Miggs
Well-Known Member
lmfao at the assumption that if AK played now he’d have “a much better overall 3 pt %.” There’s no reason to assume that.
All time wasted NBA talents ?
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lmfao at the assumption that if AK played now he’d have “a much better overall 3 pt %.” There’s no reason to assume that.
Yes, there is. He would be asked to improve his shot and he would work on it if he was a prospect coming to the NBA in this era. 3pt is vastly more important than it was then.
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Stats wise: 2003-2004 - 1.9 steals, 2.8 blocks; 2004-2005 -- 1.6 steals, 3.3 blocks; 2005-2006 - 1.5 steals, 3.2 blocks. And remember he was playing the forward position so you don't get as many opportunities for blocks as a center. Can you name any other small forwards, even power forwards who led the league in blocks? AK was a supreme shot blocker. But like one poster suggested, just imagine putting AK in his prime on this team with Rudy. Definitely would be challenging for the finals. He was also one of the most adept at picking the pocket of a dribbler if you might recall. His one flaw was he depended too much on his athleticism rather than positioning when defending, which used to drive Jerry nuts. But that was something he could've corrected.
If he had just concentrated on defending instead of worrying about his touches, he could've been the greatest defensive player since Bill Russell -- who was without question the greatest defensive player in NBA history.
Of course, the bias on this site for how AK ended up clouds their vision of what he was like during his best years and before his injuries. Remember he was All-Defense First Team multiple times, and I think one year, runner-up, when he probably should've won it.
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Total blocks and steals the not the best way to measure defense. His blocks mostly came from the weak side and he wasn’t disrupting people’s offensive plan due to his threat to block like Rudy is, even if he has less blocks. I do agree that if you had a motivated AK he would be a good pair with Gobert because he’d roam more on defense, and played terrible perimeter D and had a hard time staying in front of his man. But if he occasionally recovered after being burned on the perimeter and blocked the guys shot, it makes people forget about all the times they scored because he got burned on the perimeter.
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I wouldn't say he played terrible perimeter D. How many times in crucial situations did he pick the pocket of players on the perimeter? Yes, he let guys go by him because of his poor positioning but that was something he could've corrected if he had more motivation, which was his downfall, his lack of commitment and intensity, which is something Rudy has and he didn't.
And that commitment is precisely the reason people are/were as angry as they were. It’s as if people think you should look at raw talent by itself.
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I totally agree with that. It's why I became so disappointed in him myself. But I really do think a different coach, like Quin for instance, might've been able to motivate him. I doubt though he ever would've become a good shooter, maybe adequate, which he was earlier in his career.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
Yeah, you’re right, I’m sure he was never asked to improve his shot before. I’m sure he TOTALLY would’ve put down the joystick, avoided WoW, and dedicated his time to improving himself as a player. Because there’s such an extensive track record of him doing so.
D
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ummm okay? And how does that fundamentally change the argument on wasted talents?
D
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People claiming that AK47 was as good or better than Gobert at defense make me wonder if they ever actually watched the Jazz in that era or if they just saw an AK47 highlight video once on YouTube? It’s pretty obvious to anyone who actually watched the games. And I’m pretty sure Rudy’s hardware shows it.
Kyoto
Well-Known Member
I'm a Andrei Kirilenko homer and I even know that's a stretch
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Jazz weren't a 3pt shooting team before Quin. Millsap always had a 3pt shot but never really attempted much with the Jazz.
And he may not have been a gym rat or had the same work ethic as greats but you don't become as good as Kirilenko without some work. And even if he shof %34-35 as a PF, he would be very effective on close-outs or would punish when oppenents sagged.