Kirilenko targets his return

The blocks? The steals? The points?

Perhaps . . . the rebounds?

Just what is it, one wonders, that coach Jerry Sloan and the Jazz have missed the most from All-Star forward Andrei Kirilenko during his 26 games away?

The answer might come as a surprise. Then again, it makes perfect sense.

"His enthusiasm," Sloan said.

"I think he's always been enthusiastic when he plays. . . . He seems to have fun playing basketball," the Jazz coach said. "I know sometimes when he gets tired, as a young player, he might get down a little — but he's always seemed to be upbeat about being on the floor, playing, having fun."

The same cannot be said for everyone with the 14-26 Jazz, a team that has struggled at 6-20 while its only All-Star has waited for the partially torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee to heal naturally.

"That's a huge part of this business day in and day out," Sloan said. "Otherwise, the drudgery will drag you right down the pipes."

Which is precisely where the Jazz seem headed, unless a turnaround of amazing proportion occurs when Kirilenko returns to the lineup.

That comeback could occur Saturday night vs. Memphis at the Delta Center — if, that is, things go well in practice sessions both this morning and Friday morning.

Kirilenko had hoped to return last Saturday night, when the Jazz lost to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

But there will be no rushin' the Russian.

At least not for Sloan, who made the decision, he said, with Kirilenko's long-term career interests in mind.

In doing so, the Jazz's playoff aspirations — tenuous as they may be, especially considering they've won only three of their past 14 games — took a back-burner resting place.

The optimist might suggest Kirilenko could spark a reversal of fortune, especially if he is fully healthy. The pessimist, though, sees a season practically in flames already.

With just 14 wins in 40 games, the Jazz head into their final game of the first half of the 2004-05 NBA season with seven fewer wins than they had at this point last season — and, despite finishing 42-40 in 2003-04, they didn't make the playoffs then, either.