Andrei Kirilenko speaks on his life after NBA; Rearing to win the Euroleague
When the NBA season was locked out back in July 2011, many players were worried about their future. Among them was the ex-Utah Jazz forward, Andrei Kirilenko who made a decision to return back to his country to apply his talents
with the CSKA Moscow team.
It was a homecoming for Kirilenko, who had left CSKA back in 2001 to join the Jazz. Speaking to the reporters on Thursday, a night before the Russians take on the defending Euroleague champions Panathinaikos, Kirilenko has come
out to call it a wise decision and a good prospect for his basketball career.
“I had a lot of doubts but a number of factors came into the picture, most of all the fantastic team chemistry at CSKA and my desire to mould with the core of the Russian national team vying for an Olympic berth,” – He said.
The Russian had to consider in a lot of things at that point in his career, the biggest factor being his desire to represent his country and playing with the team he started his career from. There were also other factors involved
in the decision, like the amount of rest a player gets in the Euro League as compared to the exhausting schedule of the NBA.
Kirilenko made a decision to stay and it seems to have worked out for him pretty well. He has been averaging 24.1 points per game in the season to go along with 7.2 rebounds in every game.
His performances were very much the part of a brilliant 18-2 regular season record and on Friday night, CSKA stands as favourites against the Greeks.
Even though Andrei is much familiar with pressure games like these but the Russian has labelled the format of the Euro League a completely different ball game because unlike NBA there is no best of seven series here, it is just
one game and that is it.
So when asked about the tough matchup his team faces, Kirilenko said.
"I am really anxious and I can’t wait for the match with Panathinaikos to begin because unlike the NBA playoffs, where every round is a best-of-seven series, this is a one-off with no margin for error".
The Russian big man has still not made a decision about his immediate future and at the moment seems to have his eyes set on winning Europe`s elite competition. Speaking about what the future holds for him, Kirilenko is facing
a tough decision as to which team to choose, however he did go on to contemplate that out of the 30 teams in the NBA, Jazz are his first choice i.e. if he decides to return back to the United States.
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