MVN - Most Valuable Network

Bummed out in Utah

Disappointing.

That’s it.  That is the only word that comes to mind to adequately describe the situation in Utah right now.

With my beloved Celtics on the golf course after a 24-win season, the Utah Jazz were the apples of my eye for a month-long affair last spring.  They had one of the most promising point guard-big man combos in the league, a great coach and some very solid third and fourth options.  They played hard, and they played smart basketball.  They somehow clawed their way to the Western Conference Finals, and even though they were clearly outclassed by the Spurs, the young squad from Utah had clearly sown the seeds for future greatness.

Now, at the tail end of a relatively quiet off-season (save for the departure of Derek Fisher), a young team that should have been primed to make another run at a conference title this season is seeing the wheels come off before the voyage even begins.

The enigma that is Andrei Kirilenko continues to grow.  While it’s a nice change for an athlete to actually admit that he hasn’t been putting everything he can out there, it doesn’t make the whole “I’ve been going on the court and acting like a robot” nonsense any more tolerable.  Far more importantly, it doesn’t make slamming one’s team and coach publicly at all acceptable.  It wasn’t acceptable when Kobe did it.  It wasn’t acceptable when Jermaine O’Neal did it.  And it isn’t acceptable now.  Sure, it’s admirable for Kirilenko to say that he doesn’t deserve the $63 million he is scheduled to make between now and 2011, but this is something to be said behind closed doors until after a move has been made.  Whether or not he wants out of Utah, until he is out, Kirilenko is still under contract, and he owes it to his current employer to show some courtesy at least until he is officially gone.

Sadly, Kirilenko’s revelations effectively put an end to the glimmer of hope that Kirilenko simply had an off year and could return to his All-Star form of the past that could allow him to be a huge asset while playing in Utah.  Maybe he can still play, but it is a virtual lock that we won’t see that as long as he is with the Jazz.  Which means that in order for the Jazz to continue their ascension, AK47 needs to go.

Even more saddening is the fact that Kirilenko isn’t the most disappointing part of the mess in Utah this week.  We all knew he was flaky when he started crying while taking to the media during the playoffs last year, which only compounded the instability he showed on the court all season.  As dopey as his comments were, they didn’t come as that much of a surprise.

Those of Deron Williams did.  The young leader and emerging star point guard went on local radio this week after the fact and killed Kirilenko.  Just killed him.  Yes, he conceded that the Jazz need Kirilenko and that AK47 still has the potential to be a big deal for the Jazz.  But he also called out Kirilenko’s work ethic and gave us this gem, as reported by the Salt Lake Tribune:

‚ÄúIf [Kirilenko is] coming off a screen on one side and Matt [Harpring] is coming off a screen on one side, who do you think you’re going to pass to?¬† You think you’re going to pass to the guy you see working every day in the gym or are you going to pass to the guy who never works on his shot but yet wants to shoot ‘em every time?”

There is a crucial difference between Deron Williams and me.  I am a columnist.  My job at this site is to call ‘em how I see ‘em, no matter how positive or negative my opinion may be.  I don’t have a coach or an owner or a group of teammates to answer to.  All I have are Basketball Director Jon Burkett and MVN President Evan Brunell, both of whom have never done anything but encourage me to be completely frank in everything I put in this space.  I’m not employed by an NBA team, and I don’t have to worry about keeping basketball issues “in-house” or massaging egos to allow the team to have a better season.  I don’t have to worry about how my criticism of Andrei Kirilenko will affect his fragile psyche, because, ultimately, it isn’t my problem.

Deron Williams does.  As much as we might wish that athletes could be wholly honest all the time, and as much we might appreciate it when they do speak straight from the heart, the truth is that it simply can’t always be the case.  Along with Carlos Boozer, he is the on-floor leader of a young but quickly up-and-coming Utah Jazz team.  It is partly his responsibility to keep his teammates on the same wavelength, to help prevent distractions and to help keep internal strife just that – internal.

Kirilenko was wrong to say what he said publicly, and all parties will likely be better off once he is gone.  But until he is gone, it is up to Deron Williams to do everything in his power to help make the best of the existing situation.  Right now, the existing situation is that Andrei Kirilenko is a member of the Utah Jazz.  Making public comments that will only further destroy Kirilenko’s delicate mental state doesn’t help matters.  All it does is compound the initial problem.

From Andrei Kirilenko, I hoped for more.

From Deron Williams, I expected more.

Training camp starts October 1.  Here’s hoping the Utah Jazz are one team united in search of one goal by then.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 at 12:30 am and is filed under 2007 NBA Off-Season, Jon Burkett, NBA Off-Season Moves, NBA Free Agency, Most Valuable Network, Evan Brunell, Salt Lake Tribune, NBA Salaries, Taking It to the Rack, Matt Harpring, ESPN, Utah Jazz, General NBA, Jerry Sloan, Deron Williams, Derek Fisher, Andrei Kirilenko, Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.