AK47 ready for NBA return

LONDON – Russian star Andrei Kirilenko, known as AK47, described the Olympic bronze medal game against Argentina as “bone-to-bone,” referring to its physical nature, as he got ready to return to the NBA next season with teammate Alexey Shved by leading the national squad to an 81-77 win at the North Greenwich Arena last Sunday.

Kirilenko, 31, saw action for CSKA Moscow last season during the NBA lockout and opted to stay in the Euroleague even when the NBA resumed. Last July, he was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves along with Shved.

“It feels like a gold medal,” said Kirilenko in the press mixed zone. “It’s huge. This was Russia’s first Olympic medal in basketball since the dissolution of the USSR. You can just imagine how strong we’d be if we had those Lithuanian and Ukrainian guys like before. Do I want to keep (coach) David (Blatt)? Of course. Just look at the results. We won the European Championship in 2007 with David and now, we took the bronze.”

Kirilenko said adding the bronze medal to his personal collection isn’t as meaningful as contributing to the team effort. “If I was still 23, I’d consider it a great individual honor to get the bronze but now that I’m older, I’m just happy to be able to produce for the team,” he said. “Hey, I called it for Alexey on the last play. We had a timeout and my guy made the shot. I’m really happy for him.”

Shved, 23, is a 6-6 guard who plays like former Los Angeles Lakers guard and Maria Sharapova’s boyfriend Sasha Vujacic. Before the playoff for third place, he averaged 9.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists for Russia. Against Argentina with the bronze medal on the line, Shved erupted for 25 points, 13 in the fourth period. After Manu Ginobili made it 77-76 for Argentina with 44 seconds left, Shved came off a timeout to hit a triple and Russia held on to the driver’s seat for good.

“We kept our composure when Argentina made a run,” said Kirilenko. “Argentina’s tough and very unpredictable with Manu, (Luis) Scola, (Andres) Nocioni and (Carlos) Delfino. But we executed well, we played our game. If we only played that way in the semifinals, we wouldn’t have lost to Spain.”

Russia defeated Spain, 77-74, in the round-robin Group B eliminations where Blatt piloted the team to a 4-1 record, losing only to Australia by two points. Russia beat Great Britain, 95-75, China, 73-54, Brazil, 75-74 and Spain. In the quarterfinals, Russia ousted Lithuania, 83-74. But in the semifinals, Russia blew a 13-point lead in the first period and an 11-point advantage at the half to lose a 67-59 decision to Spain. Kirilenko was held to only 10 points.

In the battle for bronze, Kirilenko compiled 20 points and eight rebounds. Vitaly Fridzon, who was matched up against Ginobili, chipped in 19. Argentina lived and died with the three-point shot. The Argentines went 13-of-33 from the arc compared to Russia’s 9-of-23. As a result, Russia shot a higher clip from the floor, 51 percent to 44. Russia was more aggressive in storming the rim, scored more points in the paint, 32-16, and had the edge in rebounds, 33-27, and free throws, 16-of-20 to 10-of-13. The tight contest featured 17 lead changes and 12 ties.

Aside from Kirilenko, the two other NBA veterans in the Russian team are 6-9 Viktor Khryapa and 7-1 Timofey Mozgov. Khryapa shot nine points and Mozgov was scoreless in 7:22 minutes in the Argentina game. Khryapa played for Portland and Chicago in the NBA while Mozgov is now with the Denver Nuggets after a stint with the New York Knicks.

Kirilenko was Russia’s flag-bearer in the parade of nations at the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. Russia finished fifth that year. Kirilenko’s Olympic debut was forgettable as Russia wound up eighth at the 2000 Sydney Games. In 2004, Russia didn’t even qualify. So this year’s bronze medal was a watermark particularly as it came at Argentina’s expense. Argentina won the gold in basketball in 2004 and claimed the bronze in Beijing.

When Russia competed as the USSR, the Soviets bagged the basketball gold at the 1972 Munich and 1988 Seoul Olympics. The USSR split into several independent nations in 1991 and from the once formidable monolith came such countries as Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Lithuania, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Russia. At the 1992 Games, Russia competed as the Confederation of Independent States or CIS and took fourth after losing an 82-78 verdict to Lithuania for the bronze. CIS earlier dropped a 75-74 squeaker to Croatia in the semifinals. Russia was not represented in basketball in 1996.

In the finals, the US trounced Spain, 107-100, behind an avalanche of 15 three-pointers. Spain put five players in twin digits – Pau Gasol 24, Juan Carlos Navarro 21, Marc Gasol 17, Rudy Fernandez 14 and naturalized player Serge Ibaka of Congo 12. The US was led by Kevin Durant with 30, LeBron James 19, Kobe Bryant 17 and Chris Paul 11.