Salt Lake City ? Even though he stands 7-foot-2, it’s been awfully hard to notice Greg Ostertag lately.

That is because the Utah Jazz veteran center has not played much – coach’s decision – in the Jazz’s last 16 games.

In that span, the 7-footer out of Kansas entered just two games, logging single-digit minutes in those contests.

Understanding why requires digging beyond superficial issues.

Part of the reason indeed may be that Ostertag sprained his left ankle in a March 6 home game against Orlando, and it cost him two games before he was ready to go again.

Ostertag said recently his ankle was fine, but coach Jerry Sloan indicated, “If you watch him practice, I think at times he’s still struggling with his ankle.”

Part of the reason also is that with big man Carlos Boozer back in the Jazz lineup after missing 49 straight games because of a strained hamstring, Ostertag became odd man out.

“My job is to try to win,” Sloan said recently. “I’ve got to put somebody out there on the floor that I think will give us a chance to win, and I look at a guy who hasn’t played a great deal and has an ankle injury that’s bothering him when he runs up and down the floor . . . That’s what I’ve seen.”

Sloan said he harbors no ill will toward Ostertag, with whom he has had a close personal relationship during their nine seasons together in Utah.

But it also is evident Sloan remains impacted by a late-January incident in which the two had to be separated from each other.

“Well, I think we had our differences,” Sloan said. “That was the thing that kind of hurt things a little bit. I think it affected our team. Oh, yeah. I think things happened that we should have been able to fight through a little bit more, but I’m not sure we can.”

Entering Friday’s action, Ostertag had played in 58 games, logging 13.7 minutes per game. He had 22 starts, mostly early in the season.

A year ago, Ostertag averaged 9.9 minutes per game in 56 games for Sacramento. He returned to the Jazz in the offseason. The 33-year-old Ostertag, who averages 2.5 points and 3.8 boards per game, is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.