CHARLOTTE — Carlos Boozer has not played since Feb. 14, missing the final 31 games of last season due to a strained right foot and the first three so far in this season because of a strained left hamstring.
Chances are "slim," Jazz trainer Gary Briggs said Sunday, that Jazz's leading scorer from 2004-05 will play in any of the four games this week on an Eastern road trip that opens tonight in Charlotte and concludes Saturday night at Chicago.
Andrei Kirilenko's shot is hurting, with the one-time All-Star having made just 10-of-37 from the field — a terrible 27 percent clip — for the 2-1 Jazz.
Chances seem greater-than-slim that in due time Kirilenko's shooting will creep closer to his career norm of 46.4 percent.
The question for both, though, is when?
When will Boozer, who also missed the entire preseason, play? When will Kirilenko's offensive game improve?
If the Jazz are to have any more success this season then they did while going 26-56 in 2004-05, it is becoming abundantly clear that the answer must be sooner rather than later.
With that reality perhaps in mind, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has tapped both Boozer and Kirilenko to join veteran forward Matt Harpring — one of the Jazz's co-captains last season — as tri-captains for 2005-06.
"This," Sloan said, "is basically their team, when you look at it, to try to move forward."
What Sloan asks of his captains really is rather simple: "Take the responsibility," he said. "Take the team to another level. Play at another level yourself."
In Boozer's case, that begins with actually playing. In Kirilenko's case, it means returning to 2003-04 All-Star form.
What Sloan does not demand, however, is that his captains speak for the team. They can if they feel so compelled, he suggested, but they should not feel as if they must.
Last season, Harpring and Utah's other co-captain, since-departed Raja Bell, took on the task from slightly differing perspectives.
Harpring generally said what he felt, and seemed comfortable doing just that. But he rarely if ever went the route of ripping into teammates.
Bell took things a step farther, becoming the public conscience of the team, frequently saying whatever was on his mind, no matter whom it might offend. At the end, before departing this past summer for Phoenix as a free agent, he admitted he may have said a bit too much at times.
This season, it seems unlikely Harpring will change his routine from a season ago.
Kirilenko will say what he wants, though it is possible things may get lost in translation as they go from the Russian's mouth to reporters' ears.
And Boozer?
Well, don't expect to hear too much from him even when he does finally start playing again — at least not through the press.
"That's not really a 'captain' thing," he said. "You talk to the media whenever you talk to them, but at the same time the most important a captain is supposed to do is — me, Andrei and Matty's job — to help take this team to another level.
"That's what captains are out there for. It's not about speaking to the media, or being a spokesperson. Jerry (Sloan) is that for us."
Boozer, who remains out day-to-day, feels his responsibilities should stay mostly in-house.
"The biggest thing," he said, "is doing more things on the court — being vocal, making sure guys are in the right spots, making sure we're helping out on defense, helping guys off the court, making sure things are good for the young guys, just being a leader.
"But that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a spokesperson for the team. I don't believe that. That's just my opinion."
The role, though, is one Boozer says he will relish.
Called out by Jazz owner Larry H. Miller for uninspired play just months after leaving Cleveland and signing a six-year, $68 million contract with the Jazz in 2004, the soon-to-be 24-year-old considers the call from Sloan this season "an honor."
He promises to treat the tri-captain's job as such, and to speak when warranted — even if it's not loudly enough to be heard 'round the world.
"It would have been that way anyway," Boozer said, "whether I was captain or not.
"I'd have had more of a voice, and been more vocal out there (with teammates) either way. Just being more comfortable in general with the whole environment, that would have brought that out of me anyway."
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com