AK on Eurobasket All-Tournament Team
- Thread starter write4u
- Start date
I get the pros and cons of keeping AK. But this is what I don't get -- everyone saying he needs a run-and-gun team to succeed. Russia, to my knowledge has never been a run and gun team.
They're just haters who ignore the realities of Jerry and DWill affecting AK, and were put off by the crying incident and AK's big contract. Their idea of a good player is scoring a lot of points and don't understand that there are many other facets to the game and AK is skillful in almost every other one -- yes, he has a little problem with lateral quickness in the moving of his feet.
Well, FIBA and NBA are two different things. AK can dominate FIBA because everyone is small and unathletic (in comparison to the NBA).
Nice, you cited Spain. They have an inordinate amount of size and talent compared to other European teams.
And yes, European teams are very much less athletic.
Stifle Tower
Punch Bowl Re-Filler
Well, since he played better as a "4" several years ago, I guess using AK right means we sit Favors on the bench and trade Millsap.
AK does this all the time. He has fantastic games against Europeans because the style is more up-tempo and he isn't playing against 4's who can simply push him aside or top 3's who can just take a step-back jumper to negate his blocking skills, or make a couple of fakes, drive around him, and expose the fact that he's not really a good 1-on-1 defender. AK is a very good help defender, he can jump passing lanes and get a few steals. But he's no longer the shot-blocking force he once was (back and ankle problems - and age - have taken care of that) and he's just a turrible shooter. I agree, AK MIGHT be better than Hayward RIGHT NOW. But isn't that the same reason we used to berate SLoan? We'd get mad at him for starting a veteran over a rookie Deron. Or for playing Raja, or a host of others over the last several seasons, all in favor of winning a few more games now in exchange for not developing players who could contribute later. And I'm not even sure AK IS a better player than Hayward. Gordon came on late. Certainly from an offensive standpoint, I'd give the nod to Hayward. And from a team perspective, if we have Jefferson, Favors and Kanter working down low - even Harris on his drives to the hoop - the Jazz would want would a consistent outside shooter. And Hayward was the BEST in the league after the all-star break, IINM.
The fact that he plays better with his Russian shows that he's not being used properly by the Jazz. Yes, the NBA is more athletic, but taller ... maybe a little. CT, you didn't watch all the games, did you. There were a lot of 7-footers. You watched Turkey, didn't you ... Kanter, who's listed at 6-11, I believe -- didn't look it to me -- was shorter than many of the big men. No way is Hayward better than AK, except as an outside shooter -- ok, yes, he dribbles better, but AK is not that bad of a dribbler. He got stripped a lot not because of his handle but because he didn't protect his dribble well.
The best argument against AK coming back is that we need to rebuild and should give the younger guys the minutes.
The best argument against AK coming back is that we need to rebuild and should give the younger guys the minutes.
Park Bites
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't mind signing ak as long as it is followed by the word trade. Bringing back draft picks and or young talent ie granger.