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
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