Kleiza's no longer a secret

Reserve emerges on national TV to give Nuggets boost

Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 28, 2007 at midnight

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To his tongue-tied teammates, Linas Kleiza has been known as "LK." Seems, though, some other initials have come his way.

"TVL," Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony said of his teammate. "That's his name."

After two sterling national TV showings this month, the forward can relate a bit to what it's like to come up big on American Idol. He has emerged from nowhere into the national eye.

Make that the international eye. Before the Nuggets' game Monday against the Detroit Pistons, four reporters milled around Kleiza, including one representing China, one Japan and one Lithuania.

The last one was understandable, considering Kleiza is from Lithuania. That reporter had no problem pronouncing Kleiza's name, something broadcasters and opposing public-address announcers still are having trouble with despite Kleiza's recent success.

"I'm used to it," Kleiza said of his name (pronounced LIN-as Clay-za) being botched. "I'm not sensitive about my name. It doesn't matter how they pronounce it."

If Kleiza continues his stellar play, a pronunciation key might no longer be necessary in the Nuggets' media notes. In the past 10 games, he has averaged 14.1 points and shot 54 percent 27-of-50 on three-pointers.

He has saved his best for national TV. In a March 11 game at Sacramento televised by ABC, Kleiza scored 24 points, which was his career high until he got 29 four days later during a TNT broadcast against the Lakers while making 5-for-6 three-pointers.

Both times, Kleiza was interviewed at halftime, which, he said, got him plenty of ribbing from teammates.

But it was far from the lights of television where Kleiza, averaging seven points heading into tonight's home game against Seattle, has worked himself into one of the surprises of the 2005 draft.

He was selected No. 27 by the Portland Trail Blazers out of the University of Missouri and dealt that night to the Nuggets.

In sporadic minutes last season, Kleiza averaged 3.5 points and shot 15 percent (2-of-13) on three-pointers. So, after the season, he stuck around Denver and became a fixture in the gym with player-development coach John Welch.

"I definitely put in a lot of work," said Kleiza, who will play for Lithuania in the summer in the European Championships in Spain, with berths in the 2008 Olympics on the line. "The biggest key is you've got to shoot (three-pointers). You've got to shoot them every day."

The work paid off when Kleiza played well in the summer in the World Championship and in the fall during the Nuggets' preseason.

Then the regular season started. Kleiza didn't play much and lost some confidence. Coach George Karl told Kleiza he needed to improve his defense.

So it was back to work. Kleiza honed his defensive skills - he improved enough that Karl didn't hesitate last week to put him on New Jersey's Vince Carter - and practiced late, firing up endless jumpers.

"He's working hard at becoming a very good player," Karl said of the 6-foot-8, 245-pound Kleiza, who has lost 13 pounds since he was a post-up player with Missouri. "He's a committed pro at a very young age (22), which is very unusual in our league. He's very serious about his regimen and his routine.

"It's paid dividends. I've never seen a kid go from where he was at the beginning of the year to where he is now as fast as he probably has. And he's earned most of it. . . . The window has been opened up because of situations. . . . But he's played so well we've had to find minutes for him."

In a season featuring suspensions, injuries and two trades, the Nuggets have been an ever-changing team. Kleiza got into the rotation for good at the start of February and, one month later, he regularly is getting 25 minutes a game.

In his past 10 games, Kleiza has averaged 25.8 minutes. With Karl giving Kleiza the "freedom" to shoot, he has made four or more three-pointers in five of those games and has taken over the team lead with 39.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

"To get a guy with his confidence going like (Kleiza's) is, it's great for our team," Anthony said. "It lets us know that we can go to our bench and get contributions."

Kleiza joked he and fellow perimeter reserve J.R. Smith have emerged as "killer duo No. 2" behind Anthony and Allen Iverson. But that hasn't caught on yet.

As for "TVL," Anthony would like that one to stick. Kleiza helped it more by scoring 14 in an ESPN game Sunday at Cleveland, and he has at least two more ESPN appearances left in the regular season.SuperSonics at Nuggets

• When: 7 tonight.

• Where: Pepsi Center.

• TV/radio: Altitude; KKFN-AM (950).

• Starting lineups

Seattle (28-42) Pos. Ht. Pts.

7 Rashard Lewis F 6-10 22.0

54 Chris Wilcox F 6-10 13.2

4 Nick Collison C 6-10 9.6

12 Damien Wilkins G 6-6 8.2

8 Luke Ridnour G 6-2 11.5

Coach: Bob Hill

Denver (35-34) Pos. Ht. Pts.

15 Carmelo Anthony F 6-8 29.0

31 Nene F 6-11 11.4

23 Marcus Camby C 6-11 11.2

3 Allen Iverson G 6-3 27.2

25 Steve Blake G 6-3 6.1

Coach: George Karl

• Injuries: SuperSonics - G Ray Allen (bone spurs, left ankle) and C Robert Swift (torn ACL) are out. Nuggets - F Kenyon Martin (right knee surgery) is out; F Eduardo Najera (bruised left tibia) is questionable.

• Notes: The Nuggets will try to bounce back from Monday's 113-109 overtime loss against Detroit. Pistons center Rasheed Wallace sent the game into overtime on a 62-foot bank shot at the buzzer. . . . The Nuggets have won three straight at home to improve their Pepsi Center record to 19-17. . . . Iverson has averaged 16 points the past three games.

Seizing his opportunity

Linas Kleiza has been on a roll offensively in the Nuggets' past 10 games. His statistics before (56 games) and during the streak.

BEFORE DURING

Minutes 16.7 25.8

Field goals made-attempted 104-270 49-98

Percentage 38.5 50.0

Three-pointers made-attempted 37-111 27-50

Percentage 33.3 54.0

Points 5.8 14.1

tomassonc@RockyMountainNews.com

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