Compared to what the New Jersey Nets are experiencing, the worst season in Utah Jazz history was a carefree stroll through Sugar House Park.

After the franchise moved from New Orleans in time for the 1979-80 season, the Jazz won only 24 games.

Utah started 2-19 but gradually won more regularly -- even piecing together a four-game winnning streak at midseason.

Still, no team in franchise history endured a worse year, which then-coached Tom Nissalke remembers as "a season from hell, basically."

Thirty years later, the Nets, who played the Jazz on Saturday night, are free-falling to a far more inhospitable place.

New Jersey reached the halfway point of the 2009-10 season on a six-win pace -- 18 less than the Jazz's worst team.

Through 42 games, the Nets owned a 3-39 record.

Breaking the NBA's 37-year-old record for fewest wins in a season -- nine -- is a disheartening possibility.

For those involved in the Jazz's most painful season, the Nets' plight reminds them of past misadventures.

"I really feel bad for them because I know what it's like," said Frank Layden, the Utah Jazz's first general manager. "... Patience is a virtue but, when you're losing, it's hard to come by."

Said Nissalke: "It was the toughest year I ever had in coaching. Salt Lake just wasn't ready for a team."

In the preseason, hopes were high -- at least among those unfamiliar with the NBA.

After watching one of the Jazz's first practices, Deseret News beat writer Dave Blackwell approached Nissalke for an interview.

"I knew we weren't going to be very good," Nissalke said. "But Dave comes up to me and says, 'Hey, you're going to have a great team.' I said, 'Dave, we're going to have a very bad team.' "

The Jazz started decently, going 2-5.

Then reality struck.

Utah lost 14 straight games.

During a workout at a local gym, Nissalke remembers one fan asking him if he thought the Jazz could beat the University of Utah.

On the court, the Jazz had Adrian Dantley and little else. Their best players -- Pete Maravich and Ron Boone -- were past their prime. Their young players were not talented enough to win.

In the preseason, Layden acquired Bernard King from New Jersey. But he played only 19 games before a sexual assault incident led to his departure.

"We went through a ton of players, trying to figure out what we could do," Nissalke said.

Layden admitted: "We made too many changes. We had no stability, and it's hard for players to do their best when they are always worried about their jobs. ... We should have tried harder to maintain some type of stability."

Off the court, the infrastructure was lacking.

The practice facility and weight room at Westminster College was sub-par. The home court at the Salt Palace was so dimly lit that a visiting broadcaster told Nissalke it was like watching a game "in a cocktail lounge."

Finances were an everyday problem, too.

"We had no money," Nissalke said. "When payday came, the joke was to let Dantley go to the bank first and deposit his check, just to see what would happen."

Management was always trying to create new revenue streams.

Once, while driving with his GM, Nissalke recalled Layden's idea to raise cash.

"He said, 'What if we charged two or three guys to be on our team?' " Nissalke recalled. "Frank thought we could suit them up, let them run through the layup lines, sit on the bench -- even travel. He said, 'There's got to be people out there who'd do this.' "

By the end of the season, Nissalke said, "We all thought, 'What have we gotten ourselves into?' "

Fast-forward three decades.

New Jersey could be headed for the worst season in league history.

After consecutive trips to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, the Nets need to double their first-half win total just to match the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who finished with nine victories.

What happened?

Within a 16-month span -- with an eye on the bottom line -- the Nets traded Hall of Fame-type point guard Jason Kidd, high-scoring forward Richard Jefferson and All-Star Vince Carter.

"With Jefferson and Carter, who are bonafide scorers, they always had a chance," said Nissalke.

Although the Nets will be $20-25 million under the salary cap this summer, which could help sign a big-name free agent or two, it hasn't prevented disaster this season.

Neither has the schedule or injuries.

New Jersey played 16 of its first 25 games on the road and, heading into the weekend, seven core players had already missed 122 games.

Yi Jianlian, the key to the Jefferson trade, played in 17 of the Nets' first 41 games.

Devin Harris, the key piece to the Kidd trade, missed 11 of the first 41 games and could be available to other teams before the Feb. 18 trade deadline.

"I'm not surprised at how bad it's gotten," Jefferson told the Bergen Record . "They've been trying to cut costs ... and be in position to make some noise in [free agency]."

"But when you're already trying to save money and one or two guys go down for an extended period of time, you're not left with as much as you would normally have."

All is not lost, however.

The Nets' advantageous salary cap situation, the possibility of drafting a top player like Kentucky guard John Wall, the emergence of cornerstone-type center Brook Lopez and pending approval of wealthy Mikhail Prokhorov as owner could translate into a quick turnaround.

General manager Rod Thorn told the Record , "We have something to build on. ... I certainly think we will end up being successful."

Layden hopes so.

Comparing the Jazz's worst-ever season to the Nets' current woes, he said, "We had no history of success. We were bad, bad, bad. From that standpoint, there's a lot more pressure on the Nets.

"They've had success. They've had great players. We were able to start from Ground Zero and say, 'Let's go.' "

luhm@sltrib.com