The Jazz are unbeaten this season when Jerry Sloan isn't in the building, but that doesn't mean the team didn't feel his presence during Wednesday's 95-71 victory over Portland.
   
"He's here in this locker room, if you know what I mean," point guard John Stockton said. "He's a part of everything we've done for a lot of years, so just because he isn't here, doesn't mean this isn't his team."
   
But the Jazz won't be Sloan's team again, at least not in person, until Feb. 14, when the coach's seven-game suspension expires. And while nobody is worried about coming apart in the coach's absence -- "It almost makes you focus harder," Stockton said, "because you don't want it to become an excuse" -- they don't exactly agree with the punishment, either.

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The ankle injury Chris Webber sustained when he landed on Scott Padgett's foot on Tuesday turned out to be serious, and the Kings' leading scorer will miss at least two weeks.
   
That will keep Webber from playing in the All-Star Game. Could the Jazz provide his replacement?