Kirilenko must regain healthy form for the Jazz to compete

When the league's coaches selected Utah's Andrei Kirilenko as a reserve for the 2004 NBA All-Star Game, Jazz fans figured it was just the first of many such honors for the versatile Russian.

He was so young, just 22, and certainly he would keep improving. He was, after all, chosen an All-Star over Denver's Carmelo Anthony and Phoenix's Shawn Marion, among others. And a Jazz team that wasn't supposed to win in double figures that season was already 24-24. With Kirilenko as its centerpiece, that Jazz wound up 42-40 and just missed making the playoffs.

Surely, Kirilenko and the Jazz would continue to rise.

Well, that was the thinking going into the 2004-05 campaign that began with a 6-1 record but was trashed beyond recognition by injuries to many of its principle players and an irreparable rift between the coach and projected starting point guard. The Jazz won just 20 more games in a season that saw Kirilenko miss half its games with knee and ankle sprains and a broken wrist.

No All-Star moments from the Jazz last season.

Now, his extremities are feeling strong, and Kirilendko is finally rid of the hated mask he wore in the preseason to protect the broken nose he suffered while playing for his Russian team in the European championships in September. And a return by Kirilenko to the All-Star form of 2004-05 would go a long way toward healing his entire team that opens the Season-After tonight at 7 in the Delta Center with Dallas.

Kirilenko sees no reason he can't play that well again.

"Definitely," he said. "All players want to play in the best level.

"Why not?"

"That's what we expect," coach Jerry Sloan said about Kirilenko getting back to All-Star form.

"I think he's in that category where he's moved himself up financially. He's in that category where he's got to put himself in position where he helps us in every aspect of the game," Sloan said. "My thing is, we want him to play well. We hope he plays well. We need him to play well.

"I know he's been banged up some, but everything still remains the same: We expect a lot of him. He's one of the star players on this team."

Sloan is anxious to see how well Kirilenko and others who sat out much of last season "fight back after injuries. I don't know about that. We haven't played 10 or 15 games."