PORTLAND ? Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was dumbfounded.
     "I don't know when I've had a team that played this poorly this early in the season," he said.

Utah center Greg Ostertag tries to block the shot of Portland guard Derek Anderson during the Trail Blazers' home win Tuesday night.

Associated Press
     Sloan, however, is no dummy.
     He knows full well he has never had a team ? certainly not in Utah, anyway ? play as poorly as the Jazz have during the opening eight nights of the 2001-2002 season.
     After Portland beat Utah 101-83 on Tuesday night at the Rose Garden, in fact, the 1-4 Jazz are off to their worst start since they opened with the same record in 1982-83 ? long before Sloan, the longest-tenured head coach in the NBA, was even a Jazz assistant, and well before their eldest player was even on the roster.