defenders, but could improve his footwork when he rolls to the hoop. He will, however, be a phenomenal big on the pick and pop because of his excellent shot and skilled face-up game. His footwork when popping shows good technique.
Koufos has a great feel for space when a guard penetrates his way. He knows his man will help so he steps back into space on the baseline to set up a wide-open jumper. In time, his defender will not always help which will set up his team’s guards for clear paths to the rim.
He should become a great passer, but he can’t yet physically complete all of the passes he sees.
He makes decent passes out of the post to the opposite wing for open spot up shooters.
Koufos isn’t blessed with amazing athleticism, but he works hard running the floor. He has a good dribble and is able to complete difficult layups, but instead of a nice but difficult finger roll, he should be able to complete a surefire dunk instead.
Another part of his game that offsets any physical deficiencies is his excellent court sense.
On the offensive glass, Koufos is quick to the ball and uses the length of his arms well.
He has the inexcusable habit of bringing the ball down to his gut on offensive rebounds. But then again, I’ve seen him go right back up with the ball against the glass while in mid-air from about 7-feet out on an offensive rebound.
Koufos is a little slow closing out to the perimeter on defense and needs to do a better job cutting off the baseline. But for a big his size, he is really active and works diligently. He doesn’t just camp out in the paint bodying the guards; he has active feet and covers a lot of ground with good timing and spacing.
He already is an above average shotblocker and recorded at least one in 20 of his final 21 games at Ohio State. Although he does get his mitt on many shots, he will improve here substantially when he gets better at extending his arms straight up without losing his position or balance.
Koufos has the upside of his young age and the distinct possibility his ceiling is still high. He already has an offensive skill set few 7-footers ever achieve, and he should improve physically.
- Click here to see our full list of 2008 Draft Prospect Reports
Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM. He can be reached at Chris.Reina@RealGM.com where he may use your draft questions in a future mailbag edition |
