This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It's early yet, but something new is happening with the Jazz — and it's an absolute requirement in order for them to make themselves a significantly better team and to realize the dreams they say they have.

They are winning on the road.

The great Jazz teams of the past could do that. The mediocre-to-good ones could not. Where this particular group, one that is still evolving, lands on that scale remains for the days ahead to indicate. So far, though, especially of late, they are mastering the call, having won three consecutive roadies — against the Spurs, the Knicks and the Sixers. All of those victories were convincing, with Utah pulling away through the fourth quarter.

Traditionally, the Jazz have struggled away from home.

That goes back to the Malone-Stockton seasons. Until the team acquired Jeff Hornacek, even the statues struggled to get road games. After those guys left, the Jazz records on the road went like this: 19-22, 18-23, 14-27, 8-33, 19-22, 20-21, 17-24, 15-26, 21-20, 18-23, 11-22, 13-28, 9-32, 17-24, 16-25.

That's one season in 15 during which the Jazz won more than they lost on the road, and even that lonely success came by the margin of a single game. What's the big deal? A team has to win away from home to prove its real merit, especially among the league's elite teams. No team with a losing road record has won an NBA title since the 1978 Washington Bullets.

Not that the Jazz are in contention to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy this season, but a positive road record would at least affirmatively move them in that direction. The qualities necessary to accomplish the former are demonstrated in the latter. The two most definitely are connected.

For many of the years the Jazz could not consistently win on the road, the excuse/explanation given was that they were too young. They were always young. They were forever young. They suffered from the Peter Pan Principle. They refused to grow up.

Until now.

The addition and introduction of George Hill and Joe Johnson into the younger mix may transform these guys — even Dante Exum and Trey Lyles and Rodney Hood and Rudy Gobert and the rest — into full-grown men. In that way, the play of the veterans, with the return to health of Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors, is doing more than adding numerical benefits.

Hill may be averaging 20 points and five assists, Johnson 13 and three coming off the bench, but their comprehensive effect is greater than just that. They boost the team, hitting key shots, sustaining important momentum down the stretch, and giving the entire group a sense of confidence so it can do likewise.

Defense is always significant on the road because it is — or can be — a consistent presence, something that doesn't vary with the crowds, the noise, the negative energy, the settings, the cities, the backdrops. It just is. And as Quin Snyder said it after the road win over Philly, the second game of a back-to-back, on Monday night, the Jazz's defense was intense — and got more that way as the game wore on — against the Sixers.

The offense fed off of that, even without Hill, who sat out with a sprained thumb. The bench, led by Johnson, Exum and Joe Ingles picked up that theme and helped the frontline guys prosper.

The whole of it brought to mind words spoken long ago by Karl Malone, whose team at that time was in the middle of a 15-game road win streak. He said the magic to being a good team that wins on the road versus a good team that doesn't wasn't magic at all. It came down to "being together, being confident, being calm."

That's what this new Jazz team is now showing.

They are growing together, growing confident, growing calm … and growing up. It looks that way, anyway. The positive effect of leadership in basketball, and all sports, along with the requisite talent, of course, is talked about a lot — for good reason. It makes a difference.

The Jazz will still lose road games. But if they win more than they lose, that's when everybody, including the NBA's best teams, will start checking their rearview and side-view mirrors for the lights out of Utah closing fast.

It's a bare minimum for big dreams. Dreams the Jazz quietly say they have every intention of making real.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on the Zone Sports Network, 97.5 FM and 1280 AM. Twitter: @GordonMonson.