AK still not at 100 percent News Utah Jazz

With two-time NBA All-Star and two-time Team USA Olympian Carlos Boozer's arthroscopic knee surgery getting most of the headlines and plenty of talk, it's easy to forget Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko underwent surgery earlier this season, too. But he did, on Jan. 30, to remove bone fragments from the area around his right ankle. Since then, Kirilenko ?

a one-time All-Star himself who played for his native Russia in last summer's Olympic Games ? is feeling better. Not perfect, though. "One hundred percent is probably, like, a big word. But close to it," he said before scoring seven points, shooting 3-for-8 from the field, pulling down three rebounds and dishing three assists but recording none of his usual blocks or steals in Wednesday night's loss at Phoenix. "I feel way better. The motion's better," Kirilenko added. "Still, a little something's not there ? like feeling fast, sure. (I'm) sometimes kind of uncomfortable. But nothing's sore." Kirilenko has played 18 games since the surgery, which was an open procedure ? but did not involving cutting into the ankle joint itself. In that span, he is averaging 9.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. Last season, by way of comparison, Kirilenko averaged 11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game ? but also played 30.8 minutes per game as a starter in 2007-08, as opposed to 20.7 minutes per game coming off the bench in a somewhat limited role post-surgery this season. During Utah's nationally televised home win over Houston on Tuesday night, the game's TNT broadcast crew discussed a drop in weight for the lanky-anyway Kirilenko ? and cited Jazz coach Jerry Sloan as a source. On Thursday, Sloan said Kirilenko had "a little problem with his weight" during a recent road trip ? presumably, a five-gamer earlier this month that started in Toronto and ended in Indiana. "He was thinner," Sloan said before Thursday's game against the Suns, who visit Utah when the Jazz play next on Saturday night. "He'd lost some weight, and he's trying to get it worked back on. ... He's still trying to get it back on." Even before Sloan spoke in Phoenix, though, Kirilenko dismissed the weight talk as being "not an issue." Asked if he indeed had lost weight recently, Kirilenko said "not much" and that he currently carries 220 pounds on his 6-foot-9 frame ? which, he maintained, is typical for around this time of year, even in a non-surgery season. "Start of the season, I'm like 225," he said, "and end of the season I'm like 220, 219." But no matter what the scale says, what cannot be debated ? if the numbers mean anything ? is just how much weight the Jazz's highest-paid player has when it comes to measuring franchise success. According to statistics provided by the team, Boozer and Kirilenko have missed a combined 239 games since the start of the 2004-05 season. When Boozer was out during that span, the Jazz's record has been 72-76 ? a .486 winning percentage. When Kirilenko has been out during the same time frame, they've gone 34-57 ? or, in percentage terms, .374. E-MAIL: tbuckley@desnews.com