Utah Jazz: Kirilenko is glad to get a couple of days off
The Jazz will practice this morning, but they took Tuesday off after a stretch of five games in seven nights in five different cities and three different time zones.
"I don't care," Utah's starting small forward said of the mini-break. "I'm telling you — a couple days doesn't throw you off rhythm, especially when you practice some and you're still in shape."
Kirilenko readily admits he was thrown off, though, after missing three straight early March games because of the hip injury sustained when he crashed hard to the floor on a flagrant foul by Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki.
"You can't really shoot, can't really run, bike, lift," he said of the setback from such an injury.
Only in the last few days, Kirilenko added after Monday's victory, does he feel he's getting back into game shape.
"Probably past couple games," he said, "I feel way better, like, with my motions. Now I'm tired less."
Boozer received treatment Tuesday and is expected to practice this morning, a Jazz spokesman said. Okur is being called a "game-time decision" for Thursday night.
The Lakers continue to expect to be without big man Pau Gasol, out with a sprained ankle.
BLUNT BOWEN: Kirilenko weighed in last week with a Russian Web site, Sports.ru, on the controversial topic of San Antonio Spurs swingman Bruce Bowen getting suspended one game by the NBA for kicking New Orleans point guard Chris Paul during a recent game.
Said Kirilenko, via translation: "He (Bowen) is known for such stuff. Just have to be prepared. At any moment be careful. The League has a few players against whom you have to be very cautious. They are always on the verge of foul play. The brightest of them — Bowen and (Sacramento's) Ron Artest. I cannot say who is more blunt. I think that the two of them share the first place in this nomination. They are two of the most serious of all."
STUBBED TOE: Ex-Jazz forward Donyell Marshall has been living out of a hotel room since being traded last month from Cleveland to Seattle.
It's not necessarily as luxurious as one might think.
"It's small," Marshall recently told SI.com, "and you've got four big, huge bags right in the middle of the floor, and you're trying to navigate around that, and at nighttime you've got to go to the bathroom, the lights are all off and you're kicking the bags and stuff like that."
RUMOR MILL: According to a report in Monday's New York Daily News, "Should (current Indiana Pacers CEO) Donnie Walsh land with the New York Knicks as president, it is unlikely he would keep Isiah Thomas as head coach. Instead, Walsh's arrival could pave the way for Mark Jackson, the former Knicks' (and ex-Jazz) point guard, to take over on the bench. Walsh believes Jackson can be a top-flight NBA head coach and was said to be pushing for him to be hired last year before Indiana decided to hire Jim O'Brien."
HE SAID IT: TNT commentator Mike Fratello on ex-Jazz guard/Utah native Devin Brown of the Cleveland Cavaliers: Cavs coach Mike Brown "has a lot of confidence in this young man and he's going to have a tough decision to make when everyone comes back healthy (regarding) who winds up getting the minutes come playoff time."
TV TALK: Thursday's game is a late 8:30 p.m. start because of TNT coverage, with Fratello, Dick Stockton and Cheryl Miller working the game for the network.
The Jazz won their only previous TNT game this season (vs. Phoenix), and are 4-3 when appearing on a major national cable television network.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com
Recent comments
AK-47 Should Stay with The Jazz!!
Daniel | March 26, 2008 at 10:12 a.m.
Re:Teamplayer
He's right, the schedule is totally in our...
JazzFan4ever | March 20, 2008 at 6:53 p.m.
Why not just trade AK for Garnett? Or AK for Oden? Or even AK for...
Sneaky Jimmy | March 20, 2008 at 12:10 a.m.
