Utah Utes basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak staying upbeat

SALT LAKE CITY — With his team off to a 1-8 start, the worst in school history, and losing by an average of 19 points a game with very few likely wins on the horizon, you'd think Utah basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak might be ready to jump off the nearest bridge.

Actually, despite the Utes' basketball troubles so far this year, Krystkowiak is remaining remarkably upbeat.

The first-year coach hasn't gone into hiding, never shies away from a media interview and isn't taking his frustrations out on his players in practice. You can even catch him smiling on occasion.

Krystkowiak says it's because he's a "half-glass-full kind of guy" and he's trying to stay as positive as possible.

"It's not fun, believe me, and there are plenty of sleepless nights," he says of the Utes' abysmal start. "I care more than anybody (about the losses). But I'm not going to let it eat me up."

Krystkowiak says it's easy for coaches to "say all the funny stuff" and be upbeat when their team is winning. But he believes it's important to be just as positive when things aren't going so well.

"You can't take yourself that seriously," he says. "We're in control of making this better and we're going to have to stay the course. At the end of the day, it's just a game and there's a lot of really big issues happening in the world. It's important to keep it in perspective and I try to do that."

He knows the Utah team should be much better next year when some new recruits join the team and a couple of redshirt transfers become eligible. However, Krystkowiak emphasizes that he's not passing this season off as a lost year and is working hard every day to win the next game.

"Everybody says this is just a tough year and that you're rebuilding," he said. "That's fine, but our players have to understand that the building starts now.

"We've got a bunch of guys that haven't won many games and you can talk about the future. But it's really important that you try to get better in each practice and try to get better to the next week. I don't want my players hearing this is all about two or three years from now."

Krystkowiak talks about Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and how his team went 24-58 and finished last in the NBA's Atlantic Division in 2004-05. The fans wore bags over their heads and made signs that said "Fire Doc." Then the team acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and, just like that, went 66-16 the following season and won the NBA championship.

Was Rivers suddenly a better coach?