I was walking into the Delta Center pressroom after the game, opening night, with an NBA scout I've known for years.

"So what do you think of the Jazz this year?" I said.

"I think they need Boozer," he said. "They can be a good team, but they're missing their scorer, their go-to guy."

Oh, him. The $68 million man. The guy who keeps saying he's excited to go, anxious to lead the team. But so far he's exactly where he's been since February — on the injured/inactive list. The Jazz are missing last year's leading scorer, who was supposed to join Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Harpring in taking the team back into the playoffs.

Carlos Boozer keeps saying he wants to play but doesn't want to rush his return too quickly and re-injure himself. So the Jazz are paying him $116,000 a game to wear a business suit and watch from behind the bench.

No longer do fans ask why he isn't around; the surprise is when he actually suits up.

"The Booze" has become "The Snooze," or maybe "The Cruise."

Since joining the Jazz in 2004, Boozer has sent mixed signals.

The words sound good but the follow-through doesn't add up. He wants to play but always seems to be hurt. His injury isn't serious, he says, yet he keeps missing games. He says he's all about hard work, yet has been criticized by his coach and the team owner for lack of effort. He's willing to be the team captain but doesn't want to speak for the team.

So if he's not representing the team, and he's not playing, what is he doing? Baking cupcakes?

There are reasons for Boozers's absence. He missed the final 31 games last year due to a strained foot. As Jazz players cleaned out their lockers the day after the final game, he claimed his injured foot was "feeling great."

If it felt so fantastic, why didn't he play the night before?

At least it would have shown the Jazz management he wanted to play. The explanation: He wasn't in game shape.

On opening day of training camp last month, he told the media he was in excellent shape, promising "a totally different" Boozer. That lasted less than one week, before he pulled up with a sore hamstring. He missed all the exhibition games. Boozer worked out and said his hamstring felt good — but only because he wasn't going all out. As the season-opener approached, he "tweaked" the hamstring again. Two days later he was behind the bench as the Jazz played the Mavericks.

Nothing serious, of course, just a nagging little thing.