Randy Hollis: Carlos Boozer's bandwagon filling up these days

There's no denying Carlos Boozer has been an absolute beast this season for the Utah Jazz.

In fact, you could make a strong argument — with apologies to All-Star point guard Deron Willams — that Boozer's probably been the team's most valuable player.

After all, he's averaging nearly 20 points and more than 11 rebounds per game, shooting 55 percent from the field — the second-best mark of his eight-year career — and has averaged a career-best 351/2 minutes a night, plus 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals a game, career-high numbers for him.

Indeed, he's making almost all the plays almost all the time, reminding fans why the team brought him here as a free agent six years ago.

Of all the numbers, though, perhaps the most important one is this: 3. That's the number of games the 6-foot-9 power forward has missed thus far this season.

And that's why, in the last few weeks, there's been a groundswell of support to try and keep the big fella here when his current contract expires in a couple of months.

Many fans and media members — including a lot of folks who were clamoring for the Jazz to get rid of Boozer last summer, especially after he went on a couple of radio shows and expressed a desire to play elsewhere, i.e. Miami or Chicago — are back on the Boozer bandwagon.

How soon they forget.

Forgotten are the 31 games that Boozer missed in his first season with the Jazz, back in 2004-05. Or the 49 games he missed the next season. Or the 45 games he sat out last season.

Funny what a season full of stellar performances can do to one's memory.

All, it seems, is forgiven. Those who wanted to buy his ticket out of town a year ago now want to buy Boozer's lunch. Of course, he's making $12.7 million this year, so that won't be necessary.

What it really comes down to is this: When he's healthy and wants to play, Carlos Boozer is a stud, one of top power forwards in the league, a guy who's Mr. Double-Double, a 20/10 guy who can carry a team on his back, despite his lack of defensive effort.

That's the Good Boozer.

But when he's not healthy — which was rather regularly, before this year — or seems somewhat disinterested, he's a maddening enigma who frustrates fans (and, no doubt, his Jazz teammates and the front office) by missing long stretches of playing time.