I know the injuries, but besides that I don't see why he's lost so much confindence in his game. Any Utah fans wanna chime in on this?
From reading posts about Kirilenko from Jazz boards it seems like a confidence thing with him. He isn't looking to score and his head doesn't seem right. His minutes are down almost 6 a game as well. His first 3 years he had no injury problems and in the last couple he's had major problems, he's not used to it...I'm sure he will get back in the swing of things in the second half.
I think a lot of its mental. He feels left out of the offense now since he has fallen to the fifth scoring option, plus his defense has always stimulated his offense; in previous seasons he would get a lot of blocks and steals because the opposing guards would blowpast the Jazz guards and AK was always in front court. now the Jazz either don't allow them to blow past them, or they just foul. so AK is pretty much taken out defensivly, which leads to him playing offense like a jackass.
Plus, Deron Williams has developed into a major scoring threat, which is taking away from shots that would of gone AK47's way.
He's only taking 6 shots per game this year, I don't know why he's not shooting the ball more. His defense is still phenomenal, but he's lacking in all the other areas of his game. Mehmet Okur, Deron Williams, and Carlos Boozer are taking most of the shots.I heard he was feuding with Larry Miller, is that true?
I don't know why he would be having issues with Larry, he got a $86 million dollar contract, he wants to play there and he passes up shots...It's all there for Kirilenko...
I read somewhere that he is really tired this season and worn out but I'm not sure what that means. Maybe he didn't condition during the off-season or something.
He just is not taking enough shots now that Deron Williams is becoming a big offensive threat he is like the 4th scoring option behind Boozer, Okur and Williams.
He's never been comfortable being the 1st option, he's pretty much averaged 15ppg throughout his career.
The thing that has changed is that people are just seeing him for the player he is. He has never been a franchise player, I would not even say a 2nd option. 3rd option player, with great defense. The allure has worn off.
Well a lot of players have to go through injuries but I think the biggest thing that is holding Kirilenko back is his mental approach to the game. He had been struggling from the beginning of the year and you usually see players correct the things they are doing wrong and turn things around. But he has been thinking too much about the shots he has missed and how he is really struggling this year. In the second half if he can just relax he should be able to turn things around. This season though so far he has fallen off the face of the Earth as he was a very dependable guy before this season.
I really think that it is 100 percent mental. You know that the guy can play on the offensive end. He has never been the best scorer, but he is very capable of doing it. Like others have said, he doesn't get as many shots anymore, but I really dont think that is it. He isn't shooting the shots because he doesn't think he can make them. After a while, you just start to shoot less and get nervous too often. I think that once he has a string of a view good games in a row, you will see him gain confidence and get his game back. He is to talented and versatile not to do better in the future IMO.
<span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS">Maybe AK47 realized that if he doesn't shoot so much, his team has a better chance of winning... :dribble:No, I'm playing. I also believe it's just that AK is bringing himself down. He thinks that he can't make most of the shots he throws up. When that happens, you know players mess with themselves mentally and their career takes a huge step back.</span>
<span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS">His wife lets him cheat on her once a year... Maybe he's busy looking through the crowd to see what girl he ought to pick up for 2007.</span>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (redneck @ Feb 5 2007, 09:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Another thing screwing AK up is he is addicted to world of witchcraft, apparently he plays it a lot.</div>so thats what players resort to in Utah....lol, j/k.
I don't watch a whole lot of Jazz games. But, I see a few and heard around that he is in a slump and his confidence just dropped. Hopefully he can pull it together and get something going. He still does have alot of talent. It would be nice to see him putting up some good numbers again.
