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Andrei Kirilenko
Position: F
Height: 6'9"
Weight: 220 lbs.
Born: February 18, 1981 in Izhevsk, Russian Federation
High School: Frunzenskaya Sport School in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
Drafted by the Utah Jazz in the 1st round (24th pick) of the 1999 NBA draft.

Earlier in the playoffs against the Rockets, I noticed a few games early on where PG Deron Williams was (I thought) going out of his way to not give Kirilenko the ball. And when AK did get the ball, he fumbled around like an amateur. What has happened to this guy, I wondered. He was all-Rookie back in the day, an all-star, routinely on the all-defensive team--where did AK go? He looks like a fantasy league monster: a scorer who doubles as a defensive stopper, a forward that once led the league in blocked shots. But a few years ago he became injury-prone and since has become something of a head case. Notice his 3pt FGs: in 2003-04 he made 68 3-pointers, in the 3 full seasons since he's made 75. Why the drop in scoring? In 2004-05 he scored 640 in an injury-shortened 41 games; this year he scored 584 points in 70 games--he's not even averaging 10 ppg! What happened to this guy?

He's had something of a renaissance in the playoffs this year. In game 2 he was briefly marking Baron Davis and shut him down--why don't they put him on Davis all the time? He still has the potential to be a great player--a great player. But he's drifted away from the promise he showed early in his career. Not sure what has spooked him but I love good basketball and I'd love to see Kirilenko pull it together and get it done again. The Jazz have the 3-1 lead on the Warriors, who look to be on the flame out.

Can the Jazz win the conference? I think they can win this year and they should be strong again next year. Williams, Kirilenko, Okur, Boozer is a core you can build around. If they can hang with the high octane, highly motivated Warriors, that gives them a nice preview of what the Suns can do. They brushed aside the Rockets with a big inside-outside game that gives them a preview of what the Spurs can do. I'd love to see Utah in the championship. But I think AK has to get back to his best in order for the Jazz to rise above.