12242655's BLOG

Kosta Koufos, who's kinda the polar opposite of Fesenko when the recorder is on, is back at it. As a rookie, he was so careful in his comments - perhaps afraid he'd say something wrong - that he often gave kinda generic answers that usually had something to do with being blessed to be on the Jazz, being honored to play for a Hall of Fame coach and working hard so he could help the team in any way possible. It was almost comical. Frustrating might be the better word, really, because you hoped to get some more insight but occasionally wondered why you bothered asking questions. Don't get me wrong. He's very polite - very fun at times when he lets his guard down in off-the-record situations, too - but put him on the record and you can almost recite the response along with him. Have to admit it made me chuckle this weekend when I asked about how it was playing for the third-place Greeks at the European championships this summer. "It was a great experience ... played very well ... To come back with a bronze medal is very cool," he said. "I can tell my grandkids I won a bronze medal." In the same breath, he made a very Koufosesque addition to that statement. "But right now I'm a Jazz player," he quickly added. "I'm focused on being a Jazz player right now." I also asked about the food poisoning that made him miss a week's worth of games. After admitting that he'd been sick, Koufos added, "I'm 100 percent. I'm healthy. I'm here to help the team."