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Phil Johnson on AK, 1320KFAN---the truth comes out!

J

JFFR

Well-Known Member
Did any of you listen to Phil Johnson before the game?

He is must listen to radio. FANTASTIC. Him being on the pre and post game shows is one of the best things that has happened to Jazz basketball this year (well, unless Kanter, Burks, Favors and Hayward all turn into all-stars!)

He was asked about Andrei Kirilenko and made some interesting ponits. First, he said that Andrei Kirilenko is a great person, but he felt he never lived up to his potential. He said that after Andrei got his contract, he stopped trying as hard (tons of fans have said this, so its not a shock. But hearing it come from Phil Johnson...wow!)

He stated how much he loved watching AK play the year after Stockton and Malone, but that AK never came back. He had flashes of greatness, but never reached his potential.

Man oh man, I would love to get Phil Johnson's opinion on everyone! I wonder if he'll ever talk about Boozer or DWill!
 
JFFR said:
Did any of you listen to Phil Johnson before the game?

He is must listen to radio. FANTASTIC. Him being on the pre and post game shows is one of the best things that has happened to Jazz basketball this year (well, unless Kanter, Burks, Favors and Hayward all turn into all-stars!)

He was asked about Andrei Kirilenko and made some interesting ponits. First, he said that Andrei Kirilenko is a great person, but he felt he never lived up to his potential. He said that after Andrei got his contract, he stopped trying as hard (tons of fans have said this, so its not a shock. But hearing it come from Phil Johnson...wow!)

He stated how much he loved watching AK play the year after Stockton and Malone, but that AK never came back. He had flashes of greatness, but never reached his potential.

Man oh man, I would love to get Phil Johnson's opinion on everyone! I wonder if he'll ever talk about Boozer or DWill!
Click to expand...


Is replay avail? I want to hear this from begin.
 
FYI- Tom Nisalke made some pretty rude comments about Ronnie Price and then asked Phil Johnson what he thought about Ronnie. Johnson once again said that he was a fantastic person and then gave the entire lecture on not being a true piont guard. Johnson really stood up for Ronnie, saying he was tough and a great teammate and a great person to coach.


P.S. Tom Nisalke isn't very high on my list anymore. Two years ago he would go off on how much potential Kosta Koufus and Fesenko had. How he honestly felt the Jazz had a future in them. As soon as they left he talks bad about them. Its pretty clear that he's not giving his honest opinion. He's just saying what the Jazz are paying him to say.
 
JFFR said:
. He said that after Andrei got his contract, he stopped trying as hard (tons of fans have said this, so its not a shock. But hearing it come from Phil Johnson...wow!)

He stated how much he loved watching AK play the year after Stockton and Malone, but that AK never came back. He had flashes of greatness, but never reached his potential.
Click to expand...

Well, I would have asked him what Sloan and Phil did to help him to reach potential? If they think reaching potential has anything to do with clearing space for Boozer and Williams pick and roll and pushing him from the paint to perimeter then I agree - AK did not reach his potential as perimeter player. But he did win MVP and gold in Eurobasket in 2007 causing havoc in the paint... just few month after his worst NBA season.
 
I'm hoping for more Phil this season. He single-handedly transformed the half-time show into a watchable event.

I've met Thurl twice at Lehi basketball games. Nice chap. Kind of a stretch to state, however, that analytical commentary is his forté. He has a way of lulling me into a hypnotic slumber with his sultry monotone Barry-esque permutations of "the Jazz need to play harder".

And whatever happened to Max Headroom?
 
Loved seeing Phil Johnson in the studio next to Thurl.

I've written this before, but I feel like it was a combination of injuries and AK's role in both the offense and the franchise that played a factor. He signed the $86 million extension in the summer of 2004, and he was a defensive terror the first month of the season before severely spraining his knee. He returned in Feb/Mar, again was putting up good numbers as really our #1 offensive option, then got fouled going up for a layup and broke his wrist on the landing against the Wizards.

Each time he got hurt, someone like Memo, Boozer, Deron or Harpring gradually increased their role a little bit more - to the point in 2006-07 where AK was the 4th and 5th option. IMO the mental reaction of going from franchise player and the #1-offensive option had a large impact on AK's psyche, to the point where he stopped trying to get better and resigned himself to being the player he was in the role he had. Not making excuses for AK (because the team and offense definitely had much more success w/Deron and Boozer as the focal points, and it's hard to depend on someone constantly injured to play a large role) but I don't think this was the case of a player getting a big contract and then mailing it in. I think AK really wanted to live up to his contract - he just didn't have the durability, mental toughness, and right situation to do so.

AK certainly never lived up to the franchise player status his contract represented, but IMO he still was one of the top-10 players in Utah Jazz history and certainly one of the most unique talents the franchise ever had. We never really had a player like him before, and his performance against Golden State in the '07 Conf Semis was a wonderful showcase of his talents.

Definitely time for AK to move on, but when I think of AK I'll think of his versatility, his length, and his spetacular weakside shotblocking more than his max-contract extension.
 
Rep for Vslice. Nice summary and take. Even last year it was evident that when the guy touched the ball more he had much, much better all-around games. Adelman's style would have benefited AK tremendously.
 
AKMVP said:
Well, I would have asked him what Sloan and Phil did to help him to reach potential? If they think reaching potential has anything to do with clearing space for Boozer and Williams pick and roll and pushing him from the paint to perimeter then I agree - AK did not reach his potential as perimeter player. But he did win MVP and gold in Eurobasket in 2007 causing havoc in the paint... just few month after his worst NBA season.
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A - I am sure they considered making AK the centerpiece
B - It is obvious they decided DWill and Booz were a better combination
C - AK is not going to cause havoc in the paint in the NBA
D - Happens all the time at every level as people progress - you have to adjust to different roles based upon who the other players are
E - I like AK, wish he was still here, but he never adjusted to what the Jazz needed
 
Larry's dilemma, and probably his greatest failure. Build a team around a young exciting russian earning a max contract or stay loyal to Jerry and his system. He tried to stay loyal to both, but it could never work. Jerry and AK elevated each other to a level just above average, and held each other back from greatness.

What if AK had played in a fast, free flowing offense?
What if Jerry could've used AK's salary on a prototypical Jerry Player?
What if Larry could've been brave enough to pick one?
 
I would like to ask Phil if he saw Howard post up last night and B) if he's even aware that 3's are allowed to post up in the NBA.
 
billyshelby said:
I would like to ask Phil if he saw Howard post up last night and B) if he's even aware that 3's are allowed to post up in the NBA.
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I saw them post Howard up in the 2nd-qtr but I thought that was more due to a mismatch in transition than a designed playcall. FWIW, AK did get touches in the post under Sloan - not in a traditional 'dump it down to him on the block' but out of our UCLA sets, after setting the usual backscreen AK would flash to the middle and seal his man on his back and we'd try to hit him from the highpost. Had some success but alot of times AK would sorta fling/flail a shot toward the basket hoping more for a foul than a FG.

I know he's 6-9 w/long arms, but I always thought of AK as more of a flash, catch and seal player than a post-up option. Minor contact would throw him off balance.
 
vslice02 said:
I saw them post Howard up in the 2nd-qtr but I thought that was more due to a mismatch in transition than a designed playcall. FWIW, AK did get touches in the post under Sloan - not in a traditional 'dump it down to him on the block' but out of our UCLA sets, after setting the usual backscreen AK would flash to the middle and seal his man on his back and we'd try to hit him from the highpost. Had some success but alot of times AK would sorta fling/flail a shot toward the basket hoping more for a foul than a FG.

I know he's 6-9 w/long arms, but I always thought of AK as more of a flash, catch and seal player than a post-up option. Minor contact would throw him off balance.
Click to expand...

AK's touches in the post primarily came when he slotted over to 4. As for his ability to post, you see him do that all the time with Russia. AK, with his height and extraordinary passing ability, is a huge mismatch for a lot of the 3's he faced. It's mind boggling that the offensive system never adjusted to take advantage of that. But you can bet he'll be used that way by whatever team signs him.
 
I loved when he said that AK didn't come into camp in the greatest shape and didn't work hard during the off-season. I think AK thought he was working hard by playing Euroball, but he never worked on his game. It was obvious that AK relied on his athletic talent instead of his work habit.
 
vslice02 said:
Loved seeing Phil Johnson in the studio next to Thurl.

I've written this before, but I feel like it was a combination of injuries and AK's role in both the offense and the franchise that played a factor. He signed the $86 million extension in the summer of 2004, and he was a defensive terror the first month of the season before severely spraining his knee. He returned in Feb/Mar, again was putting up good numbers as really our #1 offensive option, then got fouled going up for a layup and broke his wrist on the landing against the Wizards.

Each time he got hurt, someone like Memo, Boozer, Deron or Harpring gradually increased their role a little bit more - to the point in 2006-07 where AK was the 4th and 5th option. IMO the mental reaction of going from franchise player and the #1-offensive option had a large impact on AK's psyche, to the point where he stopped trying to get better and resigned himself to being the player he was in the role he had. Not making excuses for AK (because the team and offense definitely had much more success w/Deron and Boozer as the focal points, and it's hard to depend on someone constantly injured to play a large role) but I don't think this was the case of a player getting a big contract and then mailing it in. I think AK really wanted to live up to his contract - he just didn't have the durability, mental toughness, and right situation to do so.

AK certainly never lived up to the franchise player status his contract represented, but IMO he still was one of the top-10 players in Utah Jazz history and certainly one of the most unique talents the franchise ever had. We never really had a player like him before, and his performance against Golden State in the '07 Conf Semis was a wonderful showcase of his talents.

Definitely time for AK to move on, but when I think of AK I'll think of his versatility, his length, and his spetacular weakside shotblocking more than his max-contract extension.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that. Couldn't agree more.

+8
 
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