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In the 2001 NBA season, the Utah Jazz, fading but still a Western contender, started the season 6-11. Karl Malone and John Stockton decided enough was enough, and they led their team to an eventual 44-38 season. That same veteran leadership is not on this team, so making the same type of turnaround is going to be an uphill climb. Especially sitting at 11-21.

Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Arroyo, Gordan Giricek, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Jarron Collins were all given contracts - new or extended - over the summer. Boozer and Okur are playing well, but Kirilenko and Collins are out, and Arroyo and Giricek have been relegated to the bench.

Jerry Sloan has one of the best coaching brains in the game, but even he's been stumped in interviews lately when it comes to this team's lack of success. What gives?

They need to look at the first two weeks of the season and learn from what gave them success.

1. Fast-break points. All too often, the point guard slows it down and settles for the half-court game. This is one of the youngest teams in the league; they should follow Phoenix's example and use their speed to win.

2. Help defense. With Andrei Kirilenko out, these guys need to learn to help each other. They seem to be one step behind on swing rotations and are prone to weak swipes at the basketball instead of stopping the play. The Jazz commit more fouls than any other NBA team so they might as well make them count.

3. Confidence. The first two weeks of the season, they played like they knew they could beat anyone. Then once the losses started to come, they forgot how to play four quarters. The past four games have all been close at the half, followed by a subpar third quarter and the Jazz playing catch-up the rest of the way. It's as if they don't believe they'll be able to keep it close for another half.

4. Set hard screens. The hard screen used to be a staple of a Jazz team. Now, guys back off the screen before the guard can get around so they can open to get the ball themselves. Ironically, at other points in the game, it seems like everyone's scared to take a shot.

The cure will need to be more than the return of Andrei Kirilenko. He may not be able to jump as high or run as fast on that knee of his, and other teams now know that no one on the Jazz other than AK-47 can play consistent defense.

It may be time to make some roster moves. Aleksandar Radojevic is 7-3 and useless in the middle. Curtis Borchardt, whose option the Jazz picked up for another season, hasn't shown signs of being anything more than a 3-point, 2-rebound, big guy. They have four point guards, none of whom Jerry trusts enough to give a permanent starting position.

Larry Miller gave out the money over the summer, and this is the worst team the Jazz have had in over 20 years.

Heads need to roll.