The helpful hint is another hurdle to remember and overcome in the maturation process for 23-year-old Kirilenko, whose havoc-based game is built more around blocks, steals and rebounds than it is around pure shooting.

"That's who he is," Sloan said when asked about the shot-blocker in Kirilenko, a long and lanky sort who has scored 16, 14 and 16 points in the Jazz's first three games — almost right in line with his 16.5 points-per-game average in 2003-04.

"People think that Andrei's gonna get you 25 points a night. That's not his game. Never has been. Probably never will be," Sloan added. "I mean, it would be nice if he gets 20, 25 points — but that's not who he is. And that's where he gets into trouble: When he tries to be somebody he's not."

And also when he tries, and especially when he fails, to swat somebody while looking at his name and number and not at his grinning mug.

---

E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com