Farewell to Andrei

[cowhide]

Is there ever a good price for some coke that's been cut with a small amount of chlorine? Can you get a good deal on a prostitute with HSV? I feel like these are the arguments we keep having, with the consensus being, "yeah, but everybody quickly dismisses how hot this girl is when she's done up."

The thing we need to divorce ourselves from with Andrei is our dreams from the past. We all took the Andrei bate that he was something special and something different that was rare in the NBA. There wasn't a soul who didn't regard AK as an up-and-coming top ten, if not top five, player in the league. We got excited. I get it. We got really excited. Even though we've accepted the truth with Andrei, there's still that part deep down that wishes "if only" regarding AK and believes that if we let him go we let go of all those dreams and all that emotion we once invested. It's nearly akin to leaving an abusive spouse after years of thinking they'd change and that everyone else is wrong and "if they could only see what I see."

Take a minute and clear your mind of our favorable past with Andreiand pretend he's another guy in the league. Is this guy we've had for the past 5 years someone we really want on the team. Does he really bring that much or do we see that by superimposing "the old AK" to make us look at a couple block shots as 'contributing so much to the game'.

I never thought AK was a top ten player. I always thought Jazz fans overrated AK and I thought signing AK to a MAX contract was stupid when the Jazz did it. I thought AK was a unique player but I was concerned about his lack of love of the game and his physical weakness.

Without looking, I am pretty sure AK has been declining for several years. I know other Jazz fanz like to blame others (Sloan, DW, Boozer etc) but in the end AK didn't work on his game and was unable to be a MAX player. It is time to move on the AK that most Jazz fans never existed and he is certainly not going to get any better. Besides if he was always getting hurt when he was young how is he going to stay healthy as he continues to age.

Whether the Jazz resign AK or not, what is more important is saving money for the future to re-sign the "core" players and free up playing time for the young guys. contributing vets. In reality, I was pretty much done with AK when he tanked the SA series and cried about his role after the Houston series.

Someone mentioned that AK was willing to renegotiate his contract. Sorry he may or may not have been but due to the CBA he was not able to do that.

 

[cowhide]

Okur finally missed extended time and the team crashed and burned right into the lottery. But his contract was still a blunder, right?

Yes it was a blunder because the Jazz had to let Korver and Matthews go. The Jazz won a playoff series without Memo and the Jazz are in the lottery because DW was traded, Sloan left, the addition of several new players and injuries to other players. Memo was not even part of the play this year. Losing Memo hurt but if the Jazz had been able to get rid of AK and not extended Memo they would have been able to add other players while keeping Matthews and perhaps Korver.

 

[Deleted member 365]

Folks, ask yourself one question... Would you rather have AK playing for us or against us?

I for one would love to face him. Can you imagine what Hayward would do to that kid? And his defender could then help double team down low. He'd give us the ball with his drives and brick wide open 3s.

It's that simple folks.

 

[r_u_s_t_b_u_c_k_e_t]

Yes it was a blunder because the Jazz had to let Korver and Matthews go. The Jazz won a playoff series without Memo and the Jazz are in the lottery because DW was traded, Sloan left, the addition of several new players and injuries to other players. Memo was not even part of the play this year. Losing Memo hurt but if the Jazz had been able to get rid of AK and not extended Memo they would have been able to add other players while keeping Matthews and perhaps Korver.

so, KOC was supposed to save up for the future just in case some undrafted FA he signed got a $10 million offer from another team? makes perfect sense to me now. you're right, KOC is such an idiot.

 

[Deleted member 365]

This, as every year, both our offense (by 4 points per 100 possessions) and our defense (maginally) improved when Kirilenko was on the floor.

No ones talking about paying him star money. But this type of hatred is not rational.

Of course, who was taking AK's place? One legged Harpring? CJ? Of course the Jazz statistically would appear better with him than without. But that's not a case for AK. But a case against Harpring and CJ.

 

[Deleted member 365]

so, KOC was supposed to save up for the future just in case some undrafted FA he signed got a $10 million offer from another team? makes perfect sense to me now. you're right, KOC is such an idiot.

KOC is an idiot for keeping a contract that he needed to unload. Perhaps everyone else and their dog knew that too, so that's why he couldn't unload it. But most Jazz fans feel like we didn't make much of an effort to unload him. The Jazz franchise typically doesn't make a move unless their hand is forced by that particular player. Such as Dfish, Carlos Arroyo (Sloan), Carlos Boozer (with all the stupid comments made), Gordan Giricek (fight with Sloan), Dwill (Sloan).

 

[write4u]

One of the issues I think that has been misunderstood by most Jazz fans, myself included, was what Jerry was doing when he would sit AK for extended periods. I used to bitch and moan about it, but now realize it was done with a purpose, and the way Jerry handles players. It was his way of trying to motivate them. He did the same with DWill in his rookie year, and it worked. DWill came out with a vengeance and turned into being a lot better player than most of us expected. But AK just doesn't have the mental toughness of DWill, and the ploy backfired.

Jerry saw that AK wasn't working hard enough, that he wasn't improving and at times wasn't listening to Jerry, one of the greatest perimeter defenders in NBA history, about staying in front of his man and playing defense with his feet instead of always going for the block to pad his stats. Jerry realized this, and tried to get his attention, but unfortunately AK did not respond.

 

[//r00t 4 Jazz]

Speaking of living in the past did anybody see or notice how Battier played this year, not saying he'd keep playing that way but he was brutal this year or at least that's how I remember it, looks like it from this as well.
PPG 7.6
RPG 4.50
APG 2.3
FG% 0.426
3pt% 0.333

 

[NCJazz]

Speaking of living in the past did anybody see or notice how Battier played this year, not saying he'd keep playing that way but he was brutal this year or at least that's how I remember it, looks like it from this as well.
PPG 7.6
RPG 4.50
APG 2.3
FG% 0.426
3pt% 0.333

Offensively all he does is stand in the corner and shoot 3s. Considering he is shooting 33% I would still take AK any day of the year.

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

I have been one of AK biggest fans since he joined the Jazz. So, not surprisingly, his career has been a huge disappointment to me. No, his failures have not been all his fault, but he has to share part of the blame for not working to improve himself.

In frustration, I had a pet name for him whenever he failed to meet my expectations. I'm sure AK haters on this board might use it whenever they refer to him -- STINKOLINKO.

It's definitely better than Raja Smell, who actually is more deserving of our disapprobation.

You should've put "Good Riddance to AK."

 

[NUMBERICA]

Keeping Andrei for $5 million per on a team going anywhere is a good idea that I would endorse. Paying him that kind of money and rebuilding/getting about 7 years younger across the board is clown shoes. Especially when considering he somehow outlasted Boozer, Deron, and Sloan.

It's really, really simple.

 

[The Pearl]

If this is true, why didn't Sloan play him more? Was Sloan too stupid to see that the team was better with AK on the floor or was Sloan holding him down?

Because Jerry had what he considered a viable alternative that he would never get questioned on.