Nike Basketball News

The Collection 3.0: Shox Vision Andrei Kirilenko

TheLetterJ — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:39:15 GMT

The top two teams of today's Western Conference will play tonight, as the Utah Jazz are in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers. The Lakers have dropped two straight, while the Jazz have won eight of the last 10, including the last three.

The Jazz have been without Andrei Kirilenko for nine of the past 11 games, as he works through a left calf injury. On the year, AK47 is averaging 11.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists.

Check out the Shox Vision that Andrei has been wearing this season.

The Family: L.A. Silences the Jazz

Hotnix — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:53:11 GMT

No man can do it alone. That’s the lesson the Lakers have learned. And it’s a lesson they continued to put into practice as the entire squad stepped up to shut down the Jazz.

Last night was the night. Los Angeles was determined to end a series that perhaps they should’ve sweeped. And from the moment they hit the floor they smothered Utah on both offense and defense, pushing the lead to as much as 22 point.

The big story is Lamar Odom, who for most of the game led all scorers. His silky smooth 26 points were matched with 15 hard fought rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

And despite a reported ankle injury, Trevor Ariza looked 100% as he terrorized Utah with 2 monster blocked shots that translated to easy fast break points, seven rebounds, a steal and 12 solid points.

The L.A. big men dominated throughout the series, overpowering Utah’s undersized front court. Last night Pau Gasol continued his All-star worthy season with a 17 point, 11 rebound performance. And although Andrew Bynum is still finding his way back to health, his size and presence was felt early on.

But what’s the postseason without a little drama? After spending most of the game leading by as much as 22, the Lakers got a little too comfortable. And the Jazz made their move. Led By Deron Williams’ quick feet and the relentless offense and defense of Andrei Kirelinko, Ronnie Brewer and Matt Harpring, they were able to close the gap to 10.

Kobe wasn’t having it. He spent the night picking pockets, defying gravity and breaking tackles on his way to scoring by any means necessary. After a an impossible fadeaway jumper in the last seconds of the first half, and a third quarter fast break a collision with a ref, he racked up 31 points and five steals to close out the Jazz 107-96.

The Family: Playoff Preview

Hotnix — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:15:10 GMT

If a team has a true floor general at point guard, it has a chance in any game, any series, any season. Utah's Deron Williams is a straight balla at PG, so any team that takes them lightly in the postseason is headed for disappointment.

Deron Williams is the piston that fires all cylinders. The burly, sweet-shooting point guard is certainly in the conversation for best at his position in the league. Deron is cranking up his game down the stretch, with such gems as 34 points and 11 assists against Minnesota, 21 and 11 against New Orleans and that other point guard, and 18 and 12 against Dallas. His season averages are up to 19.8 points and 10.6 assists, killer numbers in both columns.

The recipients of many of those assists are Andrei Kirilenko slashing to the hoop and Ronnie Brewer popping from deep. AK-47 has been battling injuries, but the Russian swingman posted some of his best performances down the stretch, including 17 points and 6 rebounds against the Clippers and 16 and 7 against New Orleans. If Utah has any shot at some upsets, AK-47 needs to be at his shot-blocking, baseline-jumper-draining best.

Brewer is Utah’s best jump shooter, and when he’s open he’s deadly. His game plays off of Williams—when the D-Will is driving and creating, Brewer is often the beneficiary. If Brewer can make something happen off the dribble, Utah would really be tough to corral.

Utah has had more than its share of bumps and bruises this year, but Williams is capable of leading them into the second round and even beyond, if he is at his best and his mates bring their A games.

This Is Our Game: Controversy & Defeat

GHarty — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:41:14 GMT

This is Our Game explores the rich tradition of the U.S. National Teams, uncovering the victories, defeats, and rivalries of the last seven decades. In Part Two of the series, a legendary streak comes to an abrupt end as Russia emerges on the world stage.

1972-1984.

As the threat of a Third World War looms over the country, Team USA suffers its first ever defeat to its Cold War rivals.

Between the 1940’s and the early 1990’s, the Cold War weighed heavily on the minds of Americans. And in the 1970’s, the controversy, terror and politics finally began to overshadow the goodwill of the games.

The 1972 summer games started off like any other, with Team USA marching through its opponents with ease. Teams like Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Brazil, Spain, Australia, Japan and Egypt posed little threat to U.S. dominance. But the USSR proved to be a different sort of challenge; as they faced their Cold War rivals in the finals game, they battled from the tip-off, exchanging leads throughout. The Americans knew they had it covered, scoring two clutch free throws with three seconds left on the clock – enough to ensure a 50-49 victory.

Then tragedy struck.

After Russia’s inbound pass, with just one second left on the clock, the referee unexpectedly blew the whistle. After a few moments of confusion, he emerged from a conference with the other refs and announced that the Russian head coach had called a timeout. As a result, the clock would be turned back to three seconds.

When the Russians missed their opportunity to score, Team USA began to celebrate their victory. But the Russian head coach, after flagging down the refs, argued that the clock was improperly reset. The U.S. could do nothing but stand by and wait – and finally, after a long period of deliberation, they saw that the clock was again being set to three seconds. The Russians took to the court again, and were given another chance to score. This time, they sank their shot before the buzzer, and were awarded the gold.

Team USA, believing they were robbed, refused to accept silver medals.

After all of the controversy, tragedy and defeat of the Munich Summer Games, the U.S., still holding a grudge from their previous loss, went to Montreal four years later in search of revenge. After stomping their way through Italy and Yugoslavia, Team USA battled until the final minutes for a 95-94 victory over Puerto Rico. They followed up with easy wins over the remaining competition, including a 2-0 win over Egypt, who had to forfeit for political reasons. The U.S. won the top prize that year, the Russians trailing at third.

In Moscow, eight years after the upset with Russia, yet another political issue overshadowed the games. This time, it was the Soviet-Afghan conflict; Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan was opposed by U.S. allies around the world, and to send a message, Americans and supporting countries staged an official boycott of the games. Without the Americans in the tournament that year, Yugoslavia swept the gold, and the Russians took the bronze.

In '84, Russia and many of its Communist allies returned the favor, protesting the games in Los Angeles. Future legends like Michael Jordan, Chris Mullin and David Robinson were given their first taste of the international spotlight. Unsurprisingly, without their strongest competitor in the tournament, Team USA walked away with the gold.

Until the Cold War ended in the mid '90’s, political rivalries were played out on the hardwood, the defeats as devastating as losses on the battlefield. The next time Team USA faced their Russian rivals in 1988, they suffered a loss that rallied them to assemble the greatest collection of athletes in history, forever changing the game of basketball.

NEXT: Defeat in Seoul gives birth to the American Dream >>

More on Team USA
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The Competition: Andrei Kirilenko

GHarty — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:35:59 GMT

When the Soviet Union collapsed, its basketball team went with it. But now, seventeen years later, Andrei Kirilenko is leading the Russian revival.

For decades, the U.S.S.R. posed a major threat to the United States, both on and off the court. It was a rivalry full of controversy (’72), boycotts (’80 and ’84) and hard-fought games all around. But when the Iron Curtain came down in the early ’90s, the Soviet Empire broke apart, putting an abrupt end to Russia’s glory days in basketball.

From the ashes of Communism arose a new Russian team, assembled with the hope of rekindling former glory. But it soon became clear that they were a mere shadow of the 1972 and 1988 gold medal teams, even failing to qualify for the Games in '92 and '96. They showed a glimmer of promise during the '94 and '98 FIBA World Championships, coming home with the silver – but again, they struggled to stage a comeback, finishing 8th at the 2000 Games and missing out on the 2004 altogether.

Recently, however, Russia has experienced a revival. Led by Andrei Kirilenko, known as AK-47, the 2007 Russian National Team beat defending world champs Spain by just one point, winning the Eurobasket tournament in the most dramatic way possible. Kirilenko’s stifling defense shut down the top offensive players across all opposing teams, earning him the MVP award.

The mighty Russia was back.

After dominating the Russian leagues and European tournaments, Andrei was picked up by Utah in the first round of the 1999 NBA Draft. At just 18 years and four months, he was the youngest European player ever drafted. Since joining the Jazz, he‘s made the All-Rookie team, three consecutive All-Defensive teams, and has been an All-Star.

During this year's playoffs, Andrei went head-to-head with the Lakers in a six-game war for the West. His defense was the key to containing Kobe, giving the Jazz an opportunity to win two clutch home court games. And though they couldn’t pull out the victory and move to the Finals, Kirilenko proved himself against the man commonly known as the best player in the world.

It’s been 20 years since his national team tasted gold at the Summer Games. This summer, AK-47 will have a chance to square off once again with the world's best. The Russian basketball renaissance is finally underway – and Kirilenko is leading the charge.

More on Team USA
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