Headed down a hill, the Collins brothers' cart skidded on wet pavement and overturned.

Three months later, Jarron Collins' options now include surgery.

"It's a matter of resting it completely - trying to get it better that way - versus a surgical procedure," he said.

If Collins decides to have surgery, he will be sidelined "a minimum of eight weeks." If he decides to rest his injured elbow, he will be out four to six weeks.

"I'm just trying to gather all the information I can so I can make the best decision," he said.

Collins has played 16 minutes in two games this season - three against Cleveland on Nov. 15 and 13 against Shaquille O'Neal and Phoenix on Nov. 17.

Pathetic pattern

Coach Jerry Sloan does not like the pattern he has watched develop in recent weeks with his injury-ravaged team.

According to Sloan, the Jazz play with effort and enthusiasm in one game but don't sustain it.

In Monday night's 101-100 loss to Chicago, the Bulls shot 51.3 percent. They scored 29 points in the fourth quarter, including nine in the final 2 1/2 minutes, after Utah had taken a 92-91 lead.

"You see it one night but not the next," Sloan said. "Everybody who steps on the floor has to play with energy because we don't have anybody who is going to jump over the top of you and score 25 points.

"The guys we've got, they have got to compete."

Why does it sometimes look like the Jazz are not competing?

Sloan shrugged and said, "I can't run for them. I can't jump for them. . . . [But] if your effort drops off in this league, you've got no chance."

The Jazz were 3-for-13 on three-pointers against the Bulls. Ronnie Brewer and Memo Okur went 1-for-4. Ronnie Price was 1-for-3. C.J. Miles went 0-for-2.

"We have to learn how to do things as a team, not individually," Sloan said. "Sometimes we just pulled up and took shots [against Chicago]. Maybe we were trying to prove we could make three-point shots."

Kirilenko in SI

The Jazz's Andrei Kirilenko is featured in a story by Chris Mannix in the current edition of Sports Illustrated.

Kirilenko's comeback from an unhappy time in his life during the 2007 playoffs is chronicled. So is his emergence this season as one of the NBA's best off-the-bench players and his once-rocky relationship with Sloan.

Mannix seems a bit smitten by Kirilenko's wife. She is quoted liberally and described as a "full partner in Andrei's career," which at the moment is happy and satisfying.

"I've seen Andrei happier two times," Masha Kirilenko said. "When he made the All-Star team and on our honeymoon. He just wants to help his team. That's the only thing that matters."

luhm@sltrib.com

Memphis at Jazz

Where: EnergySolutions Arena

Tipoff: Today, 7 p.m.

TV: Fox Sports

Radio: 1320 AM, 98.7 FM

Records: Memphis 4-10, Jazz 9-6

Season series: Jazz, 1-0

Last meeting: Jazz 103-94 (Saturday)

Line: Jazz by 9 1/2

About the Jazz: They are 6-1 at home. . . . They are 3-5 in their last eight games. . . . They have won six straight against Memphis by an average margin of 16.5 points. . . . Their opponents have scored at least 94 points in 10 of the last 11 games. . . . Coach Jerry Sloan needs two wins for 1,100 in his NBA coaching career, including a stint in Chicago.

About the Grizzlies: They have lost three straight, and seven of their last eight. . . . They start three rookies - C Marc Gasol, F Darrell Arthur and SG O.J. Mayo - and second-year PG Mike Conley. . . . Mayo scored 23 points against the Jazz in last week's loss. . . . In that game, Utah shot 54.7 percent. . . . They rank 27th in the league in scoring (92 ppg).