Andrei Kirilenko, Al Horford, Luol Deng: Best International NBA players of 2000’s (Part-4)
Andrei Kirilenko:
Also known as AK 47, Andrei plays as a small forward for Utah jazz and has been an All-Star once. He is an outstanding defender and was the league’s best shot blocker and defender in 2006. He ended with an average of 15 points,
8 rebounds and 1.5 steals that year, his best season till date.
Andrei is a versatile player, with a decent ability to score from outside the paint. For years, he played under the shadow of All-Star point guard Deron Williams at the Jazz. However, with Williams now in New Jersey Nets and the
Jazz left with a bunch of relatively young and inexperienced players, Kirilenko has a golden opportunity to establish himself as the alpha dog in the Salt Lake City franchise.
His overall average 12.4 points per game so far, but he has the potential and the flair to get better. A shade of his extra ordinary talent was evident in the recently concluded FIBA Eurobasket where he played a pivotal role in
taking Russia to the third spot.
Al Horford:
The 25 year old Dominican who plays as centre/power forward for Atlanta Hawks was the 3rd overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, behind Kevin Durant and Greg Oden. Horford is a talented player with a tremendous skill set
on the paint. His all round ability to score, rebound and assist has been instrumental in enabling the Hawks reach the playoffs year after year.
Horford played most of the matches in his rookie season and ended with averages of 10.1 and 9.9 rebounds per game. From there on, it has been an upward journey and last year his stats jumped to 15.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.5
assists. Horford has established himself as one of the most reliable bigs in just over three years and as time passes, he will only get better.
Luol Deng:
The small forward from Chicago Bulls was usually overshadowed by the presence of Derrick Rose last season. However, his stats are as impressive as other top players in the team. Luol has never been considered as the number one
scoring option at the Bull and this is perhaps the motivation that has kept him going all these years.
He is an asset on the front court with an overall average of 16.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He was a crucial component of the Chicago Bulls team which reached the Conference Finals last year. Then, in the game-1
of the Eastern Conference Finals – the only game that the Bulls won – Deng showed that he belonged with the best when he completely owned LeBron James. The performance was mere a sign of what is yet to come and if utilized properly, Deng has the ability to
become one of the best forwards in the league
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