From Deseret News archives:
Deal or no deal: O'Connor says AK's not on the block
Whatever the tag, Jazz basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor made it clear Friday that the notion Andrei Kirilenko is on the NBA trade block is an inaccurate one.
"We're not trying to trade Andrei," O'Connor said. "I am not trying to trade Andrei Kirilenko, so you can put that in print."
O'Connor spoke one day after Jazz owner Larry H. Miller ripped Kirilenko on the radio, saying the starting small forward "needs to grow up," two days after Kirilenko was practically apologetic in a story on a Russian site, and four days after coach Jerry Sloan said he was "disappointed" by earlier remarks Kirilenko made to reporters in his native Russia.
"As far as my position goes, we're not interested in trading Andrei," O'Connor said. "We won 51 games in the regular season, nine in the playoffs. That's 60 games. We had a darn good year, and we want Andrei to come back stronger and shoot the ball a little better."
Those are two of the challenges the Jazz left Kirilenko with after the season ended with Utah losing to eventual NBA-champion San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals.
Earlier this week, Kirilenko reiterated his many frustrations, including his reduced role in the Jazz offense and how he's been coached. "Utah could have gone even farther if Sloan had offered me a helping hand," Kirilenko was quoted as saying, in English, on an established Russian Web site, Sport Express Daily.
However, in a posting two days later on the same site, in an article titled "I AM NOT GOING TO LEAVE UTAH," Kirilenko sounded rather repentant.
Among his latest quotes:
• "I am not going to blame the head coach for my mistakes for Jerry Sloan did his job and brought positive results — as Utah entered the top four — NBA clubs."
• "I made a crucial mistake as I didn't come up to Sloan and analyze my performance with him. I should have talked with him more and watched the tapes. We didn't manage to clarify the situation and — it was my main mistake. Our coach likes when players come up to him, but I am not used to it. On the other hand, Sloan could offer me a helping hand himself. But what for? Utah looked well and this was not necessary. I can say that nobody is to blame for it. I don't want this situation to repeat next season."
• "Statistics shows that my role in the team's attack declined considerably. However, I am not going to complain since I think it is wrong ... These were mere emotions. It is difficult to analyze something during the season, but now I have enough time to — mull everything over."
