Bogut tried to connect with the Jazz's Croatian guard when Giricek was traded to Utah in 2003. He got Giricek's voice mail, and left a greeting, and his phone number, and asked him to call back.

Giricek never did, but he wasn't being rude. Bogut left the message in Croatian, and he apparently wasn't exactly fluent.

"I couldn't understand a word," Giricek said. "I thought it was someone making fun of me, making jokes on me. So I erased the message. . . . Turns out, it was him."

The pair happened to bump into each other at a Croatian restaurant in downtown Salt Lake more than a year later and straightened out the mixup.

And his speech? "Much better now," said Bogut, who still speaks with an Australian accent. "Spending time in Croatia helps."

Humphries' response

If Kris Humphries was bothered by Jerry Sloan's criticism of his play Saturday night, he certainly didn't show it.

Humphries took Sloan's message - "How are you going to make a living in this league? Shoot every time you touch it? I say you can make a living in this league if you defend, rebound, run the floor, do some of those things." - in stride, saying Monday that "you can't let it get to the point where you're out there worrying too much about everything that's going on."

Humphries didn't respond to Sloan's critique directly, but he even said he could sympathize with what Sloan is trying to achieve. "He's got a tough job," the second-year forward said.

Mostly, Humphries said, "On thing I think is important [is], you have to have fun playing basketball."

Briefly

Jazz forward Carlos Boozer spent $8.6 million recently to purchase a 10-bedroom, 13-bathroom mansion near Malibu, the Los Angeles Times reported. The 5,600-square-foot home also includes a five-bedroom guest house. Boozer, who has not played for the Jazz since Feb. 14, was absent from Monday's game.

pmiller@sltrib.com