Kirilenko Warming Up to 6th Man Role

Shapecity · Oct 14, 2008

PORTLAND, Ore. - There's still 17 days to go until opening night for the Jazz, but the Andrei Kirilenko experiment at sixth man moved a step closer to reality in Sunday's 93-80 preseason victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan opted to start C.J. Miles and bring Kirilenko off the bench again, even with Carlos Boozer returning from a sore hamstring, and Kirilenko followed through on his pledge to help bring the new role to life.
Kirilenko hit a shot 14 seconds after checking in and factored into all five scoring possessions to end the first quarter. He went on to lead the Jazz with 15 points, five assists, three rebounds and two blocks in 25 minutes.
Could he be the Jazz's version of Manu Ginobili, Leandro Barbosa or Ben Gordon, adding to the list of the NBA's top sixth men? After the game, Kirilenko said he liked being able to analyze things from the bench before coming in.
"You see how you can bring something to the game," Kirilenko said.
Case in point: Kirilenko watched the Jazz start slowly, scoring nine points in the first 7 1/2 minutes at the Rose Garden, and worked to provide a spark by throwing quick passes inside.
After hitting a jumper over Luke Jackson, Kirilenko dished to Kyrylo Fesenko for a layup, then faked a shot, drove the lane and hit Fesenko again, leading to two free throws. Fesenko had 10 points and 10 rebounds in what Sloan called the game of his life.
With Matt Harpring recovering from an ankle infection and out indefinitely, Sloan wants Kirilenko to anchor the second team. It is his belief that veterans know how to find ways to get involved more quickly than young players.
"Andrei has that kind of ability to be able to make a pass or block a shot, have some of those things happen to him," Sloan said. "We'll just have to see. It's a long, long season; a lot of things can happen."
The Jazz outscored Portland 10-6 to close the quarter after Kirilenko entered. He dunked off a pass from Fesenko and followed up for another basket, then came back in the second quarter to hit Paul Millsap for a dunk and dunk twice himself off alley-oops from Brevin Knight.
Kirilenko said he and Kyle Korver talked about how the second team could come together. He and Knight, meanwhile, were able to pick up on the Blazers' overplaying defense, leading to the alley-oops.
"We got a couple dunks, which I didn't get for the last couple years," Kirilenko said.
Although no final decision has been made, Kirilenko's teammates voiced support for bringing him off the bench.
"It's just he can be more aggressive in that second group," Deron Williams said. "He'll be more of the focus, can handle the ball a lot more. I think it's great. He might be able to play [power forward] a little bit more. It might work out."
At the same time, what the Jazz would be doing with Kirilenko is close to unprecedented. Other than the Knicks and Stephon Marbury, no team would be paying more to have a player come off the bench than the Jazz and Kirilenko, their highest-paid player at $15.1 million.
"He's going to play minutes, there's no question about that," Sloan said. "Just where they come from."
The Jazz used a 10-0 run late in the third quarter to take a 69-59 lead into the fourth, with Williams capping things by stripping Sergio Rodriguez at midcourt and flipping in a layup as part of a three-point play.
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Source: Salt Lake Tribune

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Kirilenko Warming Up to 6th Man Role

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Kirilenko Warming Up to 6th Man Role

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