Same coach. Same system. Same players. They go through the ups and downs together. The Jazz didn't dump Boozer during a prolonged hamstring injury during which his commitment to the team was questioned. It appears Kirilenko will stay a Jazzman despite his erratic play this season.

"They're not constantly churning it up and turning things over," Pat Williams says.

Bailey says fans often forget that pro basketball is a business. "In my business, it's important to me to know how my team works together," he says.

The Jazz are the same way. Sloan and O'Connor try to find players who will accept their roles and put their skills to work for the team.

"You use those talents and something magical happens when it all comes together," Bailey says. "Maybe it's not a championship, but it's darn close."

Boone says getting the right players is the key.

"First of all, you have to have good players, players that complement your system, your style of play," he says.

"Kevin O'Connor has done a good job of giving Jerry something to work with. Larry Miller opened up his pocketbook and spent $200 million on three players." (Kirilenko, Boozer and Okur.)

None were high-draft picks, but high-draft picks don't guarantee winning, Pat Williams says. "It all relates to how you put the pieces together. "They're good at it. They seem to have found the knack."

What the Jazz haven't found the knack for is taking it all.

Despite the winning seasons and playoff appearances, the Jazz have never reached the pinnacle. The NBA title has eluded them. They made the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 but haven't come close since.

"We don't seem to play as well in the playoffs," says Hot Rod Hundley, the Jazz radio broadcaster who has been with the team since its inception in 1974. He doesn't blame Sloan but says maybe his teams play "scared or something."

Will this year be different? Can Boozer, Williams and company do something that Malone and Stockton never did?

Who knows? But the smell of a title is a lot closer than anyone thought it would be this season.

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E-mail: romboy@desnews.com