Utah Jazz need more than quick fix to see playoff wins

Got a case of pre-playoff heebie-jeebies? Jumpy about the Jazz's erratic final weeks? Concerned that this post-season will be as short as a movie trailer?

I have some answers.

This isn't what Jerry Sloan wants to hear. He let the media know what he thought of their answers at Monday's shoot-around. He even went so far as to ask rhetorically whether any of them had ever had a bad day, too . . .

Answer: Yes, a lot of them.

But none as bad as the Jazz had against the Warriors.

Still, the Jazz made the playoffs, which is an OK accomplishment. They should have finished better than they did, but there were mitigating circumstances. I don't know what else you'd call the loss of Carlos Boozer for half the season and Deron Williams for the start and Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko in key spots.

Either way, I've included a Jazz troubleshooting/assembly manual, just in time for the playoffs. If they follow closely, they have a chance.

Problem is, most people throw away the manual and do things on the fly.

WHAT CAN BE FIXED

Road woes. It's true that going into Tuesday's game at L.A., the Jazz had defeated only one Western Conference playoff team on the road. That's not just embarrassing, it's shameful.

But it's not insurmountable. In 2006-07, the Jazz won just 20 road games — better than this year, but nothing special — yet won Game 7 in Houston to advance to the second round.

They went on to win one at Golden State, too.

That's not overly impressive, but it did show they could win outside the state lines when it counts.

Fixing the road blues is actually fairly easy. Just go about your day as though you were at home. Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, scatter toys around on the floor of your room, put Alpo in a doggie dish, take out the garbage and walk around in your underwear.

The routine will have almost anyone believing they're home, where things are safe and secure.

Defense. This is the same bunch that hunkered down in 2007 and played decent defense in the playoffs. Carlos Boozer, the Jazz's chronic problem, even looked respectable, while Mehmet Okur flat-out bothered Houston's Yao Ming.

Sloan says defense is a mental thing. In that case, the Jazz could also consider contacting The Amazing Kreskin.