Carlos Boozer Wants Crunch-Time Minutes He's Not Getting

Utah forward Carlos Boozer has been back a month now, but apparently Jerry Sloan still isn't comfortable depending on the burly bruiser as he has in past years. The Salt Lake Tribune notes that despite Boozer's 14 points and 10 rebounds, Sloan relied on Paul Millsap for the entirety of Saturday's overtime period against Phoenix.

Boozer has been completely supportive of Millsap on the court and in the media. But in this latest stretch -- and especially after Saturday's game -- Boozer wants to make sure we all know he'd prefer to be on the court in the most important minutes.

"Obviously I am a warrior and a warrior wants to be in the battle so I want to be in there," he said. "But coach coaches the game and I play the game, but you know I want to be in there and I think I can help our team win in every situation no matter what it is. I've been that kind of player my whole career and that is the kind of player I am."

For their part, Utah's decision-makers don't think Boozer's conditioning is quite up to expectations.

"You know what?" [GM Kevin O'Connor] said. "I think he was out for almost 50 games. I think his knee is fine. ... It just looks like we've got to get him a little more conditioning, in game situations. And it's tough to do in a back-to-back. We're asking him to come back after being down for 50 games and get right back in shape. It takes a little while."

The Jazz obviously need Boozer as strong as possible in the stretch run. But having Millsap (who's getting healthy himself) is a huge aid. If Boozer plays as uneven as he did last postseason, Sloan definitely has the confidence to go to Millsap early and late.