Utah Jazz: Positivity and a pigskin in the air at Media Day

"Absolutely, absolutely," Corbin said. "We feel good about where we are. We have a lot of work to do. It's not going to be easy. We're not going to surprise anybody, but we have enough talent on this team to compete."

That position depth — at guard, forward and center, not quarterback — is a main reason why the Jazz are so excited about their prospects in what figures to be a tough and deep Western Conference.

"We're all in this together," Millsap said. "We're all trying to reach the same goals, so it's everybody's team. Everybody's gonna come out and treat it that way."

Players' personal development over the offseason — on their own and together at the P3 performance lab in Santa Barbara, Calif. — also increased the organization's positive outlook.

"I think everybody was disappointed the way we played in the playoffs," Corbin said, reflecting on being swept out of the first round by San Antonio. "We knew that we made some improvements during the course of the year, but we have a long, long way to get to where we want to get. They all did a great job of just going out and working on their game and their bodies to get better."

Popular topics at Monday's quote-o-rama on that subject included raves about Kanter's abs and weight loss (51 pounds); Big Al's legwork; Millsap's ever-improving body; the toughness, shooting and savvy play of the Williamses and Foye; Burks' standout summer-league; Hayward's and Favors' progression and boost from working out with the gold-medal-winning Olympic team; Carroll's hustle and so on.

"I'm really excited about everybody and the team," Jefferson said. "We just want to pick up where we left off last year."

Beginning this morning.

"This next month is going to be really critical for us to kind of get ready," said Marvin Williams, who was traded to Utah this offseason for Devin Harris. "We've got to pick up the offense. We've got to feel each other out."

And hope their basketball season isn't as wobbly as some of the football tosses made on their practice court.

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