AK47 does not play harder for Russia

[kwill]

For two years I've been reading gobbledygook about trading AK47. I've read numerous trade threads regarding AK47 and it just bothers me. The latest thing that is on my nerves is the claim that AK47 plays harder for team Russia than the Jazz. That is crap. What everyone needs to understand is that AK is a team player and he is playing the role the Jazz have asked. If anybody is to blame, and I'm not sure there is any blame, for AK's play, its the Jazz. I listened to DWill give commentary on the Jazz at the RMR and he basically stated that the shots go to Boozer, Memo and him and everyone else gets six or seven shots a game. I'm not saying that is bad it is just the facts. So AK is asked to stay on the outside, make some hard cuts away from Boozer, shot only when other options fail, but please o please play great defense because we need that.

I watched the Russia USA game and read all the comments on three different boards and the consensus among all the boards was that AK just played harder for Russia. What I saw is the same old AK destroying Crymelo defensively, but shooting poorly. I think he was 6 for 17 in that game. He is still struggling with his shot, but if AK was more involved in the Jazz's offense people would see that AK has not checked out since getting the big contract, he is trying to play the role Sloan asks. He is sacrificing for the team.

I think some of the AK myths need busting:
1. he's a whiner. Yes, he has complained but who wouldn't. If you went to Paul Pierce and said we now have Garnet and Ray Allen we would like you to take no more than 7 shots a game and please try to stay away from our pick and roll with Garnett and Allen. Paul Pierce would complain. Anybody who has been the man for their team would complain. Frankly I thought AK would whine more.

2. Does not play hard: This just gets under my nerve. Sometimes he does not play with the reckless abandon he had when he first came into the league, but he still plays hard. Very few members of the Jazz play harder than AK. Sometimes, even when he is having a really good game Sloan will still pull him out. I hate the rigid substitution patterns.

3. AK's not worth the max. He is not worth the max today, but he was worth the max when he signed the contract. The year before AK signed the contract he had a great year. I've read that Don Nelson was so infatuated with the idea of AK he once offered anybody on his roster for AK.

4. We should have traded Marion for AK. This just makes me sick. Of course we should have traded an unhappy AK for a happy Marion. Problem, Marion has publicly stated he would never play for the Jazz or Sloan. He hates the style of play. Moreover Marion would have been asked to play the same role AK played. I promise you Marion would have hated it and publicly complained. Marion would have opted out and left. So the trade is a one year rental for Marion for AK. I personally think we could do better in a trade.

5. AK got his money and has quit. AK is not motivated by the money. I think most everyone knows how much of it he gives away to children and charity in Russia. AK wants to feel like he the main part of the team not an after thought. He wants his number called. He wants to exploit mismatches. He wants to handle the rock and make some assists. When Darren talks about the Jazz he should say Booze AK and myself will take this team to the top. These are the things AK wants. Give them to him and we will all say I sure hope AK signs a new deal with the jazz when his contract expires.

6. AK is not a small forward. Well the truth is AK is not a SG, SF or PF. He is a hybrid. On defense I would sure like to see him guard some of the thiner, faster power forwards that seem to expose Boozer's weaknesses on defense. On offense the guys just doesn't have one position. Let him expose his mismatches. If he has a short guy, let him post-up. If he has a tall guy let him take him off the dribble. The problem is that Sloan does not play any mismatches, he plays his offense regardless.

So in a nutshell Sloan be more flexible, don't hold to rigid substitution patterns. Play the hot players even if its their turn to sit. Sloan if somebody has a mismatch try to expose that every now and then. DWill keep throwing it to AK even if he misses, he will piss you off when he misses the wide open jumper, but he will make you smile later in that game if you just keep the faith.

[hoops4life]

I haven't really read that Ak plays harder for Russia than on the Jazz.

What it really comes down to is:

Would you rather keep Ak or Boozer, Milsap, Deron, Korver, and Okur?

The jazz just can't afford to keep Ak plus four or so of the otehr guys. I am sure the jazz would love to keep him and pay him his money, if some how they could keep the rest of teh guys while staying under the cap... just doesn't work though.

[fivas14]

AK or Booz need to be moved. If we don't move one now we'll lose both.

[kwill]

Hoops4life

I think your smart from reading your posts and I agree that the Jazz can't re-sign Boozer unless Miller is ready to pay the tax. In my opinion, the Jazz should trade Boozer. His trade value is much higher than AK's and I think some of his weaknesses have been exposed. (ie guard him with a 7 footer and force him to defend quick small forward types). Boozer's value will never be higher than it is now.

[hoops4life]

Booz did great against Yao two years ago. It all depends if Booz wants to show up on defense. I am kind of on the fence as to which to trade. Boozer's value is most likely at its highest it has ever been and there is a chance that he will walk with us getting nothing in return. That is a huge hit, if that does happen.

Ak is a lot of money. He was a max contract at the time because of the weak FA market that year and the fact that the Grizz gave Pau a max two weeks earlier. I still think that they should've let it pay out and matched whatever was offered to him. Mavs liked him a ton but nobody else was going to give him that much.

We will see this year who the FO values more...

[schneiderjazz]

For two years I've been reading gobbledygook about trading AK47. I've read numerous trade threads regarding AK47 and it just bothers me. The latest thing that is on my nerves is the claim that AK47 plays harder for team Russia than the Jazz. That is crap. What everyone needs to understand is that AK is a team player and he is playing the role the Jazz have asked. If anybody is to blame, and I'm not sure there is any blame, for AK's play, its the Jazz. I listened to DWill give commentary on the Jazz at the RMR and he basically stated that the shots go to Boozer, Memo and him and everyone else gets six or seven shots a game. I'm not saying that is bad it is just the facts. So AK is asked to stay on the outside, make some hard cuts away from Boozer, shot only when other options fail, but please o please play great defense because we need that.

I watched the Russia USA game and read all the comments on three different boards and the consensus among all the boards was that AK just played harder for Russia. What I saw is the same old AK destroying Crymelo defensively, but shooting poorly. I think he was 6 for 17 in that game. He is still struggling with his shot, but if AK was more involved in the Jazz's offense people would see that AK has not checked out since getting the big contract, he is trying to play the role Sloan asks. He is sacrificing for the team.

I think some of the AK myths need busting:
1. he's a whiner. Yes, he has complained but who wouldn't. If you went to Paul Pierce and said we now have Garnet and Ray Allen we would like you to take no more than 7 shots a game and please try to stay away from our pick and roll with Garnett and Allen. Paul Pierce would complain. Anybody who has been the man for their team would complain. Frankly I thought AK would whine more.

2. Does not play hard: This just gets under my nerve. Sometimes he does not play with the reckless abandon he had when he first came into the league, but he still plays hard. Very few members of the Jazz play harder than AK. Sometimes, even when he is having a really good game Sloan will still pull him out. I hate the rigid substitution patterns.

3. AK's not worth the max. He is not worth the max today, but he was worth the max when he signed the contract. The year before AK signed the contract he had a great year. I've read that Don Nelson was so infatuated with the idea of AK he once offered anybody on his roster for AK.

4. We should have traded Marion for AK. This just makes me sick. Of course we should have traded an unhappy AK for a happy Marion. Problem, Marion has publicly stated he would never play for the Jazz or Sloan. He hates the style of play. Moreover Marion would have been asked to play the same role AK played. I promise you Marion would have hated it and publicly complained. Marion would have opted out and left. So the trade is a one year rental for Marion for AK. I personally think we could do better in a trade.

5. AK got his money and has quit. AK is not motivated by the money. I think most everyone knows how much of it he gives away to children and charity in Russia. AK wants to feel like he the main part of the team not an after thought. He wants his number called. He wants to exploit mismatches. He wants to handle the rock and make some assists. When Darren talks about the Jazz he should say Booze AK and myself will take this team to the top. These are the things AK wants. Give them to him and we will all say I sure hope AK signs a new deal with the jazz when his contract expires.

6. AK is not a small forward. Well the truth is AK is not a SG, SF or PF. He is a hybrid. On defense I would sure like to see him guard some of the thiner, faster power forwards that seem to expose Boozer's weaknesses on defense. On offense the guys just doesn't have one position. Let him expose his mismatches. If he has a short guy, let him post-up. If he has a tall guy let him take him off the dribble. The problem is that Sloan does not play any mismatches, he plays his offense regardless.

So in a nutshell Sloan be more flexible, don't hold to rigid substitution patterns. Play the hot players even if its their turn to sit. Sloan if somebody has a mismatch try to expose that every now and then. DWill keep throwing it to AK even if he misses, he will piss you off when he misses the wide open jumper, but he will make you smile later in that game if you just keep the faith.

Dude. I love you.

[erudite23]

One thing I do think that AK has let slip due to his lack of involvement offensively is his rebounding. You can talk all you want to about Booz and Memo being a great rebounding tandem in the frontcourt, but AK was one of the top 5 rebounding small forwards in the game 3 years ago, and now he is one of the worst. That simply does not happen for no reason. He hasn't lost athleticism, he hasn't lost any weight...there's no excuse, except he just isn't giving the same effort.

I still like AK, and I do think as he finds a way to fit in more that he will give an even better year next season. But I want to see his rebounding go up. There is no reason why the Jazz shouldn't be the far and away #1 rebounding team in the league.

[erudite23]

Booz did great against Yao two years ago. It all depends if Booz wants to show up on defense. I am kind of on the fence as to which to trade. Boozer's value is most likely at its highest it has ever been and there is a chance that he will walk with us getting nothing in return. That is a huge hit, if that does happen.

Ak is a lot of money. He was a max contract at the time because of the weak FA market that year and the fact that the Grizz gave Pau a max two weeks earlier. I still think that they should've let it pay out and matched whatever was offered to him. Mavs liked him a ton but nobody else was going to give him that much.

We will see this year who the FO values more...

I don't agree with this. There has been a ton of revisionist history in Jazz fan circles about AKs contract. The dude was regarded as a top 10-15 player in the league from 03-5, and would have assuredly garnered a max contract from almost any team in the league. There was a little bit of questioning when AK signed his extension, because--you'll remember--it came after his 3rd season and he had only been a starter for 1 year. Although, in that 3rd season he was unquestionably a max caliber player and the next year and year after he certainly was earning that paycheck.

It disappoints me how quickly people forget. In these parts two and three years ago everyone was saying that we would only trade AK for a small handful (5-8 players) of guys in the league. Now its almost as if it never happened.

[hoops4life]

There aren't as many rebounds to go around as there once was? He is playing out on the perimeter more?

He doesn't seem to slash to the hoop for put back dunks near as much as he once did.

[hoops4life]

I do think that he was a top 20 player in the league that year but if memory serves me correct (which it doesn't always) there weren't many teams that much cap space available.

[The Sheik]

There aren't as many rebounds to go around as there once was? He is playing out on the perimeter more?

He doesn't seem to slash to the hoop for put back dunks near as much as he once did.

Thats untrue, the Jazz had their worst rebounding year in about 3-4 seasons. The difference in the differential very well could be about 4 ppg. Imagine how much those few pts would have made a difference in games...case in point game 3 vs. Houston. If we gave up a few less O boards we probably would have swept Houston.

People forget that rebounding is just as much as important defensively as having shot blocking. Regardless of where AK is playing he isnt going to the glass on D or O. If he did on offense a little more his trade value would be much higher cuz his stats would be about 2 rebounds and 2 pts better.

The Jazz need all the rebounds they can get, we arent going to magically start being a boston type defensive team, we need to clean all the trash up around the glass.

[hoops4life]

I agree.

I was just throwing it out there as ideas. I didn't say that they were right or wrong, just a little brainstorming.

We do need to sure up those defensive rebounds better.

[carrottop12]

Thats untrue, the Jazz had their worst rebounding year in about 3-4 seasons. The difference in the differential very well could be about 4 ppg. Imagine how much those few pts would have made a difference in games...case in point game 3 vs. Houston. If we gave up a few less O boards we probably would have swept Houston.

People forget that rebounding is just as much as important defensively as having shot blocking. Regardless of where AK is playing he isnt going to the glass on D or O. If he did on offense a little more his trade value would be much higher cuz his stats would be about 2 rebounds and 2 pts better.

The Jazz need all the rebounds they can get, we arent going to magically start being a boston type defensive team, we need to clean all the trash up around the glass.

The total number of possessions you get in a game are invaluable. Second chance points are momentum and spirit breakers to defensive teams, just look at our last two series against the Rockets.

[DaveMustaine]

Who cares if he isn't getting enough shots, he signed a max-contract, so he needs to do what the team asks. I remember an interview with him right around the time he signed the max contract, and I remember him saying something about how he would never let up on his style of play. Well, once he got his paycheck, the crybaby did just that. It's not Sloan's fault that AK is a weak man, who has no problem pouting when he's making max money, he has only himself to blame for not being apart of the offense. If he isn't getting the shots he wants then maybe he should hit the weight room like Boozer, or get a shot like Okur, or better yet, maybe he could go play World of Warcraft and cry.

[Soul Patch]

AK has passion for the game, when he cried it was because he wasn't contributing like he wanted to. He kind of plays with a chip on his shoulder, in the Houston series he wasn't playing up to his paycheck and in the recent Russia game he wasn't playing like the euroleague MVP. In the Russia game it was obvious he was getting frustrated and lost his composure a little bit but it didn't have anything to do with not being involved in the offense or problems with a coach. He just puts too much pressure on himself and overcompensates

[hoops4life]

I do think it is a bit funny that people make fun of him for crying. He was crying because he cares and wants to play better and contribute more. I would imagine that most the NBA players don't really care that much.

[GP]

Good points Kwill, AK is a amazing player. I have always argued that AK should be traded, not because he isn't a good player, but that he just doesn't fit with the jazz. I would rather see the old AK, who we can't see because of the current makeup of our roster. Trade AK and let him star in a different, more open system.

[schneiderjazz]

I wish Larry Miller would just pay the luxury tax and try to go for a title with this team.
I think it's pretty obvious what's gonna happen once AK's contract expires. CSKA Moscow will offer him a ridiculous contract and he will go back to Russia. He's the man there, he'll be back home and he'll probably receive more money than any NBA team will offer him.
I know AK is not worth his salary. His role has diminished since the year he signed his contract, but I'm pretty sure there aren't many other SF who are as good as him. If Larry Miller is willing to go over the luxury tax, he should try and keep him along with the other FA. IMO, the Jazz have a much better shot at winning the title with AK on the team.

[cbs134679]

First boozer game declines, now ak07, were doomed like totally dude the rockets kick our butts this year!!!

[dingojazz]

First boozer game declines, now ak07, were doomed like totally dude the rockets kick our butts this year!!!

^^^What the hell?^^^

Andre has always been one of my favorite players. i say let Booz walk after this year, and let Andre and Millsap hold down the power forward position for us. With Brewer and CJ starting at the 2/3 that would be a fun team to watch.