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1 Comment [ View ]Boozer will sit another month
By JIM BURTONSALT LAKE CITY -- Carlos Boozer's chances of returning to action before the All-Star break are now virtually non-existent.
What began with a quadriceps injury on Nov. 19 has become substantially more serious and team officials said Tuesday the Utah Jazz power forward will soon undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
The news came a day after Boozer underwent a third MRI exam in Los Angeles.
L.A.-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Richard Ferkel will handle the procedure, but it likely won't take place before Jan. 9, Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said.
Boozer has developed a skin laceration near the scope area and the operation can't take place until it has healed.
O'Connor said there is no specific timetable for Boozer's return, and won't be until after the surgery. However, even at a best-case scenario Boozer will likely miss at least another month just recovering from the scope.
Boozer first suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Utah's 105-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
It was later reported he also had sustained a bruised left kneecap.
The 27-year-old has since missed 21 consecutive games.
The annual NBA All-Star Game will take place Feb. 15 in Phoenix.
The Jazz have been hampered by injuries throughout the season.
Starting point guard Deron Williams missed 13 games after suffering a sprained left ankle during a preseason game.
Boozer and Williams have played two games together this season: Nov. 11 and 12 at Philadelphia and Washington respectively.
Additionally, Utah will be without power forward Paul Millsap -- Boozer's primary backup at the start of the season -- for another week or so.
Millsap sprained ligaments in his left knee on Dec. 23.
Brewer hurting
As if the Jazz need any more bad news about their players' health, guard Ronnie Brewer admitted Monday he has been struggling with some flu-like symptoms.
Brewer first became ill during the first half of last Friday's victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
He got sick again on Monday, during the Utah-Philadelphia game at EnergySolutions Arena.
"I don't know (what the trouble is)," he said. "I've been trying to take medicine constantly. But we're so undermanned, just being sick is not an excuse to be sitting out any game."
Brewer scored eight points in 27 minutes against the 76ers.
"I tried to give what I could," he said.
At one point during the game he had an ice pack resting on the back of his head, by his neck.
"I was just overheating and it was making me feel even worse," he explained.
Who knew?
Apparently Jerry Sloan forgot how the Jazz wound up with that big 7-foot-2 Ukrainian center at the end of their bench.
When asked prior to Monday's game if the 76ers did the right thing in drafting Fesenko in the second round -- and then trading him to the Jazz -- on the night of the 2007 draft, Sloan seemed a little surprised.
"Did they draft him for us?" he asked.
When told they did, in conjunction with a deal that had Utah take Providence center Herbert Hill on the Sixers' behalf, Sloan was quick with a joke.
"You've got a good memory," he said. "I didn't know how he got here."
Hill no longer is on Philadelphia's roster.
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