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It seems many (myself included) are curious what can be made of Kosta Koufos's MVP performance in the 2007 European U18 tournament. Fortunately, two other highly touted 1st round picks this year played in the tournament in 2006. Here's a rundown of how the three (and their teams) faired:


France U18 Team 2006 - Featuring Nicolas Batum (MVP) and Alexis Ajinca

The French team barely got through the preliminary round, going 1-2 (including a loss to Iceland), but fortunately held tie-breakers over the other 2 1-2 teams in their group (Croatia, who they beat 90-56, and Iceland). In the quarterfinal round, the French went 2-1, with a close loss to Lithuania (73-80), a win over Italy (82-72), and a blowout victory over Greece (86-43). The French went on to avenge their quarterfinal round loss to Spain (who went 3-0 in their preliminary round and quarterfinal groups) by beating them 80-67 in the semifinal. They then avenged their quarterfinal round loss to Lithuania by beating them 77-72 in the final.

Batum was very impressive as a 17-year old, leading the French team to the championship and claiming MVP honors. He had notable performances against Greece in the quarterfinal round(18 points, 16 rebounds, 8-12 FG) and Spain in the semifinal (24 points, 9 rebounds, 10-15 FG). ALexis Ajinca couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with his shot, turned the ball over a ton, but grabbed a ton of offensive rebounds (likely his own misses). His minutes went down as the tournament progressed.

Here are the averages for the tournament for both Batum and Ajinca:

Batum
31 MPG
.547 FG
.217 3PT
.500 FT
14.3 PPG
7.9 RPG (3.1 offensive)
1.9 APG
1.1 SPG
1.1 BPG
2.5 TO

Ajinca
17 MPG
.358 FG
.167 3PT
.762 FT
6.9 PPG
7.5 RPG (3.9 offensive)
0.3 APG
0.8 SPG
0.9 BPG
2.1 TO


Greece U18 Team 2007 - Featuring Kosta Koufos (MVP)

The Greek team tore through the preliminary round, quarterfinal round, and semifinal, winning all 7 games before losing in the final to Serbia. Along the way, they beat Turkey (4th in 2006) in the preliminary round 82-67, France (champs in 2006) in the quarterfinal round 82-81, and Lithuania (2nd in 2006) in the semifinal 86-78. The lost to 2006's 5th place team, Serbia, 89-92 in the final.

Kosta Koufos played like a man amongst boys throughout the tournament. He was especially impressive in the semifinal and final, scoring 37 points (15-26 FG), grabbing 20 rebounds, and collecting 5 blocks against Lithuania, and scoring 33 points (15-24 FG), grabbing 13 rebounds, and collecting 2 blocks against Serbia.

Here are his averages for the tournament:

Koufos
35 MPG
.515 FG
.091 3PT
.590 FT
26.5 PPG
13.0 RPG (3.3 offensive)
0.4 APG
1.4 SPG
3.5 BPG
1.9 TO

This was something I posted on JazzFanz, FWIW.

He really is a tremendous talent, and I must admit I sold him a little bit short leading up to the draft and after we picked him.

He's already accomplished a ton, and it seems during the biggest games he usually tends to perform and the U18 is a good example of that, as is the NIT tournament.

He does seem to have a very rare combination of not only size, but certainly skill. You just don't find a true 7 footer with his full repertoire of offensive skills.

His length will certainly help the Jazz which is something they desperately needed against the Lakers this year.

I think he has a good place on this team and I think we will look back very favorably on this draft in the future. You just don't get a chance to draft high quality Center's that are over 7' with the #23 pick.

.5 on free throws? I guess we got our own hack a shaq.

I'm optimistic he won't be Curtis Borchardt Part II. And as much as I wanted Hibbert, now that I've had a day to reflect, I'm glad we got K2 instead of Roy. Hibbert has good hands and a good understanding of the game, but he's slower than John Amaechi wading through molasses. Reminds me of a less athletic Lonny Baxter, and we know what came of him.

im not totally sold on this guy yet but im really hoping the 3.5 bpg average keeps up, id love to see this guy stop points in the paint for years to come, thats what i wanted our of this draft.

Lava Rock Kid wrote:.5 on free throws? I guess we got our own hack a shaq.

he shot 68% at the line his freshman year at Ohio State
he's a good enough shooter to shoot a high percentage at the line

but it's not the percentage it's the fact that he only averaged 2.7 FT attempts a game that probably scared some teams ahead of the jazz. he's going to have to be more aggressive to play for Sloan.

Would you like him to play in the Revue or try his luck with Greece's senior NT this summer?
Personally I'd be thrilled if he could make the final cut for the qualifying tournament and eventually play in the Olympics. It wouldn't be easy, but I think he'd have a few chances to make it, and it would be a great experience for him even if he didn't play much.

Charlie_S wrote:Would you like him to play in the Revue or try his luck with Greece's senior NT this summer?
Personally I'd be thrilled if he could make the final cut for the qualifying tournament and eventually play in the Olympics. It wouldn't be easy, but I think he'd have a few chances to make it, and it would be a great experience for him even if he didn't play much.

The revue, we didn't need him getting hurt.

i want to see him play in beijing

edfmx86 wrote:i want to see him play in beijing

Yeah, let's raise the chances of him pulling a hammy or spraning an ankle.

fivas14 wrote:

edfmx86 wrote:i want to see him play in beijing

Yeah, let's raise the chances of him pulling a hammy or spraning an ankle.

Why not? It's not like he'll be getting any playing time. Chill dude.

I want this guy in the revue definitely, lets start his introduction into the jazz's system ASAP.

It would be cool for him to play in the Olympics, but I want to see him in person at the revue.

Hopefully he plays in the revue, Greece makes it to the Olympics, and then he gets to play with them in the big tournament.

His numbers from this tournament remind me of what Andrew Bogut did in his time with the U18 Croatian team (iirc) before joining the Utes.

In another interesting parallel....Bogut played his freshman season under Majerus, and was intent on leaving to play overseas until the new douchebag of a head coach talked him into coming back (the only useful service he ever performed for the program, btw). Bogut was less than impressive as a freshman, looking too slow and too out of his element to be a big-time Division I player.

We all know how it turned out. Bogut came back, bigger, faster, and more skilled than before and dominated the NCAA during his sophomore season. He went from a bubble first rounder to the slam dunk #1 overall pick in a matter of 8 months--over the likes of Deron Williams and Chris Paul, no less.

Koufos, to me, seemed a bit like Bogut in his freshman season. He wasn't always comfortable out on the floor, and didn't seem to be in his element. Could he show the same improvement that Bogut did? We don't know....but that is the beauty of 19 year olds. You never do. For the 23rd pick in the draft, I'll take that that package every single time.



All that said, I would still trade him for Hibbert in a heartbeat right now. I said before the draft that Koufos was my favorite of all the bigs as far as his ability and future prospects go, but that I didn't like him for us due to the makeup of our roster. Nothing has changed. He will be a good pro, I have no doubt. And having an asset like that for our team can only help.

Koufos will more than likely not play at the Olympics. He has decided to play in the Summer League, which means that he will miss the qualifying tournament and if Greece qualifies I doubt the coach will cut one of the players who were on the team in that tournament in favor of Koufos. It would simply be unfair.

Thats a good comparison E23.

I just hope all these gym rat comments are true, because if he works he should be a good player.

I honestly think he is pretty athletic for 7'1", more importantly he seems to have good ball handling and body control for a 7 footer. I dont see him being any different then Andrea Bargnani(who went #1), the difference might be if he has a different work ethic and obviously his body is bigger then Bargnani.