Jazz only halfway to satisfaction

With no opponent yet for the Western Conference Finals, no one yet to offend, the Utah Jazz can allow themselves to dream a little bit about winning it all now that they're halfway there.

"Yeah, for a little bit," said forward Carlos Boozer. "We think about it for a second, but we know we still have to take it one game at a time. We can't fast-forward to where we want to be at. We know we're close, but we have a tough task ahead of us."

Andrei Kirilenko is also ready to experience more. "So right now we're in the conference final, which is great. Then one or two steps on to the main things (NBA Finals) — it's worth to try it," he said.

"Actually, you can see the championship very close," Kirilenko said. "It's four wins away from the final. It's a big goal. It's a huge target. So why not? Let's just keep playing our game."

Even stoic Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has the top of the mountain in sight. "Heaven forbid we lose. We came here to win. I've never come into one yet thinking if we lose it will be all right," said Sloan following Thursday's first practice since the team dispatched Golden State 115-101 in Game 5 of the conference semifinals Tuesday.

"We are happy to be here, don't get me wrong," said Boozer, who in four professional seasons had never been in a playoff game until April 21 in Houston. "We're very excited to be here. But at the same time, we're not satisfied with just being in the playoffs.

"We have guys that have won championships or have been close to winning championships at every level, and we want to add more championships to our resumes. We want to get one for this organization. We're not just happy to be here. We want to be successful and put a banner up."

Boozer noted that most prognosticators picked against Utah to begin with, and while some are beginning to jump on the Jazz Express, he said, "I'm sure we're not the favorite, but I'm going to tell you everybody in that locker room is confident, and we're going to continue to be confident."

That confidence was quite evident Thursday as Utah awaits the outcome of the San Antonio-Phoenix semifinal that has the Spurs up 3-2 with Game 6 at home tonight.

Boozer said he thought when he first signed with the Jazz three seasons ago the makings were there for a good team, though injuries and personnel changes meant that opportunity had to wait until now.

When Matt Harpring signed a four-year contract last summer, "That's what I kept saying: 'I really feel like this team can be good.' I knew that if we stayed healthy we had a chance."