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AK and Russian team

How do you properly utilize a small-ball 4 playing as a wing when his production and disposition changes with the weather, generally can't hit a shot, and has an okay but extremely loose dribble? In the second half of the '09-'10 season when he put together his best string of games since 2005, was that because he was finally being used properly? Just, all of a sudden, Jerry got it... and then he just forgot?

Really, what are his strengths, and how do they fit in to any kind of successful model of a team construct? Being the best jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none still means he's master of none. Especially when he can't stay healthy, and it's anyone's guess who he shows up as on a nightly basis.

Anyway, I'll start with his strengths: really smart, great vision, great passer. And then there's just a blank. Or rather, a TON of things he can do some nights and not others.

And again, last year he was actually worse (or equal-to at best) than in '06-'07. There just weren't any tears and trade demands.

The short answer is post him up. I can probably count the number of times AK posted up the last 5 years on 1 hand. Post up AK against 3's and you can run all sorts of stuff. Look what Atlanta does with Joe Johnson. They love to post him up, run stuff off the ball, and he uses his height and passing ability to make plays. I will never have any idea why AK was not posting 3's. Not as the core offense, but a wrinkle to exploit mismatches.
 
Another great game by AK and his Russia team is still unbeaten in Eurobasket after beating Greece 83-67. AK had 13pts, 8reb, 5ast,2stl. K.Koufos had nice game as well with 15pts,3reb, 1stl in just 18min.
 
Another great game by AK and his Russia team is still unbeaten in Eurobasket after beating Greece 83-67. AK had 13pts, 8reb, 5ast,2stl. K.Koufos had nice game as well with 15pts,3reb, 1stl in just 18min.

Illustrates perfectly why NOT re-upping AK was a great decision.

When Boom bitches outscores you....

How turrible is that competition? Boom Bitches sux!
 
The short answer is post him up. I can probably count the number of times AK posted up the last 5 years on 1 hand. Post up AK against 3's and you can run all sorts of stuff. Look what Atlanta does with Joe Johnson. They love to post him up, run stuff off the ball, and he uses his height and passing ability to make plays. I will never have any idea why AK was not posting 3's. Not as the core offense, but a wrinkle to exploit mismatches.

So what was it that caused him to put together a bunch of vintage consecutive games in early 2010? It was NOT because he was finally being used properly?
 
Thriller, I'm beginning to think you are the doufos. Did you watch the game? Kosta actually made some excellent plays. The guy has been improving. He was another guy that Jerry mishandled.
 
Thriller, I'm beginning to think you are the doufos. Did you watch the game? Kosta actually made some excellent plays. The guy has been improving. He was another guy that Jerry mishandled.

Really?

Want to put money on Kosta's improvement? $100 bucks says that Doufus doesn't average more than 7 points in the next NBA season.
 
Really?

Want to put money on Kosta's improvement? $100 bucks says that Doufus doesn't average more than 7 points in the next NBA season.

careful there, next NBA season might be in two years only.... by that time Kosta might be averaging double double.
 
One turkish fan tweeted a turkish commentator like, Hedo turkoglu should watch Kirilenko and learn how to play with intensity and how well to help his team.
And commentator answered, i think you should watch Kirilenko's last 5 years game in his team and see how he played with a %20 productivity.

Thats very true actually, a productive AK is one of the best SFs in the league, but if he gets frustrated and loses his wish to play, he makes his teammates and the spectators frustrated as well
 
remember last game of the season against the denver.

Kosta was a real force then

I thought Kosta was a really good player, i dont know why he is so underrated, it is true that he couldnt improve himself in last 2 yrs as much as he should have, but still he is a young player and he can be a good role player in nba. If i was miami's manager, i would just try to get him and play in the starting 5. He can take advantage of the lack of defensive focus on him
 
One turkish fan tweeted a turkish commentator like, Hedo turkoglu should watch Kirilenko and learn how to play with intensity and how well to help his team.
And commentator answered, i think you should watch Kirilenko's last 5 years game in his team and see how he played with a %20 productivity.

Thats very true actually, a productive AK is one of the best SFs in the league, but if he gets frustrated and loses his wish to play, he makes his teammates and the spectators frustrated as well

Commentator is an idiot. How can AK play same in Utah when he is 4-5th option on offense and moved to perimeter and barely touches the ball? On Russia team he plays his natural position plus has ball in his hands a lot that equals much better success on both end of the floor compared to his play on the Jazz.
 
Commentator is an idiot. How can AK play same in Utah when he is 4-5th option on offense and moved to perimeter and barely touches the ball? On Russia team he plays his natural position plus has ball in his hands a lot that equals much better success on both end of the floor compared to his play on the Jazz.

If you really think AK's demise as a player should be completely attributed to the coaching staff and his teammates, then you, kind sir, are the idiot. AK =/= MVP. And lets reserve judgement for AK when hes playing against legit European teams with mutiple NBA players, ok?
 
If you really think AK's demise as a player should be completely attributed to the coaching staff and his teammates, then you, kind sir, are the idiot. AK =/= MVP. And lets reserve judgement for AK when hes playing against legit European teams with mutiple NBA players, ok?

And if you think coach and one particular teammate had nothing to do with decrease in AK's production than you are idiot as well:)... seriously, lets not throw medical terms here as neither you nor me are qualified for that ok?
How you can talk about demise as a player when few month after 2007 most unproductive season ( thanks to Sloan) AK became MVP of Eurochampionship and won gold with his Russia team? Did you watch his play in 2007 Eurobasket? There was no demise at all, he was all over the place do it all AK. To bad he had no guts to stick to his original trade request after that and get his *** of the Jazz to other team, nobody here would be even having this discussion now.
 
Kosta Koufus is a European (plays like, I know he is American) big man, he can't hang in the NBA. At best he is a backup in the NBA. I don't know why anyone is upset we traded him when he have 4 big men who are all much better than him.

Imagine if Kanter has a Kosta-esque career in Utah. We would have Turkish people on here complaining 24/7 that Corbin ruined their Golden Boy.
 
And if you think coach and one particular teammate had nothing to do with decrease in AK's production than you are idiot as well:)... seriously, lets not throw medical terms here as neither you nor me are qualified for that ok?
How you can talk about demise as a player when few month after 2007 most unproductive season ( thanks to Sloan) AK became MVP of Eurochampionship and won gold with his Russia team? Did you watch his play in 2007 Eurobasket? There was no demise at all, he was all over the place do it all AK. To bad he had no guts to stick to his original trade request after that and get his *** of the Jazz to other team, nobody here would be even having this discussion now.

Decrease in AKs production was because of Sloan and "one player"? haha okay lets look at some facts here

a) Last season AK averaged 1.2 blocks per game, the second lowest of his career, while averaging more than 30 minutes per game, and defending opposing SMALL forwards which technically should be easier to block, due to his height advantage. How is this due to coaching, ore not receiving touches?
b) assists: AK experienced a MINOR improvement in assists last season. Tell me AKMVP: if he is getting LESS touches, how come he has received his highest assist total in 5 years? Regardless, it still isnt an improvement by any means but this completely demotes your point, seeing as hes only averaged more assists once in his post-allstar year.
c) If his game is more focused on the perimeter, it would mean he would receive much more open three pointer-looks. Yet how many did he make per game? 0.6. LOL. If he had any sort of MOTIVATION (hint hint, AKs inherent flaw) to improve his game, this would be something he would address. He clearly used to have the skill for it.
d) Why did AK suddenly improve toward the end of the 2010 season?? was it because of "more-touches"??

The only production of his that has decreased overtime that could PERHAPS be attributed to coaching, is his scoring. However, how much has it diminished by? In AK's All-Star year, he averaged 10.5 FGA per game. How many did he average this year? 8.5. Two less. For two less field goal attempts PER GAME, you making it seem as if AK receives no looks at all ever since the Dawn of the Dwill and Boozer era. Well look here kiddo, if two allstars join your team, you should EXPECT 2 less looks per game, that is nothing!!!

So his defense has dimished, which has NOTHING to do with coaching. His looks have sliiigghhtly diminished due to the entrance of two all-stars, yet he still attempts nearly 9 a game, not including free throws. His 3-point shot is rarely tested, even though his game is much more perimeter focused like you said. His assists have IMPROVED, meaning clearly hes getting touches in the Jazz Flex-Offense, yet chooses to pass it out instead of being more assertive. So tell me, who really is the idiot here? Hahahah lets not throw medical terms around? Even though you were the one who initiated it? Please address your own hippocracy before you tell me what to do. Haha riiiight, AK plays always so darn well internationally. How many WORLDWIDE, non Europe-exclusive competitions has he won, both FIBA nd/or olympic ones? Are we supposed to believe that just because players like Luis Scola can tear it up in certain tournaments, they should be worshipped as "MVP"? Maybe the reason hes doing so well this year is because of the ****ing **** teams hes playing against in the group stages; even so, if the best team in the tournament (Spain) was beaten bya dysfunctional Turkish team, it really says lots about how "awesome" the competition is, as opposed to something like the Olympics, FIBA or even the NBA. Get off the guys jock already. To bad we got stuck with him for that max-contract; probably the very reason we could never sign a FUNCTIONAL small forward to help retain Deron Williams here.
 
Decrease in AKs production was because of Sloan and "one player"? haha okay lets look at some facts here

a) Last season AK averaged 1.2 blocks per game, the second lowest of his career, while averaging more than 30 minutes per game, and defending opposing SMALL forwards which technically should be easier to block, due to his height advantage. How is this due to coaching, ore not receiving touches?
b) assists: AK experienced a MINOR improvement in assists last season. Tell me AKMVP: if he is getting LESS touches, how come he has received his highest assist total in 5 years? Regardless, it still isnt an improvement by any means but this completely demotes your point, seeing as hes only averaged more assists once in his post-allstar year.
c) If his game is more focused on the perimeter, it would mean he would receive much more open three pointer-looks. Yet how many did he make per game? 0.6. LOL. If he had any sort of MOTIVATION (hint hint, AKs inherent flaw) to improve his game, this would be something he would address. He clearly used to have the skill for it.
d) Why did AK suddenly improve toward the end of the 2010 season?? was it because of "more-touches"??

The only production of his that has decreased overtime that could PERHAPS be attributed to coaching, is his scoring. However, how much has it diminished by? In AK's All-Star year, he averaged 10.5 FGA per game. How many did he average this year? 8.5. Two less. For two less field goal attempts PER GAME, you making it seem as if AK receives no looks at all ever since the Dawn of the Dwill and Boozer era. Well look here kiddo, if two allstars join your team, you should EXPECT 2 less looks per game, that is nothing!!!

So his defense has dimished, which has NOTHING to do with coaching. His looks have sliiigghhtly diminished due to the entrance of two all-stars, yet he still attempts nearly 9 a game, not including free throws. His 3-point shot is rarely tested, even though his game is much more perimeter focused like you said. His assists have IMPROVED, meaning clearly hes getting touches in the Jazz Flex-Offense, yet chooses to pass it out instead of being more assertive. So tell me, who really is the idiot here? Hahahah lets not throw medical terms around? Even though you were the one who initiated it? Please address your own hippocracy before you tell me what to do. Haha riiiight, AK plays always so darn well internationally. How many WORLDWIDE, non Europe-exclusive competitions has he won, both FIBA nd/or olympic ones? Are we supposed to believe that just because players like Luis Scola can tear it up in certain tournaments, they should be worshipped as "MVP"? Maybe the reason hes doing so well this year is because of the ****ing **** teams hes playing against in the group stages; even so, if the best team in the tournament (Spain) was beaten bya dysfunctional Turkish team, it really says lots about how "awesome" the competition is, as opposed to something like the Olympics, FIBA or even the NBA. Get off the guys jock already. To bad we got stuck with him for that max-contract; probably the very reason we could never sign a FUNCTIONAL small forward to help retain Deron Williams here.

Not reading your entire post, but just wanted to comment on the first point. A.)Most weakside shot blockers (like AK) don't block the shot of the player they are guarding, they block the shot of someones else's person, usually while they are driving to the basket. It's harder to cheat off a SF who can nail down a 3, than it is to lurk in the post with a PF and protect the rim.
 
Decrease in AKs production was because of Sloan and "one player"? haha okay lets look at some facts here



The only production of his that has decreased overtime that could PERHAPS be attributed to coaching, is his scoring. However, how much has it diminished by? In AK's All-Star year, he averaged 10.5 FGA per game:confused:. How many did he average this year? 8.5.

You make no sense whatsover. AK in his All star year ( 2003-2004 season ) averaged 11.93 FG attempts not 10.5 first of all...931 in 78 games. Next seasons his FG attempts dropped a bit and that was expected with arrival of Okur and Boozer but was still around 10.5 in 2004-2006 seasons ( seasons where he produced no less then in his All-star season and actually was elected to all defensive team in 2006). Now in 2006-2007 season when crucial thing in his career happens and his role was decreased by Sloan and Williams started freezing him of the offense he averaged 5.97FG attempts. See the difference - 6FG attempts from his All-star year!!!! I am not talking about seasons after 2007 as he accepted his role on the team after that stupid meeting with Larry Miller and Sloan and backed of his trade request and became what he was designed by Sloan to be in Sloan's PG to PF dominated system - a role player with maximum contract. That whats pisses me off about many Jazz fans who can't think outside the box and got upset about AK after 2007 because he was used as role player but paid like superstar - again who's fault was that? AK's??? Certainly not in my book, if he was called face of the Utah Jazz in 2004 and handed maximum contract he should have been used and treated like one but Sloan had no clue how to use him in his resurrected favorite offense and gave all reigns to Williams...
I just only hope NBA season will start some day and AK will sign with other NBA team just to prove his haters and Sloan lovers wrong, as obviously whatever he achieved in Eurobasket in 2007 and might still achieve this year they ignore and dismiss.
 
Not reading your entire post, but just wanted to comment on the first point. A.)Most weakside shot blockers (like AK) don't block the shot of the player they are guarding, they block the shot of someones else's person, usually while they are driving to the basket. It's harder to cheat off a SF who can nail down a 3, than it is to lurk in the post with a PF and protect the rim.

While that makes sense philosophically, it has already been soundly drubbed. AK as a 4 in his best years didn't block shots at a higher rate than as a 3. It was actually a little lower as a 4.
 
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