From Russia With Love

For anyone who is interested in Fantasy Basketball, or even real NBA hoops, is there a better stat stuffer then Andrei Kirilenko. If he wasn't playing in such a small market he would be much better known. Here is one scouts take on AK:

"Kirilenko is one of the game's most unique and underrated players, and it was his early-season knee injury that sent Utah's season into a tailspin. Kirilenko hasn't captured the fancy of legions of fans because he isn't a high-volume scorer nor a great outside shooter. He's just very effective at taking advantage of his chances.
Kirilenko's height and length allow him to finish in traffic and dunk over taller players. He's also fast, enabling him to get baskets in transition, and moves well without the ball to put himself in position for easy shots.

Defensively, Kirilenko is devastating, with incredibly long arms that he uses to contest shots. Kirilenko used those arms to lead the league in blocked shots, continuing an odd trend. For the past six seasons, the league leader in blocked shots has been 6-10 or shorter. This era of short shot-blockers like Kirilenko and Ben Wallace is an anomaly. The leader has been 6-11 or taller in each of the preceding 25 seasons.

Less well-known is Kirilenko's ability to pilfer dribblers. He nearly led the team in steals despite playing only 41 games. Overall, Utah gave up 8.3 more points per 48 minutes when he was off the court. Essentially, the Jazz were OK defensively as long as Kirilenko played but became the worst in the league as soon as he checked out."

In closing, for any people out there doubting this Russian's ability read this little blip about Kirilenko's play last week:

Andrei Kirilenko's do-it-all statistical line on Tuesday night: 14 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, seven blocks and six steals. Since 1973, when the NBA first began officially recording steals and blocked shots, only one other player had at least a six in each of those five categories: On March 10, 1987, Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon did it when he played 53 minutes in a double-overtime game against Seattle. Olajuwon had 38 points, 17 rebounds, 12 blocks, seven steals and six assists in that game. (Kirilenko played 42 minutes on Tuesday night.)