Archives For Andrei Kirilenko

Wolves 84, Pacers 70: Hello, new friends

Zach Harper —  October 11, 2012 — 3 Comments

It wasn’t a pretty preseason opener in many ways, but the Wolves got to debut some new faces and beat up on an incomplete Pacers team for the victory.

Between the poor 3-point shooting, the grainy Fargo television feed coming through NBA League Pass, lots of turnovers, and a lot of missed free throws, it would have been pretty easy to want to look away from our first glimpse at what the Wolves have to offer this year. Plus, D.J. Augustin was the main point guard for Indiana due to George Hill sitting out and nobody wants to watch him play starter’s minutes. However, we got to watch Wolves basketball once again and it was pretty fun to see the new direction the team is going.

I’m not going to try to find an overarching storyline with a preseason game and look for how it affects the team moving forward. It’s preseason after all. So let’s just try to look at what each individual player did and file it away for later use.  Continue Reading…

In 2012 Preseason, Game Analysis, Highlights, Player Analysis , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Andrei Kirilenko & Alexey Shved: Media Day quotes

Steve McPherson —  October 1, 2012 — Leave a comment
Alexey Shved and Andrei Kirilenko

Photo by Steve McPherson

Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved sat down with Kirilenko very much in the driver’s seat. Shved mostly hung back, responding only when addressed directly and looking a little sheepish. Kirilenko seems convinced he’ll speak most loudly with his game.

  1. steventurous
    Kirilenko on Shved: “I don’t like to give advice. I think everyone is a grown man.”
    Steve McPherson
    Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:35:18
  2. It was clear from the moment they came in and sat down that Kirilenko is very much playing the big brother role to Shved. Although he said he wasn’t going to help him out, Kirilenko helped Shved to translate his thoughts into English. Shved said he had no trouble understanding English, but has difficulty with speaking it. His quotes bear that out, although he’s certainly not a disaster.

  3. steventurous
    Shved and Kirilenko meeting the media. http://yfrog.com/mneswbbj
    Steve McPherson
    Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:36:07
  4. steventurous
    “Adelman’s system is very good for me.” –Kirilenko
    Steve McPherson
    Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:36:37
  5. In some ways, this would almost indicate to me that Kirilenko envisions spending a good amount of time at the four as well as the three, since Adelman’s system involves big men making cuts and hitting cutters. These are both things that Kirilenko can do, and he expressed admiration for watching Adelman’s system work over the years while he was playing in Utah.
  6. steventurous
    Shved is blushing a little speaking English.
    Steve McPherson
    Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:37:10
  7. steventurous
    Kirilenko: “All English I learned in the locker room my first year.” Confident Shved will pick it up.
    Steve McPherson
    Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:37:56
  8. Kirilenko was basically saying that he never had any formal one-on-one tutoring in English. It certainly seems like Shved is at the level where he will begin to pick it up quickly once he’s immersed in it. Certainly, Kirilenko will ease that transition.
  9. steventurous
    Kirilenko: “Love has made the jump from being just a very good player to being a franchise player.”
    Steve McPherson
    Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:39:31
  10. It was good to hear the kind of belief players like Kirilenko have in Love and his abilities. It certainly seems like they’ve assembled a group of guys who respect Love but also expect him to lead the team vocally and by example. I guess we’ll find out how that goes with vets like Kirilenko and Roy as the season progresses. If things start well, I think it could go very well. If they don’t … well, we’ll see.
  11. steventurous
    Kirilenko: “You can’t guard the superstars in this league one on one. You have to help each other and build a team defensive philosophy.”
    Steve McPherson
    Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:40:43
  12. I always like when players simply admit something we all know without being hung up on how it sounds. Clearly, if you’re talking about Durant and James, defending them is not up to any individual player. Everyone on the team has to make the rotations and know where to be. This echoes Adelman’s statement that although the team has defensive deficiencies, he’s hopeful that they’ll play good team defense.
  13. steventurous
    Kirilenko says he signed a picture of Shved holding up a Kirilenko jersey when Shved was 12, but doesn’t remember it.
    Steve McPherson
    Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:42:32
  14. This was the funniest part of the presser. Kirilenko initially said it was a picture of Shved when he was seven or eight, but Shved interrupted him to say he was twelve. Kirilenko responded, “Well, you looked really young in that picture.”
  15. steventurous
    Kirilenko: “Russians are going to invade the United States.”
    Steve McPherson
    Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:43:01
  16. Kirilenko tossed this out as he and Shved were getting up to leave. Sarah Palin, you’ve been put on blast.
In 2012-13 Season, Player Interviews , ,
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Wolves tried to get downtown but missed their connection, and other public transit metaphors

Zach Harper —  September 20, 2012 — 8 Comments

The Wolves’ 3-point shooting last season was pretty atrocious.

Despite being 23rd in the NBA in 3-point percentage, the Wolves just kept chucking up shots from long range. They finished sixth in the NBA in attempts from downtown, even when you adjust for pace. Perhaps one of the reasons the Wolves kept shooting them was because of a confidence built up the previous season.

In the 2010-11 debaclypse season, the Wolves were deadeye shooters as a team. They shot 37.6% from 3-point range, much better than the 33.2% they managed in the lockout season. They had the fifth best percentage off the 10th most attempts. They liked to fire from deep and they were good at it. In fact, it was really the only thing they were good at.  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Statistical Analysis , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Well, show’s over, kids. The thirtieth Olympiad has concluded and gone with it are the hours of  equestrian, water polo, race walking and assorted moments in broadcasting cluelessness which left us fumbling for the remote. Of course scattered amongst the monotony were the reasons we actually watch; the worlds greatest athletes, having toiled for years in relative obscurity, dazzling us with their talent, passion and character. The Olympics are shared moment, one where household names and legends are created in a matter of seconds. For Kevin Love, it was just more of the same.

Continue Reading…

Posted by Myles Brown on August 13, 2012 In Uncategorized , , ,
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This is the Wolves’ latest signing.

Zach Harper —  July 27, 2012 — 6 Comments

No big deal. It’s just Andrei Kirilenko on a jet ski next to a pig.

I’m so excited for Wolves’ Media Day.  (H/T — @_V_W)

In 2012 Offseason ,
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The sky is falling… upward? TRANSACTIONS GALORE!

Zach Harper —  July 25, 2012 — 60 Comments

OKAY!

A lot has happened over the couple days and now we’re getting a better idea of the way this roster could look heading into next season. After missing out on Nicolas Batum (when evil Paul Allen wouldn’t let him go despite Neil Olshey wanting to let him go or at least work out a sign-and-trade), the Wolves were left with a plan B. Only nobody really seemed to know what the plan B was. The team missed out on Courtney Lee because… well… let’s just say negotiating issues, and it left the team without many options.

So here are the four transactions that have gone/will go down:

1. Greg Stiemsma signs with the team.
2. Wayne Ellington is dealt to the Grizzlies for Dante Cunningham.
3. Wes Johnson and a 1st round pick are part of a 3-team deal that brings back Brad Miller’s contract (CJZero corrected me that he’s going to Phoenix), Jerome Dyson, and a couple of picks.
4. The Wolves sign Andrei Kirilenko for two years and roughly $20 million.

Let’s look at these in order of importance:  Continue Reading…

In 2011-12 Season, NBA Free Agency, Player Analysis, Transactions , , , ,
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Timberwolves 100, Jazz 108: Andrei 5000 presides

Benjamin Polk —  January 29, 2011 — 1 Comment

Andrei Kirilenko is really a strange looking dude. He wears his baggy shorts very high on an already high waist. His long hair is about as thin and whispy as human hair can be. Its lighter than air; it seems to just float around his long face. And that face! That face is like a caricature of a face.

Most importantly for our purposes are the arms. AK’s preposterously long arms appear to have been grafted onto his body, an ill-fitting gift from the robot/aliens hovering above us. For a man like this, with this kind of willowy, yet angular, almost synthetic body, and with his great instinct for the ball, playing the Timberwolves must seem like the greatest gift of all.

Continue Reading…

In Game Analysis , , , , , , ,
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