After having an injury-plagued season last year, Carlos Boozer has returned this year healthy and hungry to prove he is one of the top power forwards in the game.  He has yet to miss a game this year and has returned to his old double-double form Jazz fans have grown accustomed to seeing night in and night out.  He is averaging 19.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 steals, and is shooting 54% from the field.  Boozer has 28 double-doubles on the season, which is good enough for third best in the NBA behind Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard (both with 32).  The Jazz have won 6 of their last 7 games, and Boozer is a big reason why.  He is showing no signs of slowing down and in the past 7 games Boozer is shooting 55% from the field and is averaging 20.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.9 steals.  In the past few seasons, Boozer has been one of the best forwards in the game, yet he does not get enough recognition he deserves.

The Utah Jazz appear to be shopping starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer with the Grizzlies said to be very interested in him. The Jazz are having little luck in trying to move Andrei Kirilenko or Carlos Boozer so they might be moving Brewer to save money. The Grizzlies are offering up a first round pick and maybe a little more so the Jazz would be dumb not to listen. He has played in 42 games (all starts) for the Jazz this season and he is averaging 32.7 minutes, 9.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Look for Brewer to be moved as soon as the Jazz think they can extract the right price for him.

SG/SF Kyle Korver has missed most of this season due to him rehabbing a injury but he is on fire shooting the ball. He has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Jazz so far this season and he is averaging 10.1 minutes, 4.4 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Korver is shooting 60% from the floor, 58.3% from three point range and he has yet to miss a free throw this season. His minutes will continue to go up as his conditioning gets better and he will be a huge asset to the Jazz.

Former Utah Jazz sharpshooter Jeff Hornacek was overlooked his entire basketball career.  Despite being a star as a prep player at Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois he was barely recruited and settled for a walk-on spot at Iowa State University.  Not only did Hornacek lead the Iowa State Cyclones to their first NCAA tournament win in over 40 years, but he also brought them all the way to the “Sweet 16″ in 1986 where he averaged 14 points that year.  He left ISU with a Big-8 conference record of 665 career assists.  Hornacek kept getting overlooked though, as he was the 22nd pick (46th overall) in the 2nd round of the 1986 draft by the Phoenix Suns.  Hornacek had some very good years for the Suns, including a career-year in the 1991-’92 season where he was an All-Star who averaged 20.1 points, 5.1 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals while shooting 51% from the field and 44% from three.

Hornacek played one year with Philadelphia before coming to Utah, where he finished out the next seven years of his career and was a key member of their two NBA Finals teams in 1997 and 1998.  In his 14 year career (1,077 games), Hornacek averaged 14.5 points, 4.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals.  He had a 40.3% career 3-point percentage (20th all-time) and won the 3-point competition in 1998 and 2000.  He was also a phenomenal free throw shooter, hitting 88% for his career (12th all-time), including 95% in his final season (5th all-time).  He was more than just a great shooter though, as he was a very good passer and a strong defender who often guarded the oppositions best player.  Hornacek may not be a Hall-of-famer, but he is one of the Jazz’s best players of all-time and one of the best shooters the NBA has ever seen.

The rookie Wesley Mathews has been a huge steal for the the Utah Jazz this season.  The Jazz didn’t even have to use a draft pick on him since the 6′5″ 220 lbs. Mathews was undrafted out of Marquette and the Jazz signed him as a free agent.  He has been playing with a big chip on his shoulder ever since getting passed up in the draft.  He has played in all 38 games for the Jazz (19 starts) and is averaging 8.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.1 assists on 48% shooting in only 23 minutes per game.  In his last few games, Mathews has really been effective in the short amount of playing time he is getting.  In the Jazz win over Miami last game, Mathews had 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal in only 18 minutes of play.  The game before that in a win over Dallas, he had 10 points in only 14 minutes.  In a win over Memphis on January 6th, Mathews had 15 points, 3 assists, and 1 rebound in only 20 minutes.  So, in three of his last four games Mathews has easily scored in double figures even though he averaged only 16.5 minutes in those four games.  This guy is extremely efficient and when he plays well the Jazz seem to win.  In the 16 games this season that Mathews has scored in double-figures, the Jazz have won 11 of them.  Coincidence?  I think not.  They really need to get this guy on the court more.