Jazz's future has a face.

Jerry Sloan has had little use for rookies during his 14 years as the Jazz's coach. Sure, he puts up with them, but few newcomers have had an impact for Sloan's veteran-heavy clubs.

That is, until Andrei Kirilenko showed up this season. Now the face of the post-John Stockton/Karl Malone Jazz is beginning to look a lot more like a rail-thin 6-9 Russian with a flat-top haircut and a mischievous grin.

Stockton and Malone did their usual solid work early in the team's first-round playoff series against the Kings, but it was Kirilenko who sparked the Jazz to a Game 2 road win that was the biggest upset of the first week of the playoffs. Kirilenko finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five blocks in a team-high 42 minutes. Four of his blocks were on attempted Kings layups.

"I like him a lot," Kings center Vlade Divac says. "For me, he's (one of the) top two rookies in the league this year."

But Sloan likes Kirilenko because he doesn't play like a rookie. Kirilenko plays the way Sloan did in his Bulls hey-day--with abandon. He dives after loose balls, blocks shots, battles for rebounds and sustains cuts and bruises. It's easy to see why Sloan, who isn't prone to hyperbole, says Kirilenko is "a huge part of the future" for the Jazz.

Kirilenko, 21, who still is getting comfortable with English, knows the international language of pro basketball. He has been playing professionally since he was 15, and he caught the attention of the Jazz as a 17-year-old on the Russian national team. Utah took a gamble on him with the No. 24 pick in the 1999 draft. His Russian pro team's contract kept him out of the NBA for two more years, but the risk and wait was well worth it. Kirilenko should be a cornerstone of the team for years.

He set five Jazz rookie records this season (free throws made, 3-point field goals made, 3-point field goals attempted, steals and steals per game) and became the first Jazz rookie to average double figures in scoring (10.7 points) since Karl Malone in 1985-86. Kirilenko also led the team in blocks per game (1.9). He gained the starting small forward position at midseason when Donyell Marshall was injured and never relinquished it--even when a healthy Marshall returned. He was the only Jazz player other than Stockton to play in all 82 regular-season games, a statistic that helps him fit right in with Stockton and Malone, two of the game's all-time ironmen. Now, he's well on the way to replacing Stockton and Malone on the Jazz's marquee.