Kirilenko may need surgery?

[The Sheik]

help defense

Its non-existent. AK doesnt help except for when he gets blocks...which even at 2 a game isnt great. He doesnt intimidate or alter shots anymore.

AK=overrated defender.

[CAE15]

Yeah sucks AK may be out for longer but damn, everyone is just throwing the season away, all we need to do is get to the playoffs. Who cares if its the 8th seed wouldnt be my first choice but we just need to be there. The Jazz have played decently enough without their main scoring threat for nearly half of a season. We just need to survive until Boozer is healthy enough to come back and help this team make the final push in the regular season. Utah has 8 home games in February and 3 winnable road games. Who knows how those games turn out but until we start dropping home games left and right to bad teams, we shouldn't be that worried. We're doing alright considering what we have had to deal with.

[cjs55]

AK=overrated defender.

Epic fail. AK gets 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals a game. He leads the team in deflections. His length can cause easy passes to become hard ones and easy shots to become difficult misses. He is in all of the best lineups the Jazz have put on the floor this season. His production +/- vs his man is excellent.

Yes some of this is because he had been coming off the bench. But you can't discount AK's impact on this team. We're 1-6 without AK this year.

[BarneyGumble]

who cares about winning and defense

What does AK have to do with defense? He surely doesnt make it any better.

I hope you're joking, otherwise....your future posts have lost a lot of credibility w/ me.

[The Sheik]

Epic fail. AK gets 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals a game. He leads the team in deflections.

Source on the deflections? Because Im pretty sure if they even do keep that stat that Millsap leads the team. 1.5 bpg means absolutely nothing, why? because AK does not intimidate shots at all anymore. 1.5 bpg is nothing when teams are getting x amount of possessions per game. He doesnt intimidate shots because he is a weak side shot blocker, he isnt patrolling the paint. For example look at Kosta, he doesnt always get a block, but he at least has the length and size to alter shots. Im not saying he is the savior or even a better shot blocker than AK, Im just showing an example of what kind of shot blocker we need.

Anybody who will sit here and tell me that AK is a above average man to man defender is crazy.

[The Sheik]

I hope you're joking, otherwise....your future posts have lost a lot of credibility w/ me.

please explain to me why he is the key to our D? He is an amazing intangibles player overall, however, his D does not and has never made or broke our D.

He is surely missed on the court, but its not his Defense we are missing.

I would love for someone to prove me otherwise...and please dont bring the 1-6 without AK. We are around .500 w/o Booz, does that mean we dont need him? Show me how we are that much better of a Defensive team with AK. Because honestly block shots are the most overrated defensive stat in basketball. I will take defensive rebounding or steals anyday.

No matter what AK does he is overrated because he makes 15.5 mil a yr.

[BarneyGumble]

I hope you're joking, otherwise....your future posts have lost a lot of credibility w/ me.

please explain to me why he is the key to our D? He is an amazing intangibles player overall, however, his D does not and has never made or broke our D.

He is surely missed on the court, but its not his Defense we are missing.

I would love for someone to prove me otherwise...and please dont bring the 1-6 without AK. We are around .500 w/o Booz, does that mean we dont need him? Show me how we are that much better of a Defensive team with AK. Because honestly block shots are the most overrated defensive stat in basketball. I will take defensive rebounding or steals anyday.

No matter what AK does he is overrated because he makes 15.5 mil a yr.

LOL, so its his offense we miss? The looptie loops and the bricks? hahahahaha.

Look man, maybe your learning disabled or blind or something....and if you are, then I empathize with your condition. I got nothing against you personally or anything, you've been a great poster as far as I can tell. But if not and you seriously need an explanation as to why the Jazz misses AK's defense, then you must simply not understand the game very well or are just an AK hater.

[BarneyGumble]

Source on the deflections? Because Im pretty sure if they even do keep that stat that Millsap leads the team.

Im not going to get into an argument about this, I just want to point out its a well known fact the Jazz keeps track of deflections. They were the first team to do it, Sloan's been doing it for years. Even way back when Hot Rod was on TV they would tell us this.

[The Sheik]

Look man, maybe your learning disabled or blind or something....and if you are, then I empathize with your condition.

very nice retort.

[The Sheik]

Im not going to get into an argument about this, I just want to point out its a well known fact the Jazz keeps track of deflections. They were the first team to do it, Sloan's been doing it for years. Even way back when Hot Rod was on TV they would tell us this.

You miss read what I wrote. I want a public source that shows team leaders in deflections. I know Utah gives it, Ive known my whole life. Hell every time Scott Layden is on tv thats all he says. I want proof that AK leads the teams in deflections.

[cjs55]

The deflections thing I suppose is hearsay. I don't remember precisely where I heard it. Regardless if AK doesn't lead the team in deflections, he's clearly in the top two or three along with Brewer and Sap.

AK helps our team defense immensely simply by his length. This is something I noticed with KG and Boston. He anchors the defense, not by putting up any stats, but simply making it harder to run the offense because many passes are cut off and he can switch and guard different positions. AK is very similar in this respect.

As far as proof goes, just go to 82games.com. Or, IMO, just watch the games. It's clear as daylight how much better we are with Kirilenko in the game defensively.

[GP]

we are long over due for a championship too...

Very true, however, we did make the finals and just weren't good enough to win it all. I would rather have 1 championship and 19 terrible seasons, than 0 championships and 20 good seasons.

This is the stupidest post I have ever read. So you're saying you'd rather be a Heat fan? Or a Knicks fan? Championships are nice. But they aren't everything. Just ask the Utah Utes. Sometimes you dont need to win the whole thing (especially when the whole thing is run by crooks) to feel good about what you've accomplished. Just ask John Stockton.

Spoken like a true loser, I am sorry, but the reason you play is for championships, ask any player on the college or professional level. We aren't talking JR. JAZZ we are talking professional sports. What kind of sports background do you have where winning championships are "nice", but it matters how you "feel" at the end?

[GP]

we are long over due for a championship too...

Very true, however, we did make the finals and just weren't good enough to win it all. I would rather have 1 championship and 19 terrible seasons, than 0 championships and 20 good seasons.

Wow, I certainly can't agree with that. So, for one year we get to go, "Yeah, we did it!!!" and then waste two decades of our lives backing garbage?

Jstock, you don't think that you have wasted "two decades of our lives backing garbage"? Well, not garbage exactly, but mediocre teams, is that much better? Did we have one year of "Yeah, we did it!!!!"? Was it that regular season game two years ago where we won at the buzzer? I grew up and still live in SF, never been to Utah. The niners won all those championships in the 80's and now they suck, would I give up those championships to have a mediocre team now and 10 years down the line? Not a chance, I'll take those championships, because at least I can always know that for those years the niners were the best in the NFL. I know Utah is pretty limited in sports, with only the jazz, so fans haven't had a championship to understand what it means, but IMO, its what makes sports worth watching.

[JStockLivesOn]

I guess we can't agree, GP, because we're not starting from the same place. I don't accept the premise that those twenty years were filled with "mediocre teams." Stock's and Karl's Jazz were anything but. I'm of the popular belief that the Jazz had their heyday when the league was effervescing with quality players and clubs, and owe their lack of a championship to that fact. I'll take the 90s Jazz over any team in basketball presently.

[HammerDunk]

I know one thing is for damn sure, I would much rather be a fan of the Jazz than a Laker fan, I don't care how many championships they have won or will win and I don't care if we never win one. There are definitely worse things than not winning it all, and being a Laker fan is one of them.

On the AK issue, I love having him on the floor. I think his length creates a lot of matchup issues. He may not be a lock down defender, but he has better D than anyone else playing his position. I also agree with the deflections thing, I see him knock the ball off it's path all the time, whether or not it ends up being a steal, it still disrupts the flow of the offense. I don't care if he has the most either.

One other thing. I know he his good for a couple moronic passes a game, but he makes up for it with brilliant ones. I think we sorely miss his passing when he is on the bench. As flawed as his game may be, I would take him on the floor in the closing minutes of a game over any of the other 3s.

[seejaydeja]

Sounds like AK is gonna delay surgery as long as he possibly can. I say he sits out another 5 games before he goes under the knife...

[BarneyGumble]

GP = worst post of the year. You want to be the fan of a 19 time bottom dweller, 1 time fluke winner, and I'm the loser? lol....

I'll take the Jazz. They dominated the league for 20 seasons and never won it because of injuries and Michael Jordan. You must be a zoob. One fluke 1984 championship, followed by years and years of bowl disappointments against mediocre teams. You have fun with that!