Sloan said Korolev must learn "how we're gonna play, not to bury your head, and go one-on-one."

Korolev sounds willing to try whatever it takes.

"It's going to take a lot of hard work," he said in free-flowing English, "and I've got to show that you're better than other guys and that you deserve a spot on the team."

Some NBA team.

Any NBA team.

"It's the league. It doesn't matter, I think, what team it is," said Korolev, who has options to return to his homeland. "It's just (that) when you're trying to get back in the league, you're taking the opportunity — any chance."

Before coming to the Jazz's Revue camp, in fact, he also played one game for the Dallas Mavericks at the ongoing NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, scoring two points in 15 minutes.

If things don't work out with the roster-jammed Jazz, he'd even be willing to take another crack, if asked, with the Clippers — an organization against which he bears no ill-will.

"I tried my best to stay in the league. I stayed with the Clippers until the last game of (last) preseason, but I didn't make the team," Korolev said. "I'm happy with those two years I spent there, and if I have a chance to do it I'm gonna take it again.

"I spent a lot of time developing, and I'm sure I did develop," he added. "It just wasn't so lucky for me that two main players in the Clippers got injured, so they had to switch from young guys to more experienced guys."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com