As the Jazz prepare to open the exhibition season Wednesday, the question that will define their season largely has been an afterthought so far: How much closer are they to a championship after getting halfway there last playoffs?
If only the Jazz could have picked up where they left off in the Western Conference finals, maybe the talk would be different. Instead, the Jazz's summer was defined by the Kirilenko controversy, Derek Fisher's departure and modest roster moves.
History provides some perspective as far as teams like the Jazz that reached the conference finals after missing the playoffs the previous season. They might not have been one-hit wonders, but they also didn't hang championship banners.
Of the last five such teams, all five made it to the conference semifinals the next season. Three returned to the conference finals, and one (the 2002-03 New Jersey Nets) played in the NBA Finals, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, meanwhile, said he didn't start off talking about the expectations created by last season's playoff run. Not that it was necessary to do so, according to Williams.
"Everybody knows,'' Williams said. "We ain't even got to talk about it. Everybody knows we want to go farther. We feel like we're an improved team from last year. You can tell guys have put in the work in the offseason."
As proof, Williams pointed to second-year guard Ronnie Brewer, whom he called the best player in camp. Brewer played in only 56 games as a rookie but might have given Sloan no choice but to play him now, Williams said.
The Jazz turned over only four roster spots, signing free-agent point guards Jason Hart and Ronnie Price to help replace Fisher, and made a bid for free-agent shooting guard Morris Peterson, who instead headed to New Orleans.
But Kevin O'Connor, the executive vice president of basketball operations, believed the Jazz still took a step forward. Kirilenko starred for Russia at the European championships and Williams played on the equivalent of an All-Star team with USA Basketball.
"I think it's been a positive summer from a basketball point of view,'' O'Connor said.
From a team that had missed the playoffs the previous three seasons, the Jazz won 12 of their first 13 games, finished with a 51-31 record and reached the conference finals ahead of all expectations.
Their season, though, ended in finger-pointing after a Game 5 loss in San Antonio, when Williams and Boozer called out their teammates. The charge? One or more Jazz players had made vacation plans before the team officially was eliminated.
That night, Boozer sat in an interview room and decried the lack of what he called "championship vision." And Williams was asked Saturday if he thought the Jazz now all possessed that quality.
"I think so,'' Williams said. "I think everybody on the team wants to win. We had a little bit of distractions in the summer, but I think all that's behind us now. A.K. came in, he's ready to play. We're going to take it from there."
As long as they win the Northwest Division, the Jazz will be assured a top-four playoff seed. That will be easier said than done in a season where the Jazz won't sneak up on anybody, as Sloan acknowledged.
"That's the nature of the business,'' Sloan said. "John Stockton and Karl Malone had to play every day. It didn't make any difference who they played against, some guy down the line was going to try to embarrass them if they could.
"These guys have to realize the same thing. They can get by, but if they're going to be good, they've got to lay it out there every day."
The Jazz also will be hard pressed to repeat last season's 12-1 start. Subtract that start and the Jazz went 39-30 the rest of the season, which would have translated to a 46-36 record for a full season. That would have been only sixth best in the conference.
"We can't afford to take any nights off this year,'' Williams said. "We got to be more consistent through the entire season and not have so many ups and downs and just improve as the season goes on."
rsiler@sltrib.com
