Jazzhoops   Utah Jazz season preview by Johnathan Kendrick It’s the same old story. There are a lot of new cast members, but the main characters remain the same. The leading roles have been and will continue to be played by future hall of fame players, Karl Malone and John Stockton. For nearly two decades, they along with the rest of the cast have repeatedly brought fans to their feet, made them shout, made them cheer, and unfortunately left them crying for more. Six players in all were sent packing this year. Over the summer, the Jazz said good bye to Donyell Marshall and Bryon Russell. The NBA joined with the Jazz to say good luck and farewell to Quincy Lewis, John Starks, John Crotty, and Rusty Larue. Despite letting 6 free agents walk, the Jazz did return the services of two of their own free agents, Jarron Collins and Scott Padgett. While donating more than their share to the free agent market, the Jazz also tried to do their part in taking a few sought after players in a year there weren't a lot of marquee names to sign. They stole Harpring right from underneath Chicago, and quickly moved to sign Mark Jackson before other teams had a chance to talk to him. The Jazz were also able to add a good system player in Calbert Cheaney, and were able to land a good half court point guard when the Nuggets decided they wanted to run the ball. Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice? First, Denver cut Arroyo, then Jackson. Of course, lightning striking twice is not always a good thing. Rounding off the Jazz roster when they open play on Oct 30th will be the first round draft picks over the last two years, Raul Lopez, and Curtis Borchardt. Now that the revolving door has stopped spinning and the much changed lineup is ready for debut… Is there a reason for optimism? Chances are the starting lineup will feature 5 players that were here last year. Long time starter and crowd favorite Bryon Russell is gone along with second option Donyell Marshall. The last two draft picks are in casts. Finally let’s be honest – The Jazz have two players the Denver Nuggets cut from their roster. Three if you take into consideration they didn’t try to resign Cheaney. From many perspectives – it looks bad. The highest the Jazz have been ranked in preseason publications is 8th in the West. Other publications give the nod to 7th and 8th place to teams like the Clippers the Sonics and the Rockets. Talk radio shows around the Salt Lake valley were filled with season ticket holders and long time fans searching for a public forum to let team management know they weren’t planning on coming to games. How ever bad it has looked, there still is a reason for optimism. True, the Jazz sacrificed talent this year for smaller paychecks, but that’s not all they received. Talent can win you games. Talent can get you to the playoffs. Talent can come up short. The Jazz did drop a talent level – but they improved drastically in the hustle department. Hustle will win you games. Hustle will keep you in games you shouldn’t be in. Hustle will close doors on the opposition and keep it closed. Hustle without talent will get you further than talent without hustle. Marshall showed at times he was very talented but he lacked a killer instinct. Russell traded in defense for the flop, and down the stretch could not buy a bucket. On the other hand, last year, Malone and Harpring got into a bit of a shoving match with minutes left in a game where Philidelphia had no chance to come back – but someone forgot to tell Harpring the game was over. Andre Kirilenko won the hearts of Jazz fans last year because he refused to give up on plays – he continually tried to do the impossible and sometimes he succeeded. Name another small forward who shot Kobe down one game after recording multiple blocked shots on Shaq the game before. Kirilenko and Harpring will bring a bite the Jazz have missed at the small forward. Most likely joining Kirilenko in the starting line up will be third year Jazzman Deshawn Stevenson. Stevenson has a lot yet to prove. A good sign he is ready came in the Rocky Mountain Revue in a game the Jazz had to rally to beat Toronto in. Down the stretch, DeShawn matched every Raptor basket and in the last critical minutes switched from small forward to point guard – not only bringing the ball up but also defensively taking out Toronto’s hottest player. Even Greg Ostertag showed hustle in the last preseason game by not only sprinting to a loose ball, but after bumping heads with McCoy, went sprinting in to the locker room to get bandaged up and sprinted right back out so he could stay in the game. If the young guys are indeed ready, there is no reason this year can’t be better than last. With the hustle that is sure to be on the floor, there is no reason to think that this year should not be more exciting. The Jazz have a chance to do as Kirilenko did last year when he won the hearts of the fans – go after the impossible. Just ask a content and happy Malone how he feels about being the underdog. There are sure to be ups and downs. Good and bad revues. Winning streaks and losing streaks. Fans that never doubt and fans that have had enough. It should be a season to keep us on our toes. All that’s left now is to wish the cast good luck, hope for an encore performance in the playoffs, and hope the team goes out there and figuratively, not literally, (apologies to Borchardt and Lopez) “breaks a leg.”