AK-47 is mis-firing
By: Natalie Dicou
Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: Sports
Andrei Kirilenko always seemed so innocent. He isn't covered in tattoos and
he spends half his time visiting sick children. Even the small forward's
hairdos imply innocence.
Kirilenko always seemed like a go-with-the-flow type of guy. His nickname,
AK-47, seemed almost tongue-in-cheek.
Up until a few years ago, Kirilenko was the Jazz's marquee player and yet he
seemed not to notice.
"Who, me? I'm just one of the guys," Kirilenko seemed to be saying.
Perhaps his unselfish style of play contributed to his off-the-court persona.
Never the type of player who felt the need to fill a scoring quota, Kirilenko
was content to rack up hustle plays.
Utahns loved the smiling, personable Russian. But a minor crack appeared in
his altar-boy image when he announced that his wife allows him to have sex
with another woman once a year.
But that didn't seem to affect his reputation in Mormon country. People wrote
the disclosure off as a cultural difference. Plus, NBA player or not, it was
difficult to imagine the awkwardly tall, pasty Kirilenko as a ladies' man.
But a new Kirilenko has recently reared his head.
This version has an ego.
Word out of Russia is that the Jazz forward wants out of Utah. Kirilenko has
been spouting off to the Russian media all summer about his disdain for his
role playing for the Jazz in Jerry Sloan's system.
The timing is odd -- and telling.
Last year, the Jazz had their best season since 1998, and for the first time
since John Stockton retired and Karl Malone became a Laker, the Jazz actually
mattered.
That's saying a lot in the brutal Western Conference.
Strangely, these developments don't come as good news to the Jazz's max-money
player. In fact, he's disgruntled.
With Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur in the lineup, Kirilenko
is no longer relied upon for offense.
But, all of a sudden, Kirilenko thinks he's a jump shooter. The small forward
wants more touches offensively but in Sloan's system, there are no set plays
for Kirilenko.
Here's a tip, Kirilenko: When defenders don't come within five feet of you
when you're holding the ball on the perimeter, you're probably not considered
a threat from that distance.
And it's true. Kirilenko is not a reliable shooter from any distance farther
out than a layup. But he has become an effective player despite his inability
to hit a spot-up 15-footer because of his athleticism.
Kirilenko thinks that Sloan is stifling his style of play. But Sloan's style
allows Kirilenko to play his game because the Russian doesn't need to have
the ball in his hands to be effective.
Now that Kirilenko is a star -- sort of -- he thinks he deserves more shots.
But he didn't become a star by making shots. Simply because he makes more
money than any other Jazzman doesn't mean he should get to clang the ball off
the iron 15 times a game.
Kirilenko's style of play is unique. He brings energy to a game through
rebounds, blocks and steals -- not necessarily through draining shots.
Kirilenko's recent outbursts reveal that he was content playing for a
non-playoff team. He didn't mind losing as long as he was a big fish in a
little pond. But now that the pond around him has grown with the addition of
Boozer, Williams and Okur, Kirilenko is feeling more like a guppy than ever.
Luckily for Kirilenko, he locked in his contract with the Jazz at the peak
of his popularity. No team in its right mind would buy out the $63 million
remaining in his contract.
While Kirilenko isn't necessarily past his heyday, he hasn't played well
enough in recent seasons to garner much attention from other NBA teams in the
market for a small forward -- at least not for that price.
Sorry, Kirilenko, you're stuck here. So stop whining, swat a couple of shot
attempts and grab a few rebounds every game.
Be the Kirilenko we all know and love.
n.dicou@chronicle.utah.edu
http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/
news/2007/09/25/Sports/Ak47-Is.MisFiring-2989331-page2.shtml
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