For eight weeks, Andrei Kirilenko has been nothing more than a spectator.

A very frustrated Jazz fan, granted, but a diehard nonetheless.

"The hard part," Kirilenko said of his two-month absence from the floor, "is sitting behind the bench, and you can't step in. But you're ready. Mentally, you're ready.

"You're like, 'Why you do this?' You're like a fan. You're like, 'Why do this, and you don't do that?' Sometimes, you start giving advice to the players. Then you understand, 'Oh, they don't need advice.' "

But they do need their All-Star forward back, and tonight should be the night they get him.

Kirilenko, the Jazz's only All-Star, has been out since colliding with Spurs rookie Beno Udrih and partially tearing the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during a Nov. 27 game at San Antonio.

Since then, the Jazz have gone 6-20.

It's been a trying stay away for Kirilenko, who did not have surgery — but did have to endure the long process of first waiting for the stabilizing ligament to heal, then working to strengthen it back to a point where it is no longer susceptible to tearing.

"It's a long time," the 23-year-old Russian said. "It's a pretty tough time.

"The good thing is you're with the family, but bad thing is you're out of basketball and you're sitting on the bench," Kirilenko added. "You see team has struggled and lost a lot of games, and you can't help."

Though not because you don't want to.

Kirilenko, who did not travel with the Jazz until last week, has been itching to come back for some time.

"I'd rather have practice than treatment," he said. "You spend five, six hours during the day for treatment — and practice, you spend like two hours."

The rest of the time, you wonder when you can play again.

Much like teammates, and true fans do.

Fans who have not forgotten:

Even though he missed two months of the season, Kirilenko still ranks 10th among Western Conference forwards in fan balloting (which continues though Sunday) for next month's All-Star Game in Denver.

"It's hard at home," said Kirilenko, who has a toddler, Theodore, to keep he and his wife, Masha, occupied. "At first I spend my time with my family . . . but, still, I'm worried about basketball."

At one point, Kirilenko and Jazz medical personnel targeted last Saturday vs. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers as a possible return date.

But Jazz coach Jerry Sloan nixed that notion, saying he would not put a player's career at risk for the sake of two games.

After a loss to the Cavs and a road win Monday night over the Los Angeles Lakers that lifted Utah's record to 14-26, Kirilenko and the rest of the Jazz enjoyed a rare four-day hiatus in their schedule.