No one expected the Utah Jazz to even get a whiff of the NBA title this season.

Yet here they are for the first time in the post Stockton-Malone era contending for a championship. After three down years in which they did not make the playoffs, the Jazz are still playing in May with a chance to extend the season to June.

The path so far has taken them through a tough seven-game series against Houston and 4-1 dispatching of Golden State. Facing longtime nemesis San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals starting today at 1:30 p.m. will be the young Utah team's toughest test yet.

When all but a handful of NBA teams hit bottom for years before turning things around, the Jazz rose quickly. They suffered through only one losing season in the rebuilding process.

"It didn't take them long, did it?" says former NBA player and current Jazz broadcaster Ron Boone. "They're right back up there."

The question is: How did they do it? And not just this year. How, over more than two decades, have the Jazz produced a consistent winner, albeit one that lacks a championship banner?

Welcome to the Utah Jazz Construction Co. Bring your hard hat and tool belt. Check your ego at the job site. Do your job whether you're the general contractor or the guy mixing the mud. Punch the clock and collect your pay. And don't quit until the work is done.

That's the Jazz way.

"It has to start with where you want your organization to go, how you want to build your organization and what kind of people you want to build it with," says former Jazzman Thurl Bailey.

Because Utah has won year in and year out, it hasn't been positioned to select top-tier college or international talent in the annual NBA draft. Point guard Deron Williams would be the exception, having been picked third overall on the heels of a 26-56 season two years ago.

The Jazz on average have selected in the 20th spot since the 1986 draft, yet have managed to average 50 wins per season over the past two decades. Only the Los Angeles Lakers have had a lower draft position with more regular season wins over that period of time.

Utah hasn't pulled off what would be considered blockbuster trades, though the Jeff Hornacek-for-Jeff Malone deal was significant. It hasn't attracted the attention of big-name free agents. Salt Lake City is one of the smallest markets in the league. There's no glitter here.

It appears the Jazz have done more with less.

"At the end of the day, everything rises and falls on leadership. It always has and always will," says Orlando Magic senior vice president Pat Williams. "Since arriving in Salt Lake, I give the Jazz an A in the leadership department."