"We have a tendency, probably, to look back at that," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said of the long losing streak, "and it probably chokes us a little bit."

But it also may in part be because of the maturity the Jazz realized during last season's playoffs, when they went from a team that hadn't taken part in postseason play since 2003 to one that advanced three rounds.

"This weekend," Boozer said in looking forward not only to tonight's game, but also Saturday's at Dallas, "will be a good test (to) see how we are early in the season.

"If we're at a point where we play as well as we can play," he added, "we can play with those (title-contending) teams."

It's when Utah loses its focus, though, that it can be outright embarrassed by a club like the Spurs.

"When we compete and play hard I think they can be pretty competitive," Sloan said of his Jazz, who have won eight straight at home this season but are just 5-5 away from EnergySolutions Arena. "They go through stages, like on the road, where they don't compete, and that's a concern ... That's a huge concern."

It can be troubling indeed, though no more so than the lesson the Jazz were handed here last season.

"We learned," Williams said, "that we have to do some things that they do if we want to win a championship — the way they play defense, especially down the stretch; the way they, when things get tight, when they need a basket, know where the ball needs to go, and execute well and get the shot they want to get."

"They played together," Boozer added of Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and crew. "They were more experienced. They knew where each other was going to be at defensively, offensively. They were a better team than us, point blank."

Perhaps much-more problematic than even all that, the Spurs seemed to want it exponentially more as well.

"The last time I saw (the Spurs) play," Sloan said, "we looked like we didn't want to play against them ... We just went down there and looked like (we) packed it in.

"Hopefully," he added, "we won't do that this time."

And if they do, maybe more hard talk will be in store.

Perhaps that's not a bad thing, either.

Sloan, after all, has put all his trust into two players in particular — Williams and Boozer were named team co-captains prior to this season — who weren't shy about telling it like it was the last time something needed to be said.

"There's nothing wrong with that as long as they do it (too)," Sloan said Thursday. "It's not just one or two guys. It's all 12 guys, and that's part of understanding what winning is all about.

"It can't just be, 'I'm here to pass the buck to somebody else.' You've got to step up and make sure you did it," he added. "Then, if you do that, hopefully everybody follows you by your leadership."

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Contributing: Linda Hamilton

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com, lham@desnews.com