I love this guy.  Andrei Kirilenko reportedly wants out of Utah.  In a report that is circulating over every sports website, Kirilenko blames Jerry Sloan for wanting out of the organization.  I find this so funny that I can’t stop laughing.  Do the Jazz even care anymore?  We are talking about a player who averaged 8 points and 4 rebounds a game and couldn’t hit the side of a barn with his shot outside of 5 feet.  I live in Utah and Andrei is like the girl in school that kisses you one day and won’t talk to you the next.  You just don’t know what you are going to get or expect. 

But let’s look into this further.  He lost some playing time this past season to rookie Paul Milsap.  Milsap had a great season and surely would’ve been a first round pick if the draft was done again.  Milsap makes Kirilenko very expendable.  Does Kirilenko shoot the ball well or is he a threat on offense?  No.  He is barely guarded when he is outside of the key.  He lacks strength and isn’t a great foul shooter.  Is it Jerry Sloan’s fault that Andrei can’t make a jumper?  Of course not.  Milsap does all the little things at a much smaller price and constantly provides a spark for the team.  He brought heart every game which is something that Utah questions about Andrei.  If Andrei is going well then he is all over the court with energy, but give him an early foul and you may as well go sit him in the locker room.  When Andrei is on his game there are few players who are better defensively.  He can guard multiple positions and with his ‘go go gadget’ arms he seems to block or nearly block any shot that is taken around him.  I’ll miss that but nothing else. 

Let someone else have this guy because he is the 4th option for the Jazz now and doesn’t deserve the touches.  He lost the confidence of his point guard and rightfully so.  Deron Williams is a future all star and when you couple him with Okur and Boozer you have the nucleus.  Kirilenko is on the outside looking in and it bothers him.   I say stick Milsap in there and let’s see what happens.  I know you wont’ see a much different win loss record because Milsap provides the intangibles so well.

I’ve heard and read rumors of Shawn Marion for Kirilenko and it makes me laugh.  Did the Suns watch any game film of Kirilenko?  Will he do that much better playing in a running game when he lacks the ability to finish like Marion does?  Nash won’t like it I can tell you that much.  At this point I’d take whatever I could get as soon as I could get it and say thanks.  If he doesn’t want to be in Utah then Utah will want nothing to do with him.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Discussion, NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.