Boozer makes statement – did the fans, too? And some bonus Turkey talk

Prior to Saturday’s tipoff, Carlos Boozer became the latest member of the Jazz organization to make an over-the-loudspeakers pregame comment to fans at ESA.

While taking the mic to wish the crowd “Merry Christmas,” Boozer received a mixed reaction of cheers and boos. On press row, we debated just what type of boos those were for the sharp-dressed man who hasn’t played in nearly a month due to a strained left quad and a bruised kneecap.

Were they here’s-our-chance-as-fans-to-let-Carlos-know-we’re-frustrated-with-him-for-missing-13-straight-games-and-flirting-with-leaving-for-Miami-or-other-greener-pastures-next-season variety?

Or were they those fun-loving ones in which fans great the All-Star power forward with a round of “BOOOOOOOOOOOOOZ!” to play off of his last name?

There was another laugh and discussion on press row whether or not Boozer really ended his quick holiday greeting by making the sound of a kiss in the microphone.

New Jazz boss Greg Miller (at the first home game) and Jarron Collins (before Thanksgiving) have given similar statements. To my recollection, they didn’t hear any “boos” or “BOOZ” or send kisses to 19,911 in attendance.

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You can’t say this line very often, but Mehmet Okur was not the best Turk on the basketball court Saturday night.
Okur had a rough outing against fellow Turkey citizen Hidayet Turkoglu in the Jazz’s 103-94 loss to the Orlando Magic.
Hidayet? Sorry, you know him from the American version of his name, which is, of course, Hedo. As in: He do play much better than Memo in this game.
Okur missed 10 of 12 shots. A 77-percent free-throw shooter prior to Saturday, he even missed 4 of 12 from the charity stripe.
His stats for the game included 12 points, six rebounds and five fouls.
Turkoglu also had a rough shooting night, hitting only 6 of 15 shots. But he finished with 23 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.
His 3-pointer – one of three on the night – with just under a minute to go all but ended the Jazz’s attempted rally.

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Speaking of which, here’s some Turkish trivia you can go impress your friends with: The NBA has 75 international players from 32 countries (as of Oct. 28), but Okur and Turkoglu are the only players currently in the league from Turkey.

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Have to also admit I left EnergySolutions Arena after the Jazz played the Magic singing my favorite song involving Turkey by “They Might Be Giants” – and feel free to sing along – “Istanbul was Constantinople, now it’s Istanbul…”

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First, Greg Miller took over his dad’s position as CEO of the Utah Jazz and the rest of the Larry H. Miller business empire.
What next, taking dad’s famous seat at EnergySolutions Arena?
Yep.
It looked a bit odd, but the younger Miller sat on the front row across from the opponent’s bench during the Jazz’s win over Portland on Thursday. He usually sits a few rows up on the other side of the court – between the Jazz bench and the announcer’s table.
Not sure what it means. Perhaps just that scalpers wouldn’t buy Larry Miller’s seat before the game.
Here’s hoping Larry Miller’s health is holding up. He missed another game Saturday night – or at least somebody else (not Greg, this time) was in his seat for the Magic loss.
Greg Miller was in attendance as usual, though. He even listened in on the postgame interview session with Jazz coach Jerry Sloan outside of the locker room following the 103-94 loss to Orlando on Saturday. He then came inside the locker room to be with the team after the disappointing setback.

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Speaking of the Jazz owner, Larry Miller and his wife, Gail, are hosting a Christmas sing-a-long at ESA on Monday night.
Judging the Jazz players’ rendition of “Jingle Bells” that was played during the game Saturday, it might be a good thing that our local NBA guys won’t be singing on Monday.
Not to call anybody out, but Andrei Kirilenko should definitely leave the public vocalizing to his wife, Masha, who happens to be a Russian singing star. AK did make the crowd laugh with a comical “ha-ha-ha” during the song.

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Besides singing on the way out of ESA, I was also thinking it would have been nice if I had grabbed one of the door prizes the Jazz gave away Saturday.
The organizers of this promotion couldn’t have had better timing.
Or worse timing, if you happened to be like me.
The giveaway?
OK, besides the game to the Magic?
Snow scrapers.
Something my car doesn’t have right now, and something that would’ve really come in handy after that snowstorm left a couple inches of freezing fluffy stuff on my windows.