Bouncing Back: Kirilenko's Superstar Mindset
By Dan Barto, Director of Player Development PTC and The Basketball Academy
Andrei Kirilenko suffered a season of ridicule from the media that many players should actually wish for. It did nothing but provide more drive into an already driven pro. As a skills trainer it was a nightmare to watch Andrei struggle through the Jazz's tremendous season. Playing a new role with the emergence of Deron Williams, Memet Okur and Carlos Boozer as the big three, many questioned Andrei's contract, heart, and commitment to the team.
The European Championships have allowed Andrei to get back into his superstar ways and most likely help him regain the confidence of the "max player" he is.
I had the pleasure of working with Andrei for a little over six weeks last summer. Upon meeting him he stated his goals for what he wanted to accomplish and why. In no uncertain terms he knew what was going to happen both with the Jazz this past season and with the Russian National Team this summer.
Stating "things (with the Jazz) are going to change for me because our team is going to win by pounding people off ball screens and defending. My opportunities are going to come in transition like always, spot ups and some isolation/mismatch. I will be the fourth option and I have to do what is best for my team".
He talked about his skill improvement and shooting both off of the catch and dribble "a couple years" process where he would probably fail numerous times to successfully implement them, but would eventually master them and increase the length of his career and value.
He stated that the summer of '06 was his first summer of not playing with the national team because he needed to rest. With the playoffs, international play and being an NBA starter, he would play more minutes than anyone in the world from October through next training camp. Also he talked about trying to get his body right since he dealt with so many injuries in the past. With the FIBA qualifiers and Olympics over the next two summers this would be his only chance to do that.
These were not ingenious concepts, but so few players are able to look at the scope of 12 months with such precision, honesty and hunger, let alone 3 years. Over the next six weeks Andrei would teach me so much about the international game, being a "professional" and how many different ways "dawg" could be used in the English language.
The first on court workout I remember consisted of his wanting to ease into training with lots of repetitious shooting at Cal-State Dominguez Hills. Wife Masha was in attendance and after 500 plus shots we sat down. He explained his troubles with his shooting since a very bad break in his forearm left it impossible for him to cock or wrinkle his wrist behind the ball like any coach would want.
Besides the wrist, the thing that stuck was his obsession with meeting the challenge game of "plus/minus to 12". His excitement when he would go on streaks and his frustrations as he would fall behind. His emotional connection to the game was evident.
His training consisted of mid-post work where he would aggressively attack the rim or jab/freeze fake and shoot over the defender. He showed off his amazing ability to glide up and down the court with ball in hand. Constantly being creative and experimenting with different types of moves and movement.
During one of our on-court sessions I remember Andrei speaking about talking to his teammates on the Russian National Team after a defeat in the World Championships. He was so frustrated with the loss and worried about qualifying. His pride was so evident. His workout was poor that day, again showing the emotional connection he has to everything around him
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The following day he invited me to Malibu for one of our shooting/pool workout days. After sharing some post-workout pound cake from the delightful Chef, we began watching FIBA qualifying games on a very large television and talking about his experiences.
The points he made about being the youngest player drafted and being the keystone for the future of a nation's basketball development were preceded by a small history lesson by Masha of growing up in the communist Soviet Union. He insisted, as he watched the the young Russian players growing from the experiences without him, that losing in '06 would build a stronger foundation for summer 2007. And the new coach (David Blatt) would let him create and live with his mistakes, trusting that there was a reason he was a max player and the youngest player ever drafted. .
As I watched the championship game, I saw that Andrei's vision becomes complete. I am sure the whole country was as inspired by and excited for Andrei. For me it is a pleasure to see a superstar bounce back and be on top again. Most importantly to see why certain players run from challenges and never find truly rewarding moments and why other accept challenge, accept failure and have the moments we all dream about.
