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Will the Jazz ever retire the #47 jersey of Kirilenko?

LogGrad98 said:
He doesn't deserve it. When he was the center of attention he thrived. When we finally added 2-3 near all-star caliber players, when AK should have elevated his game and been the star of a championship caliber squad, he wilted and cried. At what should have been his best moment, he gave his worst. No player that does that deserves to have his number retired. All those jaw-dropping performances for nothing. But damn he was fun to watch when he was on his game, and when he was truly on his game there were few that could match what he could do, and that means few ever in the history of the game. But the mental weakness did him in. Too bad really. Once we had D Will et al it could have been epic, instead it was early vacation plans and crying about his role. Very sad really. I sure hope the year he was the star in Russia brought him some peace. But he should never get a jersey retired here. Never.
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I think this is a very accurate assessment of what happened with AK -- I do think though part of his problem was his fragility. He kept getting injured and it might've had to do with his thin frame. He tried to gain weight but it seemed he was much better when he was lighter because his great asset was his quickness. Watching the video, I forgot how quick off his feet he was and that was when he was much lighter. He really had the body of a SF not PF, though the latter was his best position because of his shotblocking. At the same time, he just couldn't bang with the PFs and I think that led to his many injuries that kept compounding. The problem with him at SF was he couldn't master his outside shot, and I never could figure out why because he was a career 80% FT shooter. If he could've focused on his shooting and tried to master the SF position and not worry about gaining weight but keeping his quickness, I think his career would've turned out better. I've noticed in recent years, however, that his FT shooting has gotten worse. He looks like he's not mentally into the game any longer. Whatever happened when DWill came aboard ruined his mental focus, or maybe like people say, he just was mentally weak.
 
The only guys who should have their Jersey retired for the Jazz are Malone, Stockton, Maravich and Dantley. Eaton was problem retired because he exemplified the lunch pail work ethnic of the Jazz. He was horrible when he came to the Jazz. Besides He is the best center in Jazz history and all that tells you is that the Jazz have had horrible centers over the years. However, even though he won defensive player of the year and lead the league in box he was pretty terrible everywhere else and isn't worthy of his Jersey being retired. The Golden Griff was more like silver. I wanted Kevin M. and Darrell was never the same after getting injured and was pretty one dimensional. I think they retired his jersey because the Jazz didn't want to admit they blew the pick. LOL.

Jersey retirement should be based on ALL- NBA teams, all-star appearance, impact on team and community.
 
You retire the jerseys because you need to manufacture a mythology around the team in a small market. That is the difference between the Jazz and Sacramento. People hated Eaton when he played, but they remember him fondly now because he stuck with the community and we were subjected to bad centers. You honor Griffith because he was the first pick we didn't have to sell and was the first glimpse of hope in the franchise for a long, long time. You honor Larry because he built the building without holding the community hostage. Wayyyy to much negativity with the game today. Love the history, remember the wonder. If you come to the boards to gripe every day, take up a new hobby. If the only way you can be happy is a championship, your priorities are way out of whack.
I don't get the skin of people's nose for the Jazz remembering things fondly. Embrace the cheese, philistines. But, no, don't honor Kirilenko. Screw him.
 
cowhide said:
The only guys who should have their Jersey retired for the Jazz are Malone, Stockton, Maravich and Dantley. Eaton was problem retired because he exemplified the lunch pail work ethnic of the Jazz. He was horrible when he came to the Jazz. Besides He is the best center in Jazz history and all that tells you is that the Jazz have had horrible centers over the years. However, even though he won defensive player of the year and lead the league in box he was pretty terrible everywhere else and isn't worthy of his Jersey being retired. The Golden Griff was more like silver. I wanted Kevin M. and Darrell was never the same after getting injured and was pretty one dimensional. I think they retired his jersey because the Jazz didn't want to admit they blew the pick. LOL.

Jersey retirement should be based on ALL- NBA teams, all-star appearance, impact on team and community.
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While I agree with your premise. I think you are seriously under rating Eaton. He was a great defensive player and changed the game on that end of the floor. I don't believe he should have his jersey retired but besides the 4 you mentioned he's the only one I would consider possibly worthy.
 
Only Kareem, Dikembe, and Hakeem blocked more shots than Eaton. Eaton holds the record for most blocked shots in a season. We remember him fondly because he was very good at what he did.
 
heyhey said:
Only Kareem, Dikembe, and Hakeem blocked more shots than Eaton. Eaton holds the record for most blocked shots in a season. We remember him fondly because he was very good at what he did.
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This. You can survive as a one faceted player when you are so good at that facet that you change the game with it. My favorite memories of Eaton were the times he would be standing under the basket, arms straight up, and some little guy (which is damn near everyone next to Eaton anyway, but I digress) would come barreling down the lane and slam into him, he wouldn't even flinch, the little guy would bounce off him and hit the floor stunned, and Eaton would get called for the foul. What? It was so ludicrous it was hilarious.
 
carolinajazz said:
....I'm with Moses on this one, 100%! If anything, rather than retire his jersey, we should burn it...then burn the ashes! Klinko had a couple of decent years with the Jazz, like maybe his first two when Stockton and Malone were still on the team. But he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with his outside shot, had hands of stone around the basket, certainly had more turnovers than assists, was the "poster boy" for gambling on defense and getting burned....was hurt every year, and his CONTRACT was so pathetically flawed and bloated that it made some of Ostertag's contracts look like major bargains! And FINALLY.....that disgusting tattoo....the size of a 32 inch television screen on his back....caused more barfing by Jazz fanzs than the "Bubonic plague!" That being said, he could frustrate the dick-en's out of the opposing teams "hip hoppers" with his defense, arms and elbows flying all over the place and board crashing techniques! About his only redeeming factor.
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Not surprised that most idiotic post comes from you in this thread. Just some corrections as you have brain farts stinking here all over that post.

His best years where after Stockton and Malone were long gone.
His career AST -2.8 career TO - 1.9.
Simply false about hurt every year as his first 3 years he missed only 6 games.
"Poster boys" for gambling on defense never get selected to NBA All Defensive team. And never make history by finishing in both top 5 blocks and steals during regular season.
 
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Just out of curiosity who are some of the numbers that shouldn't be retiree? I know the Jazz have a lot, curious to know what others think


Sent from the JazzFanz app
 
Agree on Eaton and Griffith. They were close, but probably not "elite" enough to merit having their jerseys retired. No doubt Eaton was a fantastic defensive center, but his liabilities on offense could not be overcome. You just can't go 4-on-5 if you expect to win a championship. But no harm. They both meant a lot to the franchise and many teams have more retired numbers than Utah. It's not like Utah will ever run out of jersey #'s to use.
 
AKMVP said:
Not surprised that most idiotic post comes from you in this thread. Just some corrections as you have brain farts stinking here all over that post.

His best years where after Stockton and Malone were long gone.
His career AST -2.8 career TO - 1.9.
Simply false about hurt every year as his first 3 years he missed only 6 games.
"Poster boys" for gambling on defense never get selected to NBA All Defensive team. And never make history by finishing in both top 5 blocks and assists during regular season.
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...ok, so there was some hyperbole in my post! Fact still remains.....he made/stoled so much money from the Jazz with that inflated contract we signed him to, that his Jersey needs to be burned, not hung with the likes of Stockton and Malone!
 
Crawlnstall said:
Just out of curiosity who are some of the numbers that shouldn't be retiree? I know the Jazz have a lot, curious to know what others think


Sent from the JazzFanz app
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Amaechi
Snyder
Arroyo
Whaley

I could go on and on...
 
The Thriller said:
LOL! This board's obsession with average white guys that look like Mormons. Ak now Hayward. LOL
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Umm…I would hardly consider AK an average player at his prime.

Also, does every white guy look like a Mormon to you? Cause if I saw AK walking down the street, I probably wouldn't think he's a Mormon.
 
carolinajazz said:
...ok, so there was some hyperbole in my post! Fact still remains.....he made/stoled so much money from the Jazz with that inflated contract we signed him to, that his Jersey needs to be burned, not hung with the likes of Stockton and Malone!
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Stoled? I'm no grammar-nazi, but that one hurts.


Anyways, I know that being a Kirilenko fan on this board isn't the best way of making friends, but I think everyone in this thread is being a tad harsh. Was he disappointing? Of course. But that doesn't change the fact that he DID have some good years, and spent a long time with the team. I would be happy to see his jersey on the rafters, because when he first started with the Jazz, he was one of my favorite players. I hadn't ever seen anyone play the game of basketball like him (I know the trolls and haters will have a field day with that comment, but oh well) and I think he was incredibly fun to watch when he was playing well. For better or worse, I do think it would be hard to argue that he wasn't an iconic player for the Jazz. Considering some of the other jerseys up there, I don't know why he wouldn't be included as well.
 
The tough thing with the "stole" vs "earned" argument is that it is never specified exactly what we are paying them to do. I suppose it may be in their contract somewhat, and we have all heard about certain clauses detailing minutes played or money for stats or what have you, but most of that is anecdotal. So you could say he earned so much money, while under-performing compared to similarly-paid players in the league. If he did it deliberately then I suppose it could be considered "stealing". I think AK was just mentally weak and as soon as the tide turned and he was not longer the center of it all he wilted. Collapse under pressure is a pretty sure sign you don't have the fortitude for the situation. Couple that with injuries and he really was destined to be an also-ran.

Also-rans don't get their jersey's retired.
 
Kirilienko played at a high/elite level for 3 years. For several other years, he was simply slightly above-average. He has a career average of 12/5/3/2.

If that is what it takes to retire a jersey, then D-Will, Boozer and possibly even Okur deserve it as well, and I don't see anybody clamoring for their jersey to get retired.

This isn't about disliking AK for his contract, it's just that I simply don't think he was good enough to warrant his jersey being retired.
 
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