Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller's quotes about AK47:
(Kirilenko) actually told me one time that his job is to go stand in the corner on the weakside ... outside the 3-point shot line, wait until the shot's up and run back down the court — not to go back inside and try to rebound. Now take a look at me: Do I have stupid written on my forehead?"
• "Maybe there's a translation problem here. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, because I like him, and I think basically he's an honest guy. ... But some of the stuff that's coming out of his mouth reflects at least severe frustration, and maybe brain fade."
• "He's an 'all-the-money' player. Well, I look at the all-the-money players, and I see most of them playing every night. And I don't see him playing every night.
• "If he doesn't like it, I'm sorry, and I'll put my arm around him and tell him that I still love him. But he needs to grow up ... and I just hope he will."
Deron Williams on Kirilenko:
You see guys, you see Booz (Carlos Boozer) after practice shooting for 25-30 minutes, you see Memo (Mehmet Okur) shooting for 20 minutes, you see all the rookies, the young guys, you see Hafa (Rafael Araujo) in there working, and you see Andrei being the first guy out the door," Williams said. "He's coming off a screen on one side, and Matt Harpring's coming off a screen on one side, who do you think you're gonna pass to? You think you're gonna pass to the guy you see working every day in the gym? Or you gonna pass to the guy who never works on his shot but wants to shoot ... "
Jerry Sloan's take:
"I thought his shot selection was terrible," Sloan said. "He's got to get more focused on what we're doing with our team -- not just what he does.
"If he's not going to try to do what we want to do -- with all the guys, it doesn't make any difference -- I've got to start sitting guys down," Sloan said after the Jazz fell to 2-4 with one preseason game remaining, Friday night's vs. Denver at the Delta Center.
"When it comes down to it, I can lose just as easily with guys playing hard. Some of these young kids out here -- they're playing hard," added Sloan, who got a team-high 16 points from first-round draft choice Deron Williams and 13 more from free-agent University of Houston product Andre Owens. "If we're going to lose the way those guys are playing, I can live with it."
"You don't get yourself better by playing at half-speed," Sloan said when asked about Kirilenko's play. "I don't care how many years you've played in this league, you have to come out and get yourself going, so you get into a good rhythm and you don't get hurt.
Sounds to me like a guy who want to hold out but still get paid because he hates his team. Sloan is well known as a jerk. He just needs a fresh start, he clearly hates his team and they hate him. The first comment made by the owner I think can be taken as an example of them not running a good offense for him.
On a side note what kind of classless organization makes all those comments about their own player? if the general consensus of the team, coaches and management is this bad why not trade him for whatever you can get? Do they think it will up his trade value to bash him like that? I understand those comments look very bad but it says something about the guys saying them not just they guy they are talking about.
Be rest assured that now with a classy organization like the Warriors we will nurture, and support him, put him in the right position to succeed.
I tip my hat to you for getting all those quotes and proving your argument but doesn't skill win out in the end. He is one of the best all around players in the league and the only other player besides Hakeem the Dream to have more than one career 5x5 (achieving 5 or more in 5 different statistical categories). He has the ability to be near the top of the league in blocks and steals, rebounds decently and can score pretty well. What's not to like? (besides all the items you previously mentioned)?
Topic: 2008 CelticsBlog draft board. (Read 915927 times)