UTAH IS ALL JAZZED UP AGAIN.

Byline: JOE STEVENS NBA 

The Utah Jazz plays team basketball. The Jazz doesn't necessarily have one go-to guy to turn to at the end of games, and Utah plays hard, regardless of the score.

Knowing that, the big question about the Jazz is: Should it really be in the NBA?

The Jazz eschews the type of self-centered, ``I'm rich and you're not'' attitude that some players adopt. So far, Utah is playing as well as anyone and again looks like a force just four seasons removed from the John Stockton- Karl Malone days.

Nevertheless, Utah's veteran coach, Jerry Sloan -- described recently in the Salt Lake Tribune as ``the old grouch,'' -- is far from jumping for joy.

``I need to see who we are,'' Sloan said. ``I don't know how we're going to be when we play out on the road when it's back-to-back games on the road. I think it's unfair to say we're up here, or we're down here. I think time will tell.''

My theory is that Sloan helps perpetuate the ``anti-NBA'' attitude because he has been with the Jazz so long. Throughout his 19 seasons, his teams have always been exceptionally unselfish and successful, despite lacking flash.

Those close to Sloan, however, say he is not an old grouch at all, and he just presents that personality because he hates attention.

Earlier this month, he collected his 1,000th career victory, and when asked about it, he refused to take any credit. When I suggested to him that it would be OK to be proud of his achievement, he practically

shrugged.

``This is a players' game,'' he said. ``It's always been a players' game, as long as I've been around. What I've done has nothing to do with it, other than the fact that every team has to have a coach, and I happen to be that guy.''

When I reiterated that he had to have something to do with the Jazz's success, he answered, ``Not really. We've always had good players. I've been blessed with great players for 18years.''

He then explained something else that made Stockton and Malone so impressive was that they were hardly ever injured, and that is true.

And that same reason, health, has helped put Utah where it is this season.

To many outside of Salt Lake City, it might seem that the Jazz -- all of a sudden -- is a contender. But Utah slowly has been putting together a strong roster since Short Shorts (Stockton) and the Mailman (Malone) retired.

That all-of-a-sudden feeling comes from Carlos Boozer being healthy and Deron Williams emerging. Williams and Boozer, by the way, happen to play point guard and power forward, respectively, as did Stockton and Malone.

Boozer missed the first 49 games last season with a strained left hamstring but has been healthy this season.

With former All-Star Andrei Kirilenko at small forward, Mehmet Okur as a solid center, Matt Harpring as a perpetually underrated contributor and depth, the Jazz should, at the bare minimum, be a playoff team.

Utah also could do some damage in the postseason, but the Jazz won't attract much attention because of its style of play -- and that it plays in Salt Lake City.

``Yeah, I think we fly under the radar -- but not in the eyes of NBA players and NBA people that know basketball,'' Harpring said. ``People that know basketball know about our team, but fans and the average American, maybe not.''

Another interesting fact about the Jazz is that it has the most second- round picks of any NBA team -- seven. Boozer is one of them, and he was asked if second-round picks all have chips on their shoulders.

``I do,'' he said. ``You got to talk to the rest of them, but I definitely do. I got something to prove every night.''

The Jazz concluded its first long trip of the season, a five-gamer, and still has an impressive record.

Expect Utah to remain a ``forgotten'' team throughout the season, but expect the Jazz to continue to rack up the victories.

``The good thing is I don't think we really worry about the outside right now,'' Harpring said. ``I've been on teams where you can get caught up in that type of hype, reading your headlines and what you're doing right and wrong. I don't think we have a team like that.''

All-Star second-rounders: Second-round picks have non-guaranteed contracts, so any player that makes it in the NBA these day as a second- rounder or an undrafted player has to be considered a steal. Boozer certainly is, even though he had a well-publicized college career at Duke.

An All-Star team of second-round picks and undrafted players thriving in the NBA could be: Gilbert Arenas, Michael Redd, Manu Ginobili, Boozer and Ben Wallace (undrafted).

A Rocky week: Last week was as drama-filled as it possibly could have been for the Denver Nuggets.

Saturday: They brawl with the Knicks.

Monday: They learn their suspensions, with star Carmelo Anthony benched for 15 games.

Tuesday: They trade Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first-round picks for their answer, Allen Iverson.

Wednesday: A blizzard postpones their meeting with the Phoenix Suns.

With Mother Nature trying to make some sort of statement, the structure of their week actually resembles the screenplay from the 1999 movie ``Magnolia.''

Winners and losers: Obviously, there were no winners in the brawl between the Knicks and Nuggets. First of all, NBA players look so ridiculously weak and awkward in fights that any length of suspension for their flailing is warranted.

After Anthony, the biggest losers have been both George Karl and Isiah Thomas, who engaged in a childish verbal war best suited for an elementary school playground.

While Thomas made a good point when he said Karl should have taken out his starters at the end of the blowout win, it doesn't justify his players' behavior. Karl then called Thomas an array of names, some unprintable.

Readers and writers alike yearn for coaches to be candid with their quotes. In a situation with a brawl, however, coaches should put one thing above all of their feelings -- good sportsmanship.

More losers? There might not be a winner in the trade between the 76ers and Nuggets, either. It certainly isn't the Sixers, who gave up a four-time scoring champion for a lackadaisical point guard, Miller, and a player with an expiring contract, Smith. But at least they did get twofirst-round draft picks.

As for the Nuggets, they do get credit for trying to improve themselves, but exactly how the top twoscorers in the league -- Anthony and Iverson -- mesh is to be determined. Some around the league believe it will be a disaster.

On the other hand, the Nuggets might run past everybody, and a team with Anthony and Iverson should, at the very least, be fun to watch.

The last time the league's top twoscorers were on the same team happened to be in Denver during the 1982-83 season, with Alex English and former Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 6 boxes

Photo:

(1) Coach Jerry Sloan, center, once again has the Utah Jazz among the elite teams in the NBA.

Melissa Majchrzak/Getty Images

(2) Seattle's Rashard Lewis, right, will be out for several weeks with a hand injury.

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Box:

(1) THEY SAID IT

(2) GIVES 'EM PAUSE

(3) WEAR YOUR MITTENS

(4) DOUBTING THOMAS

(5) THIS WEEK'S BEST BET

(6) DAILY NEWS CBS2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER

- Rich Hammond