Madrid, Spain ? Even 5,250 miles away from Utah, Carlos Boozer couldn't escape a question Thursday from a Spanish reporter about his controversial summer following the Jazz's preseason victory over Real Madrid. As translated, the reporter prefaced his question by saying it was a difficult one, but one he had to ask. With so much talk about playing in Detroit and Miami over the summer, he said it seemed as if Boozer was more out of Utah than in Utah. Given that he's still in Utah, the reporter asked Boozer how he felt to be back, what about the things that were said by the organization, and does it affect how he feels about being with the Jazz ?
"Not at all," Boozer said. "I'm happy to be back in Utah. Nothing happened this summer. There was a lot of talk, a lot of speculation, of course. But it's behind us, it's behind me, it's behind the organization.
"I'm very happy to be in Utah, they're very happy to have me, and if we stay together, we can be a very, very good team."
Boozer greeted reporters in the interview room by saying, "Hola. ?Como estas?" and was asked how the Jazz planned to move toward a championship with respect to the offseason additions by Cleveland ( Shaquille O'Neal ) and the L.A. Lakers ( Ron Artest ).
"For our team, I think we have a lot of talent within our group, within our team, and I think if we can play better defense, I think we'll have a chance to win," Boozer said.
"I think we're very talented offensively -- we score points -- but for us to advance and have a chance to win a championship, we need to play good defense."
Boozer was asked about playing with Deron Williams and for coach Jerry Sloan , as well as about the notion that the Lakers and Boston Celtics seem almost scripted to meet in this season's NBA Finals.
"They're two of the last champions of our NBA," Boozer said, "and I understand why everybody thinks they're going to meet again. But we're competitors and we want to be in the championship just as bad as they do."
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International relations
Having led teams to four Euroleague championships, Real Madrid's Ettore Messina might be the most accomplished pro coach outside the NBA. So much so that Messina has been speculated as potentially the first European coach to someday take over an NBA team.
It also turns out Messina is a fan of Sloan's. Asked about his impression of the longtime Jazz coach, Messina said it was almost "unpolite" to offer one, adding that he has "much respect" for Sloan beyond just his recent induction in the Hall of Fame.
"Much more important is the way his teams have always played through the years," Messina said, "playing unselfishly, extremely solid Basketball, and this is personally the kind of Basketball that I prefer."
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Briefly
The Jazz will hold a public scrimmage Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. at EnergySolutions Arena. The scrimmage is free to attend and tickets are not required for admission.
rsiler@sltrib.com
