FanHouse AndreKirilenko

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Suns-Spurs game tonight.

1. Anybody Else Want To Try?: The Rockets have been looking for a hero in this entire series. So far, they've had Luis Scola as the rock, and Tracy McGrady as the nice, cheap paint. But other than Rafer Alston in Game 3, there hasn't been a support player to step up. Scola is supposed to be that guy, but he has to be a primary without Yao Ming. The Rockets need somebody, Rafer, Battier, Landry, heck, even Luther Head will work, to step up and give them the big playoff buckets. If it's just T-Mac versus Jazz, well, we know how that works out.

2. AK Can Maintain: Andre Kirilenko on defense has been stellar in this series, but he needs to step it up offensively. He's held McGrady from being absurd in this series, but he's only averaging 10 points a game. If he's able to step up and knock down his jumper, this thing ends tonight, and the Jazz can rest a bit.

Perhaps the most amazing feature of the whole Andrei Kirilenko trade fiasco is that none of his statements have been in English. And as of yet, he hadn't gotten with English language media to clarify the whole thing.

All of this came to a screeching halt last week, when he sat down with television station KSL 5. From The Salt Lake Tribune:

"I'm stuck," Kirilenko said. "I don't know. I'm stuck in this situation." He added that he would trust whatever decision Larry Miller made about a possible trade. "I just want him to help me again and help the team," he said.

[...]

"I don't want to be an anchor for the team," Kirilenko said. "Right now, I feel like an anchor, game-wise and money-wise. I want Jazz to be as happy as possible."

There's more, but you get the gist: Resignation and well-meaning trooper-ism on the part of Kirileno. He's calmed down a bit since his initial demands, so it's not like this is a direct translation of his Russian statements. But it is worth considering how much context--linguistic and otherwise--influences athletes' opinions. When Kirilenko's on top of the EuroBall world and speaking to his native fans, it's easy to fantasize about freedom. Back in Utah, surrounded by his Jazz teammates, well, that's a whole different ball game.

To end this on a cheery note: Kirilenko earnestly tells reporters that "I want to get the spark. I want to burn the floor." If that's not a quote for the ages, I don't know what is.