Boozer plays with something to prove
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter

The Utah Jazz have missed the playoffs for the past three seasons and Carlos
Boozer spent his first two seasons with the Jazz full of disappointment.

Things have changed.

The Jazz are in the midst of one of their best starts in franchise history
and are one of the surprise teams this season. They are one of the best
offensive teams in the league and have won 15 of their first 19 games.

"I'm not surprised by our start," said Boozer, who is averaging 22.0 points
and 12.3 rebounds a game. "We have good chemistry and a legendary coach
[Jerry Sloan]. We all improved over the summer. We're deeper than we were
last year and we have rookies that can contribute."

Last season, Andrei Kirilenko missed substantial time with injuries. Gordan
Giricek missed most of the last half of the season. The Jazz have a healthy
Boozer, who came into this season after playing in only 84 games over two
seasons with the Jazz due to injuries.

Boozer's dedication was questioned. He's answering those doubts this year.

"I was a second-round pick and I still wear that chip on my shoulder, like I
have something to prove in every game," Boozer said. "I want people to know
I'm good and I want people to know that I'll be good for a long time and I
felt like this was the season that I could do that."

And Boozer is doing it. He had a season-high 19 rebounds in the season opener
and last month he put together a three-game string with these results: 35
points and nine rebounds, 32 points and 13 rebounds, 31 points and 16 rebounds.

"I want to be one of the best power forwards and I'm going to keep working
very hard to improve my game every year," Boozer said. "I don't want to come
off as cocky. I'll let my game speak for itself. But the ultimate is that I
want the team to win and for our team to win I have to play well."



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