Would you rather be a fan of the Utah Jazz, a team that has won seven division titles and made the playoffs for each of the last 17 seasons while producing two Hall of Fame players, or root for the Florida Marlins, an organization that has had one winning season in its brief history?

	The Mailman has never missed the playoffs, but he's also never won it all.

Clearly, you'd rather be a Jazz fan. But the fact is for all their 50- and 60-win seasons, Salt Lake's finest haven't won a world championship. They've been close, make no mistake, but no titles. However, the Marlins, in their lone winning season since coming into existence in 1993, did win a world title, though the team was broken up faster than Bob Knight's Indiana team threatened to.

With that, we open the final week of the original spotlights and delve into Offseason Team Spotlight No. 27, the Florida Marl ... um, the Utah Jazz. As always, we have our opinions, which are below, but we also appreciate yours. Click on the file to the right to see what ESPN.com users were thinking.

Why the Jazz were 55-27: If you know anything about the Jazz, this won't be news to you: The Jazz win a lot of games every year because Karl Malone and John Stockton remain, after 15 and 16 years respectively, among the preeminent players at their position, and, without argument, wonderful partners. Sure, Stockton is slowing down, but his numbers are still top-notch for a point guard (check out the turnovers, the shooting, etc.). And Malone averaged 25.6 points and 9.5 rebounds a game at age 36 (now he's 37). That's not slowing down. These guys always know where the other guy is and no pair of teammates work better together.

Oh, yeah, the Jazz did have some other people last year (and have over the years) contributing to their success. There's always been a center to rebound and block shots (used to be Mark Eaton, now Greg Ostertag), normally a decent shooting guard (was Jeff Hornacek, will be John Starks) and complimentary players (From Darrell Griffith and Thurl Bailey to Bryon Russell and Howard Eisley) to score points and do the dirty work. Last season, for example, four players after Malone averaged more than eight points a game. However, as we'll get to later, two of those four players will not back.

Anyway, the Jazz weren't supposed to win the Midwest division title (as if that means much anymore) with the defending champ Spurs and emerging Timberwolves sitting there, but they did. Utah sputtered early, starting out 8-7, and having people who picked them as one of the final playoff seeds looking good. Then in the next month the team had a pair of six-game winning streaks. Fast forward to mid-February and a home loss to the Celtics, which got everyone's attention. Then the Jazz won 18 of their next 20 games to earn the division title and No. 2 West seed. The Sonics pushed them to five games in the first round, the Blazers dispatched the Jazz in five games after that. It was Utah's shortest playoff season in five years. But was it a bad year?

Same ol' story in Salt Lake: Great regular season, disappointing postseason. But then again, maybe that's enough.

	Current projected top 6
	PG	John Stockton
	SG	John Starks
	SF	Donyell Marshall
	PF	Karl Malone
	C	Greg Ostertag
	6th	Bryon Russell

Team MVP: The guy is 37 and is still in the top 10 in the NBA. Not just at his power forward position, but overall. Team LVP: Nobody ever confused Adam Keefe with being a great player, but 2.2 points 2.2 rebounds a game is anemic. Keefe used to be able to shoot 50 percent and board when needed. Now he's Golden State's problem, and certainly not the solution. Surprise! On a team where there are seldom surprises, here's a mild one. Russell has become a very underrated player. In the last four years he's missed only one game, and he's coming off a career-high average of 14.1 points. His offseason reward: The Jazz acquired Donyell Marshall to take his starting spot. Up and comer: Though they can wait probably two years, high schooler DeShawn Stevenson appears to have a bright NBA future. The Jazz, with plenty of veterans logging all the playing time, can afford to wait for him. Stevenson averaged 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists as senior in high school, which is meaningless, but did quite well in the summer league, which isn't. He projects as a shooting guard just in time for Starks to leave in two years, or sooner if Starks can't shoot above 35 percent.

What they need: While it would seem to be the same Jazz prediction, where we can pretty much pencil in a top-four playoff seed and second- or third-round playoff exit, let's suppose that the moves the team made this offseason are really special. Sure, classy shooting guard Jeff Hornacek has been replaced by the inconsistent Starks, and solid backup point Howard Eisley will need to be replaced by fourth-year man Jacque Vaughn, but the positives are clear as well.

With no shot at replacing Ostertag or Olden Polynice at center, the Jazz went out and got one of the few players to average double digits in rebounding last year, former Warrior Donyell Marshall. A small forward, he came in a four-team deal that cost Eisley, Keefe and a first-round pick, but Marshall should step right up and help the team on the boards and Eisley is replaceable. Russell isn't really a two-guard, but he could play there if needed. Marshall had a stretch last year with multiple 20-20 point-rebound games and should lessen Malone's load as well. And this doesn't hurt Russell that much.

As for Starks, no, he's not the most accurate shooter, but he does bring intensity and playoff experience and he does have an affinity for hitting big shots. Hornacek will be missed, but his knee problems did take a toll on the team in the playoffs, where opposing shooting guards had their way with him. Starks is a very capable defender, and after two years with the Warriors and Bulls, he must be salivating at a guaranteed playoff berth.

The third major pickup for Utah was Danny Manning, who gives the team another option in the middle and allows Scott Padgett to take more time developing. They got him with the $1.2 million exception (Starks was the $2.5 mil exception) and that's not bad at all for a guy who can spell Malone and play some center.

The Jazz don't need much. Stockton and coach Jerry Sloan may retire after the upcoming season, and since Malone doesn't want to rebuild, he may join them or move on to another team. So it's clear that time is running out, though we've been saying that for years. This team could be deeper than it has been in the Malone-Stockton era, but ultimately it might not matter when the Lakers, Spurs and Blazers come calling in the playoffs.

What the plan is: With Ostertag, Malone and Marshall up front, Stockton and Starks at guard, and some quality experience off the bench in Russell, Manning and Polynice, the Jazz shouldn't have any dropoff at all, and may put up a better fight when the playoffs come. Say what you will about Starks, but he should be able to replace Hornacek's scoring and defense without too much of a problem, and Marshall, a career disappointment until last season, might really blossom with his first chance in the playoffs. People take it for granted, but imagine never playing in the playoffs or even having a hope. Also, Manning will be a definite upgrade on the team's backup big men from a year ago, Padgett, Keefe and Armen Gilliam.

There are concerns, however, in the backcourt. While Starks' production isn't a big worry, he needs to be more team player than ever before. See tapes of the Knicks' Game 7 Finals loss to Houston for proof. If you miss a few shots in Utah, you don't keep shooting, you let the Mailman have the ball. What happens when Starks comes out of the game? Russell might see time there, especially with second-year man Quincy Lewis, who didn't look ready last season, and Stevenson the main backups. Forget about Stevenson playing. Lewis, meanwhile, had his minutes drop off badly after Christmas last year, though he figures to get those minutes back.

After the regular season, the Jazz need to do some work in the playoffs. Fans in Utah appear to realize that the team is running outta time, but face it, unlike the Marlins' fans, Jazz fans have been treated to a quality product since the Reagan administration. They've just never had a winner's parade.

Direction heading: This might be the easiest team in basketball to predict. Top four or five playoff seed in the West, little chance of upending Shaq, Scottie or Tim in the playoffs. But we could be wrong.