The Utah Jazz are coming off two successful seasons, winning 50-plus games each year and advancing far into the playoffs. The Jazz begin their quest to reach even loftier goals this season when they open training camp today in Boise, Idaho.

Last May the Jazz lost in the second round of the NBA playoffs to the Los Angeles Lakers. It was a disappointing end to a season where many expected the Jazz to make it to the NBA finals. “One Team, One Dream” was the team’s playoff theme as they fought their way through the post-season. The theme seems to be no different this year.

CJ Miles explained what the team will work on during training camp this week.

“We break down defensive schemes and offensive plays, we do a lot of drills and we see where everyone’s conditioning is, we run a lot. It’s where guys fight for their positions and their minutes. It’s to help us start the season off right.”

The Jazz will end the week with a scrimmage at Energy Solutions Arena on Saturday which is a blue-and-white game to give everyone a chance to preview the team before they head into pre-season. The event is free and open to the public. The doors will open at 3:30 p.m. and the practice game will run for one hour.

This year’s team will open the pre-season in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Oct. 7 and Utah will play its first home game on Oct. 9 against the Phoenix Suns. After seven pre-season games, the Jazz will host the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 29 in the regular season opener.

There are a few big questions facing the Jazz this year: What is it going to take to reach the NBA finals? What do the Jazz need to do differently to improve this season, especially on the road?

“I think the whole team knows defensively we’ve got to get better,” said Deron Williams at the Jazz’s media day on Monday. “We don’t have any problems scoring. At times we struggle stopping people and we foul too much. We’re always at the top of the league in fouls, and sometimes it costs us games, and we just got to get better in that area.”

Williams also talked about Utah’s road woes.

“We just had some bad games, it just seemed like we played down to the level of the competition. We had some good wins against the top teams in the NBA, it’s just those bottom teams that we fell to. We have got to be determined when we come up against those teams. We can’t let them get confidence because when any team gets confidence they can beat you,” Williams said.

Playing in the Olympics gave Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko and Williams a rich experience coming into this season.

Thirteen players return and there are two newcomers on the roster. The Jazz acquired Brevin Knight from the Los Angeles Clippers and drafted Kosta Koufos.

“Brevin will bring leadership and experience,” Kyle Korver said. “He’s always played a real intelligent game. He can help Deron out and give him more tricks to the trade, he’s a great locker room guy and were excited to have him.”

The Jazz also exercised their fourth year option and signed Ronnie Brewer. He will be with the Jazz through the 2009-10 season.