Utah Jazz sniffing around for a hard-nosed draft pick

It's unsurprising the Jazz would want to land someone with an ornery disposition in tonight's NBA Draft. Picking a guy who isn't afraid to take names and crack noggins is usually good policy.

Besides, when you're drafting 20th, the pretty guys aren't likely to be around.

If you can't get a sports car, get a work truck.

"Public perception-wise, and within the organization, we know we need to be a little tougher physically and mentally," said player personnel V.P. Walt Perrin.

Thus, the Jazz ran a string of tough guys through workouts this month, hoping to line up someone who might help their notoriously spongy defense. One rampaged at opponents as blood poured from his broken nose during a game two years ago, then scrapped his protective mask shortly after being fitted. Two others appeared for Jazz workouts despite injured knees. A fourth arrived after impaling himself on a measuring stick a few weeks earlier. Another was a martial arts veteran before puberty.

You want tough? These guys make Vin Diesel look squeamish.

The most prominent Jazz interviewee was North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, who spent one off-season pushing an SUV around a parking lot to build strength. Same guy who virtually ignored his nose after it was broken near the end of that infamous 2007 game against Duke.

"He's a beast of a man," said teammate Marcus Ginyard at the time. "Seriously, nothing can stop him."

Heavy-metal music to the Jazz's ears.

Hansbrough, though, is just the most visible of the, well, hard-nosed guys. The list also included Pitt's Sam Young, who speared his biceps with a metal pole attachment used for measuring vertical jump. He rode to the hospital with his arm still impaled. A few days later, he was at a pre-draft combine.

Wake Forest's James Johnson grew up with parents who were kickboxing black belts. Johnson began the sport at age 4, then moved on to mixed martial arts.

Suffice it to say you don't want to antagonize him.

Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo and Wake Forest's Jeff Teague showed up in Utah, despite injuring their knees a day prior. On Monday, the Jazz previewed Pitt's DeJuan Blair, a player with two knee surgeries behind him, yet dogged enough to be named co-Big East Player of the Year.