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BEIJING - Last weekend's loss to Australia cost http://www.sltrib.com/olympics/ci_9720289" Target="_BLANK">Andrei Kirilenko a chance to face his Jazz teammates in the Olympic basketball tournament, but he will leave Beijing with a somewhat better feeling.
Russia fell 91-79 to Argentina as preliminary play ended Monday, but was within one point with seven minutes remaining, largely resulting from Kirilenko's best game of the tournament.
He finished with 23 points and nine rebounds, giving him averages of 15.8 points and 6.4 for the five games. Russia dropped four games after opening with a win over Iran.
"Some pluses, some minuses," Kirilenko said of his own play, acknowledging he tried to force things too much at times.
The hustle the Russians used to win EuroBasket 2007 was "not enough here," Kirilenko said, citing a higher level of play in the Olympics.
"We'll grow," said Kirilenko, who will be 31 in 2012. "We have some potential."
Kirilenko still was moved by his role in the Opening Ceremony, carrying his country's flag to begin a "beautiful Olympic Games a lot of emotions here, but the basketball was not successful," he said.
Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola scored a tournament-high 37 points for Argentina, the No. 2 seed in Group A and a potential semifinal opponent for the USA.