By Rigas Dardalis
Expectations were always high on him, but in the NBA one rule seems to be compulsory: Big men need time and hard work to develop and Kosta Koufos wasn’t the exception. For three years he collected valuable experiences next to great coaches like Jerry Sloan and George Karl and super stars like Deron Williams and Kevin Love and now he is an integral part of Denver Nuggets. He also has a big challenge in front of him: To help his young squad beat the legendary Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of 2012 NBA playoffs.
“We’re the underdogs, but playoffs are a different story”, Koufos said to Eurohoops.net two days before the opener at “Staples Center”. The Greek center talked in depth about this season, made a special reference to the presence of Kobe Bryant and of course he didn’t hide his desire to play in the Olympic games of London with the Greek national team. Let’s begin, though, with the NBA playoffs and the series against the Lakers:
-Are you ready for the first game against Lakers?
“Yes we have 2 days of practices in LA and I think we’ll be ready for the opener”
-You are the underdog in this series, you feel you have a chance against the former champions?
“Υou know, playoffs are a different story. Look at Memphis last season, they played extremely well and they were the underdogs. We want to come in and play hard every game and just to try to win as much as possible”.
-What needs to be done in order to get to the second round?
“Just play hard defensively, stop the bigs and of course try to stop Kobe. We should play our game, cause they are a very big team and on the other hand we’re a very fast team. That would a key”.
-Facing Kobe gives to your young team an extra motive?
“Oh definitely, Kobe is a super star and one of the best ever. But also Andrew Bynum has been an all-star this season and Lakers have many good players. We just have to play hard and we’re sure excited for the first game on Sunday”.
-Do you envision yourself playing one day in the NBA finals?
“Yes it’s always been a dream of mine. But still I’m very young, so I still got some time to get there. At the same time though, we wanna live for the moment, we wanna enjoy as much as possible what happens now”.
-You’ve been before in the playoffs with the Jazz and last season with the Nuggets, but you didn’t play a lot of minutes. Now you’re the starting center of the Nuggets, does this change things?
“I just want to play hard for this team in this series and just help the team win games in playoffs. Lakers are one of the best teams in the NBA and we just want to come out and take one game at a time”.
-Overall you think this season has been successful for you?
“Yes, even though you can always improve in every season. But overall I think it’s been good both for me and my team”.
-In which areas you should improve?
“Well I wanna improve on everything. Offensively, defensively, just take everything to the next level”.
-Where do you think you have improved this season?
“I’ve played more time and I gained some experience. I feel more comfortable on the basketball court. I think, I improved defensively, I rebound a lot more and overall this season has helped me a lot”.
-Last question about… improvement. Where coach Karl wants you to get better?
“Just tighten up offensively and defensively. He knows my weaknesses and he has helped me so much”.
-This season started with Nene as the starting center of the Nuggets and you were coming of the bench. After the Brazilian got traded, you’ve become the starter, has this changed your psychology?
“You know, not at all. I always have the same mentality, which is to play hard every minute that I get and it doesn’t matter if I’m a starter or not. Nene was a very good player and a role model to me. He helped me a lot. But at the same time his departure gave me the opportunity to play more”.
-The fact that you signed a three year extension, helped you have less pressure?
“It does give you stability and in a 3 years deal you have the time to improve in lots of areas. And when it ends I’ll be 26 and I hope that I’ll be a lot better”.
-It also gives you the freedom to play for the Greek national team?
“It certainly does and that makes me happy. But right now my focus is on the playoffs. And afterwards we’ll have time for the Greek team”.
-During the lock out, did you think of coming to Europe to play for some months?
“My focus was still on the Nuggets, cause I had a contract and I was working to get ready for the season. I didn’t think about Europe”.
-Do you think that the Greek national team has a good chance to make it in London?
“Definitely. I definitely view that, we have a very good national team, with so many good and experienced players. And if some players that we missed last season come back, then we’ll be even better. Plus we still have a lot of young guys, so this summer is gonna be very exciting for us”.
-Do you consider that leap year 2012, is very lucky for you since you’ve become a starter in the NBA and you will have the chance to represent your country in the Olympics?
“Definitely, it’s been a blessing for me, but I always go day by day, cause nothing is guaranteed in this life”.
-And lastly your message to Greek basketball fans?
“I’m very proud to be a Greek-American, representing my country and we expect big things to happen with our national team in years to come”.