Road woes

LOS ANGELES – For a team that opens the 2009-10 NBA regular season Oct. 28 at Denver, and one that went 17-24 on the road last season, and one, furthermore, that has had gone eight straight seasons with a losing record when playing away from home, there may be no better way to end the preseason than how the Jazz do.
That would be – after already having played exhibition games in London and Madrid – with two on the road this weekend in Los Angeles, one at Portland on Tuesday night and another to end it at Sacramento on Friday night.
(The Jazz play the Clippers today in L.A. and, depending on the outcome of today’s two games at Staples Center, either the Lakers or Charlotte on Sunday).
“We’re gonna have to (play better on the road) if we’re gonna do anything,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said, “because (otherwise) when you get in the playoffs you won’t have homecourt advantage.
“You’ve got to try to earn it by winning on the road.”
To get there, Sloan beckons back to what has been the theme of his preseason.
That would be defense.
“You’ve got to understand everybody runs better at home than they do on the road,” he said. “(Opponents like) to you get in the open court to get easier baskets. When you get out on the road, you better be able to play a halfcourt game, and not let teams get those runs that they do.”
If by the end of the coming week the Jazz haven’t figure that out, will they ever?
Sloan, for one, wonders.
“I still see some of the same mistakes,” he said, citing a rough-and-tumble finish to their eventual preseason home win Thursday over Portland.
“We can’t afford to play that lethargic, wherever we are on the road,” the Jazz coach added. “Because that’s where you lose games.”

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