Gordon Hayward | Salt City Hoops

by Jefferson W. Boswell

Justin Bieber...err...Andrei Kirilenko greeting past and present teammate Raja Bell (AP Photo/George Frey)

The MLB playoffs are right around the corner and the hunt for October is in full swing. College campus are rocking on Saturdays as football rivalries heat up. The NFL has kicked off and the talk around the water-cooler has settled on fantasy stats and schedules.

To add to the joy that is Fall, the new look Utah Jazz held their annual media day as a final stepping stone to training camp. Arguably the most consistent and steady team in the league, traditionally retro-Utah showcased a bevy of new talent, not to mention some slick new (throwback-style) duds.

The newcomers include:

“BIG” AL JEFFERSON

I’ve never been more excited to start a training camp. Training camp is always been something that you want to skip but I’m so excited. D-Williams is Batman [author: does that make Big Al sidekick Robin...Halloween costumes already in the works? What are the chances that Jerry Sloan would play Alfred?] – I’m here to do whatever he want me to do to help us win.

"I go from being in a Toyota to a Bentley. It’s a beautiful thing" (AP Photo/George Frey)

RAJA BELL

[I]f you want to win, there are very few franchises that have a winning record like the Jazz do. If you want a community to support you, I challenge you to go somewhere and find people that support you more than the Jazz fans do…I think we can challenge anybody in the West. That’s me saying it: I’m an ultra competitor. But I don’t think that’s far-fetched. I think we have a lot of talent. I think we’re deep. …So, I’m not blowing smoke when I say we can be a really good team. I think we can play with anybody

(Francisco Kjolseth/SL Tribune)

ROOKIE GORDON HAYWARD

To be honest, when you first walk in and it’s Deron Williams right there, you get a little bit like ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Deron Williams’ [author's note: pretty sure I'd have the same reaction]

I know it’s going to be a journey, adjustment and a challenge, but like I said I’m excited to work hard and play at the next level.

Happy to repost this pic! (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBE/Getty Images)

Others joining the Jazz at training camp include Francisco Elson (C, formerly of the Bucks), Earl Watson (G, formerly of the Pacers), Ryan Thompson (rookie SG from Rider), Jeremy Evan (rookie F from Western Kentucky), and Demetris Nichols (F, played professionally in France last year).

(AP Photo/George Frey)

DERON WILLIAMS, playing the part of the pessimist/realist:

We still have to get together and play. We’re not going to know until we get together and play as a team and hopefully we gel quickly.

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Contact Jefferson W. Boswell at jeffersonboz AT gmail DOT com

Back in June I remember looking at my smartphone in disbelief. The only thing I could mutter was:

“Gordon Hayward? Really, Gordon Hayward?”

Courtesy of NBA.com

The kid who had broken America’s NCAA brackets, the kid who no one knew about before the year started, the kid who looked like Andy from Toy Story 3, the Jazz drafted him? What were they thinking?! They could have drafted Xavier Henry (still arguing over a rookie salary), Ed Davis (Al Jefferson or Ed Davis, you decide), or Cole Aldrich (Tag 2.0). But for some reason all those choices made more sense in my head than Gordon Hayward. I kept thinking:

“We needed to get bigger! All we did was get skinnier!”

Then I heard that the crowd at ESA booed him. Now this made me feel like an awful fan. I can’t imagine walking into a new job on the first day of work and getting booed by everyone. Can you imagine that? Booed by an entire arena filled of fans hundreds of miles away only because you were not 7’0″. Jazz fans at Energy Solutions Arena booed a kid pursuing his dream. Afterwards, I called my Dad and asked him what he thought. Expecting him to be full of gloom I was surprised by his answer:

“We booed John Stockton. What do we know?”

He was right. Darrell Griffith, Karl Malone, and Deron Williams all got cheers from Jazz fans when they were drafted. John Stockton? Not so much. I think we all know how that panned out. Turned out Stockton was a decent basketball player.

(Go to the 0:41 mark)

What did Kevin O’Connor say of this Andy look-a-like?

I hear all of the fans and you can appreciate what the fans are saying. They wish and we wish that we had the third or fourth pick; we didn’t. We think we got a player that’s going to be a really terrific player in the NBA……The only thing I hope is that in two years you’re not booing. -Kevin O’Connor-

Well, I know it hasn’t been two years but summer league has been played. Now the analysts are talking about how they think these draft picks will pan out after seeing them in summer action. What have they said about Gordon Hayward?

David Thorpe of ESPN:

Get used to lofty praise for Hayward, despite somewhat pedestrian numbers. He does all the little things that don’t show up on stat sheets — smart help on defense, toughness in digging out loose balls inside and great awareness of whom to move the ball to in their offense. He’s really a 2 who can play the 3 and even some 4 within a few years. How many guys can we write that about?

Flash Gordon Hayward

Shaun Powell of NBA.com:

With Kyle Korver gone, Utah could use outside shooting, and the situation is almost perfect for Hayward. Unless he’s a total bust, it’s hard to imagine him not pushing for starter’s minutes at some point this season. Hayward isn’t just a spot shooter, either; he can score in other ways, as he showed in summer league. And it helps to have Deron Williams around to create shots for you. Utah has a solid history in Draft decisions and this looks like another one.

CNNSI.com:

Coach Jerry Sloan had high praise for Gordon Hayward (ninth pick) after watching him in Orlando. “He’s not a mistake-free player,” Sloan told the Desert News. “This is a game of mistakes. He’ll make a mistake here or there. But he just plays. He just plays basketball. “We had another guy here years ago who did the same thing, and he ended up being a pretty good player — John Stockton. “I don’t mean to put that kind of pressure on [Hayward], but he plays.”

So far Hayward has looked like a solid player. Jerry Sloan even invoked a reference to hallowed Stockton. I was impressed with his summer league debut. Watching him one could see he was willing to do the little things to help his summer team win. While the rest of the players were ball hogging and trying to show they were worthy of a call to a training camp, Hayward was unselfish and played within the system. Just imagine what will happen when he plays with a team of guys who all play within the system.

Sloan was right when he said, “He just plays.” While I may have been disappointed when I first heard the Jazz drafted him, I’m now excited to see him in action. I think the Jazz might have found another diamond in the rough. After this summer, I have decided with my Dad’s philosophy:

“We booed John Stockton. What do we know?”

Follow Mychal on twitter: @My_Lo