There is no shot in the medical world capable of curing Andrei Kirilenko's ills.
In the alternative, then, Kirilenko called on one of the NBA's purest shooters of all time to prick his skin and soothe his stroke — and Jeff Hornacek answered the call.
Hornacek, the former Jazz sharpshooter whose retired uniform number hangs alongside those belonging to the likes of former teammates John Stockton and Karl Malone, was in town Wednesday for a one-on-one session with a certain Russian marksman who lately has been dealing with tremendous trigger trouble.
On the floor at the Jazz's practice facility, the two worked on refining technique — like coming off a curl and taking a step back before rising to shoot.
The real rehab, though, was happening inside Kirilenko's head.
"It's a brain thing only," Utah's starting small forward said of his shot woes.
"He (Hornacek) is not concentrating on mechanical or something," Kirilenko added. "He's more like 'thinking about shot,' 'focus,' 'consistency."'
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan welcomes the help from one of the franchise's all-time greats, suggesting that shot mechanics are not exactly his forte and saying Kirilenko and Hornacek — though never teammates, they've worked together on occasion in the past — are "comfortable" with each other.
Indeed they are.
"I would like for him to work with me 24/7, but he has a family," Kirilenko said of Hornacek, who resides in the Phoenix area. "I understand, and I appreciate that he found the time to come here."
Perhaps just in the nick of time, too.
Sloan readily admits he cannot pinpoint Kirilenko's issues precisely, but he does seem to agree with the self-assessment that it's much closer to a head that ticks with uncertainty than to the hand, wrist, arm or elbow.
"I just think his confidence level has probably dropped off some," said Sloan, whose Jazz — with the emergence of Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Deron Williams — no longer count on Kirilenko as a primary scorer as they did in the past.
"Part of that is due to maybe we're not getting him enough shots in the game. I don't know. I just know I've got so many different guys, I'm looking at different things, and probably he doesn't get the opportunities that he had here before — because our team has changed a little bit.
"But he just has to work hard to get through it," added Sloan, whose Jazz — fresh from breaking a four-game losing streak with Tuesday night's win over Golden State — are idle until visiting the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. "I think at times it bothers him a great deal."
Suffice it to say that it truly does, because even though Kirilenko's shooting percentage this season — .467 — actually is a smidgen above the career .463 clip he had coming into the season, his range has diminished greatly.
Asked if Kirilenko's off-target shooting stems from matters more mechanical or mental, Sloan said he was not sure. Asked if he sees anything mechanically wrong with the shot, though, the coach says he does.
"At times I do — whenever he hesitates," Sloan said.
"When he doesn't hesitate ... it looks like his shot is going to go in the basket every time he shoots it. But when he hesitates and is not sure, for whatever reason ..."
Sloan's voice trails.
Kirilenko, a short while later, picks up the thought.
"It's not about hesitation. It's more about feeling good," he said. "Jeff (Hornacek) helps me trying to create the same situation with shot that I could take on the floor.
"He makes me think about the shot ... It's not new. Everything is old.
"Sometimes I (pass), or (think) 'don't take this shot' for some reason. ... Rather than probably take it all the way to the basket," Kirilenko added, "I need to step back sometimes and take the shot."
That may seem like a lot swirling in one man's head, which is why Sloan does not discount the notion that curing Kirilenko's shot may indeed boil down to something as simple as purging negative notions from the brain.
"Basketball is 99 percent headcase anyway," Sloan said. "All of us are headcases, you know, if you get in this business."
NOTES: He said he was feeling much better, but Jazz backup shooting guard Gordan Giricek (bruised ribs) did not practice Wednesday and is being called "doubtful" for Friday. ... As of early Wednesday night, the Jazz still did not have any word on an anticipated baby arrival for starting center Mehmet Okur and his wife, Yeliz. ... Tuesday's attendance count vs. the Warriors totaled 19,759. That's 152 shy of a full house, ending the Jazz's streak of consecutive home sellouts at 12.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com