"Obviously our (6-13) road record doesn't speak highly of us," he added. "We know we're a better home team than anything else, so we're looking forward to taking advantage of what we do have at home. And we're gonna need to take advantage of it, so we can get back in the playoffs."

During their dismal December, the Jazz fell not only out of the lead in the NBA's Northwest Division but also — as things stand today — out of the Western Conference postseason picture altogether.

But with a strong run in January — which includes eight of 13 games against teams that have losing records, including Philadelphia, Indiana, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Houston, New York and two against the Los Angeles Clippers — they hope to work their way back into something more closely resembling the Western Conference finalists they were a season ago.

"It always equals out," Sloan said, "and if we get ourselves ready to play, and see where we are, and everybody's on the same page, that will be the important thing.

"If," that is, he hastened to add, "we don't get kind of sideways as to how many points everybody needs to make and how many shots we get."

But if the latter were to happen, either Jaye P. Morgan or Jamie Farr surely would be reaching to bang the bell.

Right, Chuck?

Happy new year

A look at two decidedly different months for the Jazz:

December
Home games: 6
Road games: 10

January
Home games: 9
Road games: 4

Jazz January schedule

Jan. 2: vs. Sixers, 7 p.m.
Jan. 5: at Blazers, 8 p.m.
Jan. 8: vs. Pacers, 7 p.m.
Jan. 10: vs. Suns, 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 12: vs. Magic, 7 p.m.
Jan. 14: vs. Bucks, 7 p.m.
Jan. 17: at Nuggets, 7 p.m.
Jan. 18: vs. Clippers, 7 p.m.
Jan. 21: at Clippers, 1:30 p.m.
Jan. 25: vs. Kings, 7 p.m.
Jan. 27: at Rockets, 5 p.m.
Jan. 28: vs. Spurs, 7 p.m.
Jan. 30: vs. Knicks, 7 p.m.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com