Utah Jazz: Sloan hopes team builds on effort

They open a four-game homestand tonight against the Chicago Bulls.

But the Jazz perhaps can benefit sometime down the road from their experiences over the weekend.

So hopes coach Jerry Sloan, whose still injury-hampered club responded from a lopsided loss Friday at San Antonio with a big win — albeit only after quite a bit of coaxing by Sloan, and against a team that starts three rookies — Saturday night in Memphis.

"Hopefully they learned something — learned how to compete on the road," Sloan said. "Because basketball's basketball. If you like to play, you'd compete right here in the hallway. I've always believed that."

And always will.

The 9-5 Jazz are 6-0 so far this season at EnergySolutions Arena, where after facing the Bulls tonight they'll play Memphis again on Wednesday night, Sacramento on Friday night and New Jersey on Saturday night.

But even after beating the Grizzlies they're still only 3-5 away from home, prompting everyone and anyone in the Jazz locker room to try to figure out the perplexing hows and whys of the decidedly incongruent nature of it all.

"A good question," veteran forward Matt Harpring said when asked how the Jazz managed to muster home-like energy in Memphis that has been conspicuously absent in so many other road outings.

"You know," he added, "we have a young team, and sometimes you have to learn how to play on the road. It's different than playing at home. At home, you have the fans behind you to get the energy. On the road, you've got to manufacture energy."

Now that they're back in the comfy confines, Utah-style, the Jazz will enjoy a leg up they don't have elsewhere.

"You can attribute it to our fan support," said starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer, who scored a season-high 21 points in Memphis. "We just sometimes don't have the energy when teams make runs at home. We miss a couple shots, we get down behind.

"If you pay attention to the games," he added, "there have been games this year at home when we're down early. We've had to fight back in the fourth quarter."

Much like they had to fight back from an early seven-point deficit in Memphis.