University of Utah Student Newspapers | 2007-09-25 | Page 8

8 Tuesday, September 25,2007 SPORTS NATALIE DICOU www.dailyutahchronicle.com Back where they belong Revived Utes to meet Weber State at home AK-47 is misfiring A ndrei Kirilenko always seemed so innocent. He isn't covered in tattoos and he spends half his time visiting sick children. Even the small forward's hairdos imply innocence. Kirilenko always seemed like a go-with-the-flow type of guy. His nickname, AK-47, seemed almost tongue-in-cheek. Up until a few years ago, Kirilenko was the Jazz's marquee player and yet he seemed not to notice. "Who, me? I'm just one of the guys," Kirilenko seemed to be saying. Perhaps his unselfish style of play contributed to his off-the-court persona. Never the type of player who felt the need to fill a scoring quota, Kirilenko was content to rack up hustle plays. Utahns loved the smiling, personable Russian. But a minor crack appeared in his altar-boy image when he announced that his wife allows him to have sex with another woman once a year. That didn't seem to affect his reputation in Mormon country, though. People wrote the disclosure off as a cultural difference. Plus, NBA player or not, it was difficult to imagine the awkwardly tall, pasty Kirilenko as a ladies' man. But a new Kirilenko has recently reared his head. This version has an ego. Word out of Russia is that the Jazz forward wants out of Utah. Kirilenko has been spouting off to the Russian media all summer about his disdain for his role playing for the Jazz in Jerry Sloan's system. The timing is odd—and telling. Last year, the Jazz had their best .season since 1998, and for the first time since John Stockton retired and Karl Malone became a Laker, the Jazz actually mattered. That's saying a lot in the brutal Western Conference. Strangely, these developments don't come as good news to the Jazz's max-money player. In fact, he's disgruntled. With Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur in the lineup, Kirilenko is no longer relied upon for offense. But, all of a sudden, Kirilenko thinks he's a jump shooter. The small forward wants more touches offensively but in Sloan's system, there are no set plays for Kirilenko. Here's a tip, Kirilenko: When defenders don't come within five feet of you when you're holding the ball on the perimeter, you're probably not considered a threat from that distance. And it's true. Kirilenko is not a reliable shooter from any distance farther out than a layup. But he has become an effective player despite his inability to hit a spot-up 15-footer because of his athleticism. Kirilenko thinks that Sloan is stifling his style of play. But Sloan's style allows Kirilenko to play his game because the Russian doesn't need to have the ball in his hands to be effective. Now that Kirilenko is a star—sort of—he thinks he deserves more shots. But he didn't become a star by making shots. Simply because he makes more money than any other Jazzman doesn't mean he should get to clang the ball off the iron 15 times a game. Kirilenko's style of play is unique. He brings energy to a game through rebounds, blocks and steals—not necessarily through draining shots. Kirilenko's recent outbursts reveal that he was content playing for a non-playoff team. He didn't mind losing as long as he -was a big fish in a little pond But now that the pond around him has grown with the addition of Boozer, Williams and Okur, Kirilenko is feeling more like a guppy than ever. Luckily for Kirilenko, he locked in his contract with the Jazz at the peak of his popularity. No team in its right mind would buy out the $63 million remaining in his contract. While Kirilenko isn't necessarily past his heyday, he hasn't played well enough in recent seasons to garner much attention from other NBA teams in the market for a small forward—at least not for that price. Sorry, Kirilenko, you're stuck here. So stop whining, swat a couple of shot attempts and grab a few rebounds every game. Be the Kirilenko we all know and love. [e-mail] Tony Pizza For the Utes to avoid being put in a similar situation, they SPORTS EDITOR will have to focus on stuffing The U volleyball team had Micah Lines and Chelsea Bair, two targets going into it's lat- who have been a solid oneest match with Colorado State: two punch for the Wildcats find a way to win and find a thus far. way to finish games. Both hitters are averagAfter their 3-1 victory over ing more than three kills per Mountain West Conference game, which is something powerhouse Coloradb State, both Kathryn Haynie and the Utes were able to check Whitney Webb are also doing off each goal as an accom- for the Utes. plishment. Of the three games But one thing Weber State Utah won, all of them came by doesn't have is someone like way of a comeback effort, and Lori Baird to block opponents' two of the games required the kills. The junior is currently Utes to extend well past the second in the MWC with a 30-point threshold. To make blocking average of 1.52 per matters sweeter, the Utes ac- game. complished the feat against However, Weber State does one of the strongest teams have a libero who is on par in the Mountain West Con- with the Utes' Connie Dangerference and were able to ex- field. Wildcat libero Caitlyn act revenge on the team that Anderson is averaging 4.46 tarnished the Utes' run at a digs per game, which is just perfect season through con- slightly higher than Dangerference play and the MWC field's 4.43 average. Tournament a year ago. As much as the focus last Next up for the Utes is in- week for the Utes was capturstate rival Weber State, and ing a winning feeling, a priwith them comes a whole new mary focus this week will be hitting and passing. The Utes set of challenges. Last Tuesday, Weber State are near the top of the MWC nearly shocked its other in- in errors (408) despite playstate rival, BYU, by taking the ing fewer games than other Cougars to afifthand deciding teams. That high error total game. The Cougars, who cur- is the primary reason Utah is rently own a perfect 50-0 re- next to last in hitting percentcord over the Wildcats, were age in the conference at .157 tested right to the end and had per game. to score five straight times For the Utes, Tuesday's with Weber State sitting on match is just a warm-up for the match point before finally lay- busy week they have ahead. ing the threat to rest. Despite Utah will make a quick stop the loss, Weber State head at Air Force on Friday before coach Al Givens was thrilled heading to Wyoming to take with his team's performance. on the Cowgirls on Saturday "We left it all out on the afternoon. floor and I was very pleased Tuesday's opening serve with our effort," Givens said. is set for 7 p.m. at Crimson "We gave it everything we had, Court, which is located in but just couldn't get it done in HPER East 101. the end." [e-mail] Sept. 21,2007 • CrlmsonCourt 7:00 p.m. WEKKNt Utah Utes WH (3-7)0-2) Ute notes: Weber State Wildcats (5-6). Wildcat notes: Utah picked up its first win and brake a four-game Weber State enters the match exactly a week after it's losing streak in its last match against Colorado near-historical up«t over BYU. Weber State look the No. State. The tiles have been led by Kat Haynie. The 23 to the wire, before eventually falling 3-2. The loss junior leads the learn in kills (3.H) and aces (15). swelled Weber State's inadequacies against BYU to 0-50 all Connie Dangerfield is on the verge of taking over time. The Wildcats then followed up the heartbrealcer with as the all-time digs leader in Ute history. a 3-2 road win over Idaho State on Saturday. Weber Slate Dangerfteld needs just 40 digs to take over Brenda features two hitters—Chelsea Bair and Mtah Lines—that are averaging more than three kills per game. MAEGAN HURR/tot Otaly Utah Chronxle Barton -Whicker (or first place all-time. Kathryn Haynie spikes the ball in the Utes'3-1 win against Colorado State on Friday at Crimson Court. Haynie made 15 kills to help the Utes to their first conference win of the season. Food for thought Utah ii 49-13 agalmt Weber Suie all-time. The Utes own a four-game winning streak, with their Iantosscoming on the road In 2002. Utah hasn't lostat home to Weber Suuiince 1995. total of 18fieldparticipants is two more than last season's. GLANCE Jason Peterson STAFF WRITER U golf team gets a chance to stop and enjoy the Valley View U golfer Dustin Pimm and the rest of his team tee off today for the Purple and Red Invitational—the U's third tournament of the season. The tournament, which will be co-hosted by Utah and Weber State, takes place at the Valley View Golf Course in Layton. "Most of us are familiar with this course, so we do have an advantage," Pimm said. "Especially if the weather's going to be bad. But Weber State probably has more of an advantage than we do." Weber State is certainly closer to the course, but the Wildcats concede one advantage to the Utes—they don't have Pimm, the course's collegiate recordholder. In 2005's Purple and Red Invitational, Pimm shot a singleround score of 8-under-par 64. He finished first in the tournament (14-under-par) and helped the Utes finish fourth overall that year. "Personally, I'm not playing as well as I did back then, but as a team, I think we have a good shot," Pimm said. "As long as we stay out of trouble, we'll be okay." Aside from Weber State, the Utes will have to fend off 16 other teams, including Boise State, Utah State and Wyoming. This year's U hockey team gets burned by Wildcats On Saturday night, the U's hockey club traveled north to take on Weber State for its season opener. For a couple of hours, the two teams delivered bruising checks and stinging stick slaps. Unfortunately for the Utes, the Wildcats delivered the final blow—a bruised ego. Utah managed to keep the game close for well over a period until the more experienced Wildcats took over and outscored the Utes for a 12-1 victory. According to backup goalie Jason Petho, the Utes out-shot and out-hustled the Wildcats until the final period, when Weber State broke the game open and Utah let things get out of hand. The Utes' Eric Baxter, a Weber State transfer who played for the Wildcats last season, began the night with a little payback by scoring the Utes' only goal in the first period. While both the Wildcats and the Utes played a physical game, Petho said that Weber State took it too far too often. "They were overly aggressive and took some dirty shots," Petho said. "They picked a couple of fights with our guys and got away with some cheap stick slaps." With all the heated action on the ice Saturday night, Petho summed it up best: "I guess you could say it was a trial by fire." Ute fans will get to show their support at Friday night's home opener against Utah State. The game starts at 7 p.m. at the Steiner Ice Center. [e-mail] FOOTBALL POWER RANKINGS Wyoming Cowboys (3-1) 1 Next Opponent: Bye Devin Moore is giving Cowboy fans plenty to smile about.The co-MWC Offensive Player of the Week pumped in 198 rushing yards in Wyoming's come-from-behind win over Ohio on the road.The Cowboys first MWC test will come against TCU on Oct.6. BYU Cougars (2-21(1-0) Next Opponent: @New Mexico The Cougars bounced back from their loss toTulsa as a good team should and handled an undefeated Air Force team with ease. BYU's schedule lightens up considerably after a tough road battle with New Mexico. Air Force Falcons (3-1)(2-1) Next Opponent:@Navy It will be interesting to see if Air Force's offense continues to fool people as the season progresses and foes in the MWC collect film on the Falcons.Their MWC hopes are still alive, but Navy presents a non-conference tilt that is afways hard fought. New Mexico Lobos (3-1) Next Opponent: BYU The Lobos have quietly poised themselves to pounce on the MWC juggernauts and BYU might be surprised at how hard New Mexico punches back this season/The Lobos lead the conference in 3rd-down conversion percentage (463). TCU Horned Frogs (2-2)«H) Next Opponent:Colorado St. The Horned Frogs have not looked good for three straight weeks now.This once-MWC title favorite has a lot of work to do, but still has their title hopes well-within reach. CSU will be a hard team for TCU to put away this week. UNLV Rebels (2-2)(1-0) Next Opponent: @Nevada UNLV shocked Utah and likely won't be overlooked by another team all season. If RB Frank Summers and LB Beau Bell can maintain half the production they displayed against the Utes, 2007 will be a special year for the Rebels. Utah Utes (1-3)(0-2) Next Opponent: Utah State Not even Vegas (the casinos) can put their finger on this team, which « pretty hard to do. One thing Ute fans can put their finger on is that the Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde routine is making everyone dry heave. Colorado State Rams (0-3) 8 Despite another loss, the Rams are still not as bad as their record suggests. With three of their first four games coming on the road—and their onty home game against top-10 Cal—CSU could still be a MWC threat at 0-3. San Diego State Aztecs (1-2) 9 Next Opponent: @TCU Next Opponent: Cincinnati The Aztecs might have to settle for WR Brett Swain being the one bright spot this season.The senior is only one of two players averaging 100 yards receiving in the MWC this year.Thafs not quite consolation, but SDSU can't afford to be picky. Compiled by Tony Pizza