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2002-03:
Played in 80 of the 82 games on the season, scoring a career-high 12.0 points and 5.3
rebounds, while playing 27.7 minutes per game...Missed the first two games of his career
(November 15, 2002 at Detroit and November 17, 2002 at Toronto) due to a strained lower
back... Scored a career-high 30 points at the Los Angeles Lakers on December 8, 2002,
connecting on 8-12 field goals (4-4 from 3-point range) and 10-10 from the line...
Registered 52 double-figure scoring games with six games of 20+ points... Scored the
1,000th point of his career vs. Phoenix on November 19, 2002...Connected on .491 percent
from the field, third best on the team, good for 17th in the league... Third on the team
in free throw percentage, hitting .800 percent from the line (296-370) and went 37-114 from
the 3-point line (.325%)... Finished as the team's fourth leading rebounder, with a career-high
12 vs. New York on April 4, 2003 and had four games of +10 rebounds... Lead the team in
blocked shots for the second straight season, averaging 2.20 blocks per game, good for 8th
in the league... Blocked at least one shot
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in 70 of his 80 games, with a season-high and
career-high tying six three times (vs. Philadelphia on December 28, 2002; vs. New Jersey
on January 20, 2003 and vs. Los Angeles Clippers on March 22, 2003)...Third on the team in
steals, averaging 1.47 steals per games (29th in the league), with a season-high five at
Milwaukee on January 3, 2003...Served up a career-high six assists at Milwaukee on January
3, 2003... Participated on the sophomore team in the Got Milk Rookie Challenge during the
NBA All-Star Weekend in Atlanta, scoring 13 points (6-10 FGs), with five rebounds, two steals
and one block in 27 minutes.
2001-02:
Finished the season as one of the top rookies in the league, averaging 10.7 points per game (5th among all rookies), 4.9 rebounds per game (3rd on the team and 5th among all rookies), 1.94 blocks per game (12th in the NBA and second in rookie standing) and 1.41 steals, good for 5th among all rookies...Finished in the season among rookie leaders in nine of the ten categories...Tied a Jazz rookie record, playing in all 82 games on the season and starting 40 times...Scored a season-high 27 points at Detroit on 3/15, connecting on 11-15 from the field and 5-7 from the line...Scored his previous high with 24 points on 1/7 at San Antonio and for the season recorded 46 games of double-figure scoring (four games of 20+ points)...Made his first NBA start against Indiana on 12/2 and responded with a double-double, scoring 13 points, with 10 rebound and scored 19 points vs. Charlotte on 12/5 in his second career start...Pulled down a season-high 10 rebound four times during the season...Blocked a season-high six shots three times (vs. San Antonio on 1/17; vs. Memphis on 2/28 and at Dallas on 4/16) and collected a season-high six steals vs. Dallas on 12/10...Played a season-high 44 minutes at Detroit on 3/15, and finished the season third on the team in minutes played...Was selected to play in the Schick Rookie Game during All-Star Weekend and recorded four points in 15 minutes...Played for the Russian National Team in the World Championships in August, but suffered a sprained left ankle and was limited to just three games...Scored a team-high 24 points vs. Venezuela prior to suffering the injury.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Began his basketball career with SPARKAK St. Petersburg (Russia) in 1996-97 at the age of 15...As the youngest player ever in the Russian League, played in just three games, but proved his mettle when he earned MVP honors as a 16-year-old in the 1997 European Junior Championships after averaging 19.5 ppg, 10.2 rpg and 3.9 spg...Saw action in 41 games in 1997-98 for SPARKAK, averaging 11.9 ppg and 4.6 rpg, while shooting .521 from the field...Shot a remarkable .647 from the field and earned a spot in the Russian League All-Star Game, where he scored 12 points for the West squad and won the Slam Dunk Competition...In 1998-99, joined the CSKA team in Russia, posting 12.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 2.1 apg in 26 regular season games, and 5.3 ppg and 1.4 rpg in seven games in the European Club Competition...During the 1999-2000 regular season, averaged 13.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 2.5 apg in 37 regular season games, 11.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg in 19 games during the European Club competition and led the team to the Russian National Championship and to the NEBL (Northern European Basketball League) Championship title...Competed for the Russian Olympic Team during the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, seeing action in all seven games (three starts) and averaging 9.4 ppg and 5.0 rpg in only 22.7 mpg...Shot .564 from the field and led the team in free throws made and attempted (22-29, .759), rebounds (35), blocks (13) and steals (15)...Had his best game vs. Spain, scoring 16 points and grabbing a team-high nine rebounds in 34 minutes, and posted 11 points and four rebounds in 21 minutes for Russian (which finished 3-4) in an 85-70 quarterfinal loss to the United States...During 2000-01, played 20 games for CSKA during the regular season (12.7 ppg, 8.6 rpg), 22 games in the European Club competition (13.9 ppg, 9.2 rpg, .575 FG%), and 12 games in the NEBL (12.9 ppg, 9.7 rpg).
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