Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
DENVER — Kyle Filopowski has never lost this many games in a row.
A lot of winning happens when you are a consensus top-100 recruit in high school and an All-American at one of the top college basketball programs in the country.
So the Utah Jazz's 0-6 start is new territory for the rookie big man.
"It's a weird feeling; complete 180 from last year," he said.
At Duke, Filipowski never lost more than two consecutive games in a season. It didn't take long to blow right past that number in the NBA. That's life on a rebuilding roster, especially one decimated by injuries.
Isaiah Collier hasn't played a game this season, Taylor Hendricks is out for the year, Lauri Markkanen is dealing with back spasms, and Jordan Clarkson will miss at least two more games with plantar fasciitis.
"Obviously it's a very unique situation with us too, already having a few players out," Filipowski said. "Just trying to remind myself it's 82 games, there's going to be hot and cold streaks. I still just come in every day trying to get that first win."
Calling Utah's current stretch a cold streak might be offensive to cold streaks.
The Jazz are the worst shooting team in the league. They are hitting on just 28% of their 3-point attempt, three percentage points lower than the next worst team.
They have a league-worst 97.7 offensive rating, eight points lower than the No. 29th team (the Chicago Bulls, which so happens to be Utah's next opponent).
And the Jazz have the worst net rating by a lot and just lost the last five games by a combined 110 points.
There's cold and there's the East Antarctic Plateau during a high-wind storm. Utah's start to the year is feeling closer to the latter.
The record, though, isn't all that unexpected. The Jazz won't be favored to win many times this season, especially if Markkanen isn't playing. All-out rebuilding years are tough. There are painful stretches and hard-to-watch games. But this was the plan heading into the year. Utah wanted to use the season to see what it had in its young players and get a high draft pick in the process.
So the key for coach Will Hardy and his team is to get something out of these games.
In Saturday's loss, Hardy liked how the Jazz changed ends of the court, transitioning from offense to defense and vice versa. That's been a point of emphasis and he saw growth there.
He also liked how his team showcased emotional stability and didn't hang their heads when things spiraled early. Utah even fought back in the game and was in striking distance before things unraveled in the fourth quarter.
Hardy said finding those positives during a losing skid is one of the best things he and his staff can do for the young team. Sure, he'll point out the mistakes but during a season dedicated to development, there's a place to celebrate the little victories. Victories like how Keyonte George made the right pass or how Filipowski held his ground against Nikola Jokic.
"Whether that's wins in terms of like, 'Hey, we executed this really well as a team,' or like, 'This is what you've been working on, and this is you enacting it in a game.' There are tons of times that we'll show like 'This was a really good read. You took a good shot and you missed but this is what you've worked on.' … I think it's really important for all of us to maintain perspective," Hardy said.
Even after years of winning (and really only winning), Filipowski hasn't had difficulty maintaining that perspective.
He came into the season not expecting to play much, so he had a mindset of looking for developmental wins in practice and then taking pride in a good play here or there. He's still taking that same approach now that injuries have pushed him into a more central role.
"I think having that for myself has progressed to having it for the team," he said.
And, who knows, maybe even little victories will lead to actual wins, too.
"As a coaching staff, our job is to make sure that every day, the players are coming into an environment where that spark is still lit and they're learning," Hardy said. "I think showing them pictures of what it's supposed to look like and helping them cling to the positives through a tough stretch is ultimately the most important thing we can do."
