NBA - The Next Chapter Begins for Minnesota's Kosta Koufos

(Kosta Koufos - London, England - Early October 2010)

It seemed like Kosta Koufos was initially viewed by the general public as a roster afterthought upon being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves this past summer. But that was before Head Coach Kurt Rambis admitted that they did not have a clue of what they really had in Koufos. And that was also before the Minnesota Timberwolves exercised their team option on Kosta's contract for 2011/2012.

With two feet in the twin cities, it is now all about competing every day & simply improving. Coach Rambis has said all along that he liked the versatility & depth of the center trio of Darko Milicic, Nikola Pekovic, & Kosta Koufos (pictured to the left attempting to cut off Lebron).

Kosta is currently third in the lineup order, but he's been able to get some playing time (10mpg in 5 games so far) in this early season due a couple reasons. For one, Darko has gotten off to bit of a slow start by only averaging 3 pts & 5 rebounds a game (failed to a score a basket in 3 of the first 5 games).

While they wait for Darko to return to higher form, rookie center Nikola Pekovic is next on the depth chart. Pekovic is a good player, but is currently struggling to adjust to the different speed & flow of an NBA game. He is one of the league leaders in fouls and is having trouble just staying on the floor. And that is where Koufos comes in, a young & active center with potential.

Koufos' 10 minute per game average so far does not seem like much. But it certainly is when you compare it to receiving next to no time in Utah. And the most encouraging thing for Kosta is that these minutes are not just coming in the 4th quarter 'garabage' period.

We have watched some of Minnesota's games, and when Darko & Pek are struggling Coach Rambis has not hesitated to check Koufos in during the 1st or 2nd quarter against the opposing team's starters. His total of 50 minutes in the regular season so far is good and valuable experience.

Early thoughts on the team: Minnesota is currently 1-4 on the season..they started out with a disappointing 117-116 home opening loss to the Kings (a game they should have won). The Wolves rebounded on the October 29 by shocking the Milwaukee Bucks by a score of 96-85..but have since been routed three straight times by Memphis, Miami, & Orlando. This team is very young, and like any NBA squad they have scoring talent, but can they defend? Well right now Minnesota cannot get stops..they are currently giving up a staggering 113 points per game! And the schedule does not get any easier with the Hawks, Rockets, & Lakers up next (yikes!)

(Videos)

Timberwolv fans have been able to get to know Koufos all throughout the pre-season with his numerous community appearances and fan interviews.

-On the Hot Seat with Kosta!





-Opening night intro & some Kosta clips

(Brief Notes)

• It's great to see Koufos hitting that midrange jumper again. He did not shoot that many Js in Utah for whatever reason...it was one of our main complaints.
• Had a nice little hook shot over Andrew Bogut, a starting center in the last clip.

Minnesota Timberwolves Intro + Kosta Koufos first points
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