There can't be a lot of nights when Kosta Koufos comes to the arena confident that he's going to get the chance to play. Saturday's game against the lowly Nets had to be one of them, but Koufos had a nightmare fourth quarter with four turnovers in nine minutes.
Koufos was called for two traveling violations, had a ball slapped out of his hands and off his leg out of bounds and had a pass stolen by Terrence Williams. That was just the half of it. He missed an awkward looking hook over Tony Battie. He got caught off balance on a Battie fake as the veteran center drove and found Jarvis Hayes for a jumper as the Jazz had to help on defense. He sent Battie to the free-throw line thanks to a loose-ball foul.
-- The Salt Lake Tribune's Ross Siler on Koufos' most recent game
Well, I think that basically explains why Koufos is being assigned to the D-League. Update: According to a twitter update by Ross Siler, Jerry Sloan said the decision to assign Koufos to the D-League was made before Saturday.
In ten games with the Flash last season, Koufos averaged 16.7 points, 8.4 boards and 2.6 blocks while shooting 57% from the field.
It'll be interesting to see if Brad Jones inserts Koufos into the starting line-up right away considering the recent play of Luke Nevill and the consistent contributions of Carlos Wheeler this season. If not, I have to assume Koufos' confidence will be lowered even further, which isn't exactly what the Jazz need after the Mo Almond debacle.
Also, since it's almost seemed like a foregone conclusion since Sundiata Gaines hit The Shot That Put The D-League On The Map, I'm just going to link to Siler's report at the Salt Lake Tribune that Gaines is being signed for the rest of the season. No analysis needed - if you hit a big shot, you deserve to stick, basically.