Pick is 38 years old and Roll is 39 -- or is Pick 39 and Roll 38? -- but it doesn't matter.

	Still tough players, Malone and Stockton aren't ready to retire yet.

One former starter at center, Olden Polynice, is all but officially gone, another, Greg Ostertag, still causes great frustration, and a new starter, free-agent signee John Amaechi, is coming in, but it doesn't matter. Karl Malone remains one of the best power forwards.

One former backcourt mate, Jeff Hornacek, was replaced by John Starks, but it doesn't matter. John Stockton remains one of the best point guards.

The wish here is that this news organization did not just deliver news. Hopefully, everyone knew that StocktontoMalone is still about consistency and big numbers and outworking even those opponents who have the benefit of going it without walkers. The comments should not be revealing.

It's just that they should be worth repeating since everyone seems ready to bury the Jazz ... again. The timing is understandable, what with the first-round playoff loss to the younger, more athletic, deeper Dallas Mavericks, except that people should have realized long ago that some people in Utah can't tell time.

Malone just averaged 23.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 35.7 minutes and shot 49.8 percent. He was, at worst, the fourth-best player at his position, behind Tim Duncan, Chris Webber and Kevin Garnett. (On an unrelated note, but one that made 2000-01 that much more special, it was the season in which he finally he learned to appreciate his place in history and love the moment, a change in attitude prompted by a family loss.

"I think by me taking my game as seriously as I did, it made me the player that I am today," he said. "But I wish I would have let my guard down just a little and enjoyed things a little bit more. A win. Or a record. Instead of saying, 'Oh. Yeah, I was supposed to do that.' Savor it for a minute, and then move on. The big wins in my career, the big shots in my career, it's like I never enjoyed them like I should have. And maybe getting to know other players a little bit more. Maybe getting to know the NBA a little bit more.")

	Ostertag

Stockton just averaged 8.7 assists (second in the league) and shot 50.4 percent overall (seventh) and 46.2 on three-pointers (second) in 29.2 minutes per. For the third consecutive season, and the 10th time in the last 11, he didn't miss a game.

Yeah, they're done, all right.

The Jazz is not going to challenge for a championship, but it's not going to go away either. Those who have predicted Utah's demise ever since Stockton and Malone started getting up in the years -- have been wrong at least five times, if not more. The next time Pick and Roll look bad will be their first. Arguably the best players at their respective positions in history -- Stockton as a true point guard, not compared straight up with someone with the versatility of Magic Johnson -- they have earned the right to be backed a year too long than to be tossed overboard three years too soon.

Besides, why have people been in such a hurry to dismiss them anyway? Neither will win contests with peers around the league when the vote is for clean play/sportsmanship (the Lady Dave Bing Trophy?), but aren't Stockton and Malone what fans should be wanting more of in an era of primal screams after first-quarter dunks that make the score 18-15, fading levels of professionalism and team-hopping?

Both will have played their entire careers in the same city, having never once bristled about the lack of endorsements in small-market Salt Lake City. Malone once flirted with the idea of playing for the Lakers, but it was just a passing glance and never got to the point of asking to be moved. Free agent Stockton should sign another contract with the Jazz soon, and when the time comes that he doesn't re-up, it will be to retire and not relocate.

Camp starts in about a month. No one will be in better shape.

	Russell

It will be an interesting season no matter what. Stockton and Malone are back, but three key players from the 53-29 club -- Polynice, Danny Manning and Jacque Vaughn -- are not. Ostertag will arrive at camp, unless something happens soon, aware that management did nothing to hide its desires to trade him during the summer, and aware that he could be moved at any time. Donyell Marshall and Bryon Russell will be in the final years of their contracts, a circumstance that could either lead to them playing like never before or feeling the negative impact of an uncertain future.

Plus, the transition will have officially started. That's news in itself. Andrei Kirilenko, a 1999 selection, will hit the NBA after the last two seasons in Russia with hopes of giving the Jazz a significant contribution from a first-rounder for the first time since Vaughn from the Class of '97. Play in the Rocky Mountain Revue, in his first appearance at this level, showed that he is raw but should at least give the Utah an infusion of athleticism.

This is also the season with the schedule broken up more than most Hollywood marriages. Because of the Winter Olympics, the Jazz play at home Feb. 2 and then not again until Feb. 28. When it does finally return to the Delta Center at the end of the month, the stay is for five games -- just before a five-game trip that has two back-to-backs. The February stretch includes nine consecutive road games, spread out to include a six-game swing and two other short hops, and the All-Star break. What sort of benefit does this get the Jazz the rest of the way? A finish in which four of the final five games of the regular season are on the road. Salt Lake leaders should bribe the NBA schedule maker next time.

No matter. The Olympics will come and then the Games will leave, and the real games for the basketball-passionate fans of the city will arrive. The playoffs. Because the Jazz will still be part of them. Because Stockton and Malone aren't going away.

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