Jazz owner Larry H. Miller had quite a bit to say about the woes of Andrei Kirilenko during his weekly radio appearance Thursday on KZN 1280-AM. A sampling:

On if Kirilenko had a coach while working on his shooting last summer:

"I think it was the bear (the Jazz's mascot) shooting backward."

On Kirilenko's recent slump:

"I think more of it is his approach and his attitude than how we're using him ... The problem is you never know which guy is going to show up."

On Kirilenko's max-money contract:

"I've heard a fair number of people ask the question ... 'Did he get the big contract and tank it?' Look at Chris Webber. It's like he disappeared from the NBA after he got his big contract from Sacramento."

When asked about trade possibilities involving Kirilenko, and Kirilenko's comments regarding his role:

"I would guess that ... this situation is going to go a long way to resolve itself one way or the other by (next month's All-Star Game break)."

"(Coach) Jerry (Sloan) is not going to listen to too much of that raggin' — what Andrei's saying. ... It's frequent enough now, I would have to say he's putting himself on thin ice — a combination of him not playing very well, and shooting his mouth off."

Asked if he's surprised by Kirilenko's perceived lack of effort:

"I am, because I've always felt that as good as he's been on the floor and as talented as he is ... his greatest single strength is his character."

On Kirilenko wanting more shots:

"I'd almost like to call his bluff and say, 'OK, automatically we're gonna leave you out there; you're gonna take 20 shots a game five games in a row.' And then see. That would resolve the issue. Either he's going to make it or not. I know it's an unkind thing, and I don't say it to be unkind. (But) as long as he's gonna air it out in the media, I'll air it out a little bit with him."

On Kirilenko's future:

"What I hope it doesn't become is a test of wills between Jerry (Sloan) and Andrei, because then you run a serious risk of opening a rift that's tough to fix. ... To me, Andrei could simply make the choice to play well — and I don't think he's done that the last 10 games."