Veteran guard John Starks said, "It's going to test us in every way," and that it will "test the team, test our character, test our will." And that's as close as anyone comes to fretting.

	Ostertag will be blocking shots from the road this month.

He plays for the Utah Jazz, after all, a team that through the years has relied on two axioms, "Pick and Roll" and "Shut Your Mouth." Had open heart surgery this morning? Smack a bandage on the thing and get in there. And don't forget to block out. Like Tom Hanks said in his memorable scene: "There's no crying in basketball."

So it is that they all hit the road this week -- and this month. The Winter Games come to Salt Lake City and the real Winter games of Salt Lake City -- the basketball team that through the years has become part of the fabric of the town -- goes on tour in a manner rarely seen in the NBA. On the other hand, at least Utah finally has rings.

The Jazz will go 25 days between Delta Center appearances.

The Jazz will play nine consecutive road games.

The Jazz will visit the Great White Way (New York, Feb. 17) and the Great White North (Toronto, Feb. 15), cowboys (Houston, Feb. 4) and Indians (Cleveland, Feb. 18), the Mile High City (Denver, Feb. 20) and the city riding high (Sacramento, Feb. 26).

North, south, east, west. For the team having trouble finding its direction.

That's what makes it all the more compelling. Utah had a terrible start, recovered nicely, had some tough losses, had a couple losses to the Kings in a home-and-home that were so bad it was if Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic put the locomotive in reverse just to run over the Jazz again and again, and then put together a three-game winning streak. The first two victories were over Miami and Chicago, but the other was against surging Portland. The team that needs to find some stability gets only a constant change of scenery.

"I can't worry about that," coach Jerry Sloan said. "Those are great excuses. Hell, they'll get a lot of meal money. They'll probably get more meal money than in a whole year. But if you like basketball, this should be fine. If you don't, yeah, that's a great excuse."

So put a bandage on the thing and get in there.

"It doesn't make any difference," Sloan said. "You still play 41 games at home, 41 on the road. Some teams, if things don't go well, that's a great excuse. Even when I was on an expansion team (the Bulls), I didn't worry about things like that. You still play one game at a time."

	“	You still play 41 games at home, 41 on the road. Some teams, if things don't go well, that's a great excuse. Even when I was on an expansion team (the Bulls), I didn't worry about things like that. You still play one game at a time. ”
		— Jazz coach Jerry Sloan

"Just like it was another road trip," center Greg Ostertag said. "To me, it's not a big deal."

Thanks to the NBA, it is and it isn't. It is just another road trip because the nine games have been broken up well enough that no swing is longer than six games, something many teams face, and that comes with just two back-to-backs. That's why it isn't, or at least shouldn't be, a big deal. This is not a nine-game trip. The league, given the unusual circumstances of being told one of its teams needed a schedule without a home game for the better part of a month, gave the Jazz a workable solution.

Fate played a role, too. That the Olympics came in February provided a natural rest stop with the All-Star break. (What a considerate group, that IOC. Always thinking about others and never what's best for The Rings. They should pat themselves on the the back, except that we'd be too concerned their hands would slip right off because of all those greased palms. Someone buy Juan Antonio a smoothie instead.) This way, the Jazz start Monday in Houston, is in Memphis on Tuesday, and then don't play again until Feb. 12.

That's the start of a trip that goes, in order, to Indiana, Philadelphia, Toronto, New York, Cleveland and Denver. Ohio and Colorado aren't exactly neighbor states, but that hop comes with a day off and also allows for a finish that drops Utah off at its doorstep on Feb. 20. The next outing after that isn't until the 26th, and that's just a one-gamer to Sacramento, in the wake of 113-80 and 114-90 losses to the Kings.

"We can keep our concentration, even being out there for so long," Starks said. "There's no homestand, but it's like Coach (Pat) Riley used to say: you come in on the boat and you sink the boat, and then there's no turning back. It's like that."

It could have been much worse. There won't even be any future payments to make up for the schedule that in the first half of the season was home loaded. The Jazz get a five-game homestand when the return to Salt Lake City finally happens, goes out for five, and then finishes the regular season with nine of 16 at the Delta Center. Whether it would also be finishing the season, period, depends on whether the direction is more like the 7-11 start or the 14-6 run that came soon after, followed by representative showings in losing to the Spurs by four, the Mavericks by three, and the Spurs again by six. That's why five losses in nine games heading to Atlanta doesn't rate another disastrous turn.

The bigger distraction may be the looming trade deadline. Bryon Russell is in the last year of his contract, making him even more attractive to suitors. The same for Donyell Marshall, who is having a very good season without many people noticing. Greg Ostertag, because he is a 7-footer, is always in play, even when he doesn't play. But neither Karl Malone nor John Stockton will be dealt unless they ask for it, and Stockton won't ask. Malone doesn't want to spend the next year and a half, until his contract expires, in the frontseat of the sled (Winter Olympics reference) skidding downhill, but for now isn't speaking up.

Maybe today, maybe next week, maybe not at all. Just know that if he does, the Jazz will be on the road. Somewhere.

Scott Howard-Cooper covers the NBA for the Sacramento Bee and is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.