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SALT LAKE CITY — Keyonte George doesn't lack confidence.
After his first NBA game, the Utah Jazz rookie stated "I belong" — a feeling he reiterated following the Jazz's recent lopsided affair against the LA Clippers Friday. The confidence is there; the rest of his game is still a work in progress.
That, though, is expected.
It's been a crash course for George this season. He started the year playing a role off the bench, was put in the starting lineup after just eight games, and he's been put near the top of the opposing team's scouting reports due to Jazz injuries.
On Friday, it was Paul George, long seen as one of the game's best perimeter defenders, who took on the talented rookie guard.
"Even at this early stage in his career, he's gotten to see and feel a variety of levels," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "You come off the bench, that's one thing. OK, now you're the starting point guard and you're playing with Jordan (Clarkson) and Lauri (Markkanen), and so you're probably drawing the third-best defender on the other team.
"Then you go through a stretch where both of those guys are out and you draw the best defender on the other team, and it feels totally different; the game plan is totally different — the looks you're getting, the freedom you're getting. It's good because it shows him how much work there still is to be done."
Keyonte George can be seen as a microcosm of the Jazz as a whole. If you look down the roster, it's filled with players playing outside of their usual roles.
Markkanen is still getting used to life as a No. 1 option, Walker Kessler has been heavily scouted and teams are actively trying to take things away from him, Simone Fontecchio is getting full-time NBA minutes for the first time, Clarson has been asked to make more playmaking decisions, and George has never played point guard before.
It's a team playing out of their comfort zones, mostly by necessity. Last season's successes teased that the rebuild might be quicker than expected; but less than two months into this season, it's clear fans are going to have to be patient.
"I don't feel like I'm being blindsided by where our team is right now," Hardy said. "Coming into the season, I felt like we were a team that hit the reset button 15 months ago."
That was seen Friday.
The Jazz coach said he was "proud" of how his team played in the 117-103 loss to the Clippers. He liked the approach, the execution and the physicality.
Talen Hoton-Tucker had one of his better decision-making games, Fontecchio "played his heart out" on defense, and John Collins had 20 points and 13 rebounds in one of his best games of the season.
"There was a lot more good than bad," Hardy said.
Yet, the game wasn't ever that close.
The Clippers are a team the Jazz hope to be one day — a squad that has gone all-in on a pursuit of a championship. Utah isn't there yet — not even close.
These are the opening steps of what could be a long rebuilding path for the Jazz. They have already turned things over to George at the point guard position, and Taylor Hendricks is proving he's capable of at least contributing on an NBA court. Which current players — young or old — will be part of the next great Jazz team? That's part of the learning process this season.
"We want to become a championship team. With that comes some pain, with that comes some hard moments and some tough lessons and some crashing the car a little bit to learn how to win at a high level and to help establish habits," Hardy said.
Each game, then, presents a new learning experience. Friday was the latest lesson for George and the Jazz.
"It's nights like tonight when you get to draw those matchups where you really see that there's still a ways to go," Hardy said.
For Hardy, that's not a negative; in fact, he called it "hopeful."
"This is the time you want to be seeing and feeling the difference between being guarded by a Paul George, or the third-best defender on the other team. So our goal for Keyonte is to continue to learn every single night," Hardy said.
