Greece 6-2 in EuroBasket preps. Koufos searching for role..

The Senior Greek national team has concluded preparation games for the 2009 European Championships. After eight games of play, the spotlight is squarely on head coach Jonas Kazlauskas concerning how he will position this revamped Greece team for the upcoming tournament. The major storylines going into this summer included how the team would fare without veteran mainstays Theo Papaloukas and Dimitris Diamantidis, the inclusion of young Greek Americans Nick Calathes & Kosta Koufos, and the playing shape of big man Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Kazlauskas received mixed results.

The team played most of their preparation games in the friendly confines of Athens, Greece. They opened play with three 'friendly' home games vs Romania, Latvia, and Serbia from August 19 to the 21st. The first two matches were rather easy, however Greece fell to Serbia 83-82 in a game where their best front court player center, Ioannis Bourousis did not play. The following game would be a rematch with Serbia, this time the start of the annual Acropolis Basketball Tournament (8/24 to 8/26). After narrowly beating Serbia in the rematch 65-61, Greece then beat Russia & Lithuania in close matches consisting of inconsistent play. From there Greece moved on to the Adecco Cup in Maribor, Slovenia where they beat Bulgaria (8/29) before getting beat by Slovenia (8/30). to close out the preparation games. As expected, Greece has not displayed the overall consistency of years past. The stretches of turnovers reveal the glaring absence of calming guard Theo Papaloukas. Yet, Greece has also discovered positives such as the great play of a slimmer Sofoklis Schortsanitis.

As for Calathes and Koufos, the process of adapting to high level European play is still in its formative stages. The two young Greek Americans were able to see considerable playing time int he initial friendly games vs Romania and Latvia. However, as the competition stiffened and the games became more serious, the playing time of both players began to reduce. Koufos in particular, has struggled in a bit in finding his definite role on the team. His size and scoring ability are known assets that can be of help, but they have to come within the flow of the team. Koufos at times has not looked comfortable by forcing shots instead of letting the game come to him. (Interestingly, of the three games I viewed, I don't recall seeing Kosta take one face up jumper. This is an aspect of his game that could be a big help for Greece)Kosta has also been inconsistent defensively, at times he has looked like a young defender, on other occasions he handled himself well such as the first game with Serbia vs Oklahoma City's Nenad Kristic. I suspect his playing time in Eurobasket will hinder on how strong of defense he can provide for Greece. But right now it is clear Koufos will have some peaks and valleys in this upcoming Eurobasket as he adapts to the style and level of play, as well as searching for a role where he can best help his team.

Kosta Koufos preparation game point totals

Greece-Romania (Athens) 13 points
20/08: Greece-Latvia (Athens) 9 points
21/08: Greece-Serbia (Athens) 7 points

24/08: Greece-Serbia ("Acropolis" Tournament, Athens) 3 points
25/08: Greece- Russia ("Acropolis" Tournament, Athens) 10 points
26/08: Greece-Lithuania("Acropolis" Tournament, Athens) 5 points

29/08: Greece-Bulgaria ("Adecco Cup" Maribor, Slovenia) 6 points
30/08: Greece-Slovenia ("Adecco Cup" Maribor, Slovenia) 7 points

Othello Hunter: Summer Review (What's Next?)

As the month of August comes to a close, clubs across the world are finalizing their last moves of the off season to officially complete rosters. The current economic climate is unique in that every type of player from journeymen to established vets to young, fringe NBA talent have at times found the market to be unkind. Teams have adjusted to the situation by opting to go with the smaller roster count of 13 players instead of 15. The downsizing of teams has resulted in a trickle down effect in the form of overseas clubs receiving bona find nba talents. A limited number of roster spots has also shut out many would be first and second year players from occupying those 14th and 15th spots.

The months of June & July are extremely vital for free agents looking to impress scouts & front offices. A selection of undrafted free agents and two/three year players have the opportunity to play in front of several scouts at the Orlando Pro Summer League, and or the NBA Las Vegas Summer League. Other free agents and pro vets participate in official team mini-camps and private workouts.

After spending a majority of his NBA rookie season on the end of the Hawks' bench, Othello Hunter's first off season started with a bit of uncertainty as he was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Atlanta Hawks. In addition to his new found free agent status, Hunter also faced the sobering prospect of possibly not being able to play in the Vegas Summer league. However, Hunter was able to latch onto the Golden State Warriors Summer League team a week before Vegas Summer League play.

The Golden State squad featured draft pick Stephen Curry, budding star Anthony Randolf, and Anthony Morrow. After the feature big man Randolf, Hunter's main competition for minutes consisted of Quan Prowell, Lawrence Hill, and Connor Atchley. As a late addition, O saw limited minutes in the initial games of summer league, yet as play went on Hunter slowly worked his way up to the first forward substitution.

Hunter averaged around ten minutes of playing time in five games. He finished with a total of 17 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal & assist each. The limited number of minutes once again put Hunter in a situation where he would have to impress scouts by displaying his role player intangibles of hustle, effort, and defense. Up to 230 in weight, the much stronger Hunter showed the willingness to bang with inside players, yet was able to show his trademark ability to run the floor for hustle plays. His Vegas highlights included converting a three point play off a nice setup by Stephen Curry, and an open court steal which resulted in a fast break in which Hunter finished with a two handed slam.

Hunter's summer would get more interesting when he was invited to the late july Hawks mini-camp. The camp served as an almost replacement for not having a summer league team; here the Hawks coaches could evaluate their signed rookies as well as prospects. Othello Hunter returned to Atlanta to show the improvement he made from year one to year two, he did not disappoint...In a more featured setting, Hunter displayed an improved face jumper, defensive patience, and played with a higher level of comfort and confidence.

In an interview about rookie/mini-camp, Atlanta Head Coach Mike Woodson referred to Othello as one of, "our players" in remarking about Hunter's improvement, hinting at a possible resigning.



So what's next for Othello Hunter? The last member of the Thad Five now waits for an invite to the Atlanta Hawks fall veteran's camp. After a strong month of July, August has brought more uncertainty with Hawks signing of veteran forward Joe Smith, and their current search for additional big men. If Hunter is not re-signed by the Hawks, the good vibes from his summer could possibly put him on another NBA roster, or on a team overseas. As a 2nd year pro, Hunter is also still eligible to be assigned to an NBA Developmental team.

In review, Othello Hunter ended up having a helpful summer as a result of his play with the Golden State Summer league team, and at the Hawk's Rookie Camp. Now we will have to patiently wait to see where his unlikely NBA story takes him for the 2009/2010 season.

Summer League/Mini-Camp clips

Ron Lewis signs with Czech Republic Champions CZE Nymburk

Fiba Europe and Eurobasket are reporting that Ron Lewis has recently signed a one year deal with the reigning Czech Republic Champions CZE Nymburk of the NBL (National Basketball League, Czech). The 25 year old shooting guard from Columbus Brookhaven will be entering his third year as a professional ball player.

- After Ohio State, Lewis played for Spotter Leuven in the Belgium League.

-From there he went on to play for Ironi Nahariya in Isreals top league the BSL. Lewis was the league's 4th best scorer and most consistent player for Nahariya. However, Ironi Nahariya was plagued with financial problems all season long, and by mid-season it became clear that many of their players would not return.

Like Je'Kel Foster, Ron Lewis will now have an opportunity to play against a higher level of competition. It can be argued that Isreal's BSL is just as good/competitive as the Czech Republic's domestic league. However, as the reigning Czech Champs, CZE Nymburk automatically qualifies for the Eurocup, the 2nd highest division of European basketball. If you are familiar with the Champions League setup in soccer, this is the same deal. The top domestic club champions are put together in a group to determine the 'champion' of champions. Eurocup is the 2nd class, with the EuroLeague being the highest, Je'Kel Foster will play in the EuroLeague next season.

http://www.eurocupbasketball.com/ulebcup/home/news/transactions-2009/eurocup-2009-10/i/55588/3695/nymburk-completes-roster-with-lewis (Lewis signs with Nymburk)

http://www.ballineurope.com/european-basketball/euroleague/euroleague-eurocup-eurochallenge-participants-announced/ (Euroleague and Eurocup teams for the 09/10 season announced)

(Ron Lewis Isreal mix coming soon :) )

Kosta Koufos "I am ready for Gasol"

Kosta Koufos is currently practicing with the Senior Greek National team in preparation for Euro Basket 2009, a inter-continent tournament to determine the very best national team in all of Europe. One of the things that jumps out at you in these initial practice sessions is that Kosta is noticeably bigger in the form of added muscle. Koufos obviously put in some hard work during his rookie season with the Jazz; not playing in the Orlando Summer league while nursing a slight hand injury gave him even more time to train. But Kosta has apparently acquired a bit of swag and more confidence as well in this off season.

He has already made some interesting statements to the Greek media. When asked to compare Greek guard Vassilis Spanoulis to Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams, Kosta said they are on the same level. (Spanoulis played one year with the Rockets in limited minutes before flaming out and heading back to Europe) Well I guess that is not too much of a suprise, I mean he will naturally want to please the Greek audience right? Yet, on the 1st of August when asked about a potential meeting with Spain, Koufos said, "I am ready for Gasol". (http://www.sport.gr/default.asp?pid=4&aid=44102 -Greek). Maybe it is just me, but it does not seem like the brightest thing to do in pinpointing a matchup with one of the best players in the world when you have barely played in enough games to constitute half of an NBA season last year. If anything, a comment like that certainly hypes the upcoming tourmanent, and gets his Greek fans, many of whom have been patiently waiting for his return to Fiba play, very excited.

For those who do not know, Spain and Greece have consistently been the top Europoean teams in recent times. Spain defeated Greece in the finals of the 2006 World Championships in Japan. The following year, the two teams engaged in a heated and controversial game in the semi-finals of EuroBasket 2007. Spain emerged as victors one again, however this time the officiating was subject to heated criticism by fans of Greece and the Greek media, they also charged Spain with excessive flopping (lol go figure). Here is a brief video of that game.



The next matchup between Spain & Greece is highly anticipated, and Kosta Koufos will be right in the center of things.

(B3 will have coverage of Koufous and Greece all throughout the EuroBasket competition)

Greg Oden's Summer of 2009: Road to Redemption

On July 25th 2009, Greg Oden made is first game appearance with Team USA Basketball. He participated in the end week scrimmage to cap off the 2009 Team USA Summer Mini camp; a tryout of sorts for some of the best young players hoping to fill limited spots on the United States National Team. The former Lawrence North, and Ohio State center finished with 7 points and 10 rebounds in about 24 minutes of play. This was an okay game for Oden, however, his numbers in this scrimmage were of little importance compared to the bigger storyline of a recovering player who emerged from mini-camp in commendable shape, mentally and physically.

Prior to arriving in Las Vegas for Team USA tryouts, Oden worked out in Columbus, Ohio with former NBA player Brian Grant, Portland Trailblazers assistant coaches Bill Bayno, Kaleb Canales, strengh & conditioning coach Bobby Medina, as well as Ohio States coaches Alan Major and Thad Matta. These workouts emphasized footwork, various post moves, more strength training, but most of all conditioning, conditioning, and conditioning. Now simply having the basic ability to practice during the summer off-season is an accomplishment in itself for Oden. It greatly contrasts with last summer, where Greg could only slowly rehab a knee that underwent microfracture surgery..no running..no jumping..no practicing at full go..just recovering.

Moreover, now that I think about it, and it is kind of a scary thought, this summer of 2009 is the first summer since the start of Greg's Senior Year in High School that Oden has been able to practice at near or full health in an offseason. He had a wrist injury that he suffered towards the end of his LN career that prevented him from from practing full go before Ohio State, he even missed the start of the season. The next summer he obviously had surgery, and last offeason he was still rehabbing. I really do not think it is a coincidence that Oden seems a little stronger mentally, and just at peace in general this summer. After all, basketball players want and need to play to get better.

As Oden began to practice with other members of the United States select team, the results of his time Columbus were clear for everyone to see. Oden looked much leaner than his rookie playing weight. He ran the floor confidently, his lateral quickness of defense looked improved as well. Not convinced, here is video evidence from Day One of the Mini Camp brought to you by Iamablazersfan,



In addition to displaying his improved physical condition, Oden got down to work and showed everyone, his peers and his evaluators what he does best, play defense and rebound. Greg controlled the paint throughout the week long mini camp, showing the true value of a big time defensive presence down low. And this had to be an extremely welcomed sight to Jerry Colangelo, Portland Head Coach Nate McMillan, who is an assistant to Team USA head coach Coach K, and the rest of the Team USA staff. I mean if everything went right in the past, a healthy Greg Oden would have probably played with the National Team as early as 2006 for the World Championships. Here Oden finally displayed the traits that Team USA has been courting for three years. And I think it is safe to say that if he is healthy, Oden will most likely be one of the young players to be added to the Senior National Team for the 2010 World Championships Tournament in Turkey. Adding Oden will finally solidify the five position by adding a true backup center to Dwight Howard. (IMO Durant & Rose are the two other locks)

This has been a sucessful summer for Greg Oden so far. He has been able to go back to Ohio State, get in better shape. Plus he was able to showcase his hardwork on the illuminated stage of Team USA tryouts. What has emerged is a player in better shape mentally and physically, a hungry player, a player hungry for redemption.

(In the next installment of Road to Redemption, I will breakdown Greg's rookie season, and what he needs to do to have a breakout sophmore season. I will also destroy some of the critics who feel the need to put premature lables on a 2nd year NBA player :) tata)