At left: The Jazz selected Gordon Hayward from Butler.
The Utah Jazz drafted Gordon Hayward from Butler with the ninth pick in the NBA Draft last week. I was hoping we could get Greg Monroe from Georgetown, but my second favorite team, the Detroit Pistons nabbed him a couple of picks earlier. I don't think there were any can't miss big men on the board at number nine so I'm not really upset that the Jazz didn't get a big man.
Hayward had a monster run with Butler during this year's NCAA Tournament and my dad and I had the privilege of watching him play in person during the Bulldogs' Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight victories over Syracuse and Kansas State. I think he was the best player on the court on either team in both of those games and helped carry Butler to victory. He had an incredible step-back three that really was something to behold.
I just think Hayward has a lot of the intangibles and knows how to win. He's a good player and a good teammate and genuinely cares about basketball and winning. I think he will be a good fit here in Utah. I'm not particularly enamored with the booing that took place at Energy Solutions Arena at the draft day party last week. I think we should be happy to be getting a good player and again I didn't think there were any sure-fire, can't-miss guys that we passed up to get him (I mean it's not like we passed on Monroe, John Wall or Evan Turner).
In case you haven't heard, the NBA Free Agency period is under way and players are now permitted to talk to teams. The big question on everyone's mind is what will happen with LeBron James. Reports are that he has already met with the Nets and Knicks and still plans to meet with the Heat, Bulls, Clippers and Cavaliers. He'll be able to make a lot of money wherever he goes. My bet is he will re-sign with Cleveland but I wouldn't be surprised to see him go and the most likely of those scenarios to me is him going to Miami to team with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. There's a lot of big-name free-agents out there including Dirk Nowitzki (likely to re-sign with Dallas), Amare Stoudemire as well as Carlos Boozer. I think Boozer will be back in Utah but that's far from a guarantee from me.
The World Cup quarterfinals begin tomorrow with Brazil vs. the Netherlands at 8 a.m. MT and Ghana vs. Uruguay at 12:30 p.m. MT with both games on ESPN and espn3.com. On Saturday it's Germany vs. Argentina at 8 a.m. MT and Spain vs. Paraguay at 12:30 p.m. MT with both of those games on ABC. And of course if you own one of those new 3-D televisions you can watch in 3-D. I don't have one so I guess I will "settle" for HD on the games I watch which will be hopefully at least part of three of the four games. The semis are next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Check out below for more pictures including a comparison I make of Dodgers pitcher Vincente Padilla to The Joker.
I too found the booing at the ESA during the Jazz's draft pick announcement disrespectful. Even if it was clearly a bad pick (which I do not find it to be) such a negative reception from inside the ESA, is discouraging. Fans should give Hayward a chance to prove himself as a player before they boo him from inside the ESA. If you cannot show some level of respect to a teams draft choice inside the home arena, why even call yourself a fan.
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