So, here they are. Two giant men who have found their niche thousands of miles from their home countries (well, Kosta Koufos of dual citizenship), playing a sport pitting the best athletes in the world against each other.

Here is the question. Which one is more valuable to the Nuggets? I’ve done my best to lay out the information for you, I only ask you choose a side. Slavic or Mediterranean, Ruskie or Hellines, balmy coastlines or frozen winters, really, I want to know.

As I have been following game threads and comments I am seeing a growing disparity in this opinion. When the two first came in the trade, most Stiffy’s, including me, were clearly Timofey Mozgov fans first. Now I hear more and more about Kosta, especially after his torrid February. I am also hoping I will hear from the proprietors, even though Andrew has made his Moz preferences clear.

Enough preamble, let the numbers begin for ’11-’12. I took the liberty of working up Kosta’s numbers for February as it was the first time he has gotten consistent trust and playing time.

In fairness, most of Timo’s numbers have been against stiffer competition as he has been playing starters. However Kosta’s strong February numbers have also been against a lot of starters.

Kosta’s PER has been climbing every game and even jumped last night from 17.1 to 17.7 on the strength of a great game. I guarantee he will average a PER over 20 in a season fairly soon.

Subjectively Moz has a better left hand, more strength, better reach and a higher ceiling. Kosta is a better pick and roll defender (a growing need), has better hands, is more aggressive and just seems to want it more. I’ve heard from several commentators that Kosta doesn’t have much ceiling left. He’s not far from Gortat and Marc Gasol as is and will eventually have a better career than both of them.

Alright, I’ve given you what I’ve got. I’ll say this, I still rate Moz’s raw potential a bit higher, however Kosta is clearly the more productive player right now and without having gone through depth charts I would say the best backup center in the league.

As a final thought if Denver offered Koufos and Ty for Bosh and Chalmers right now Miami would have to think about it. They would also have to say no for PR reasons but would love to get their hands on a center who could play 30 min, get 10 and 10 with 1.5 blks and defend opposing centers without help. If Miami got Kosta and he continued his quality play it would virtually guarantee them a championship.

I believe bigs are the way to the championship for Denver. Denver will not have the opportunity to assemble a super-friends anytime soon and will have to crush opponents with size and rebounding. As playoff wins go it’s not a bad formula. Denver outrebounded Houston by 14 last night and I could see that happening a lot in the future.

*All stats from ESPN and NBA.com