Utah Jazz News Blog @newzblogz.com

By most accounts, Maryland's D.J. Strawberry is one of the nation's top defensive guards, who excelled in one of the country's best conferences.

Lanky and lean at 6-foot-5, he covers the court, has excellent footwork and anticipation, and has the length to get into passing lanes. His heroes are Bruce Bowen and Raja Bell. He could step onto an NBA court today and hold his own on defense.

"That's what I pride myself on, making it hard on other people like Kobe Bryant in the league," Strawberry said last week. "I want to get my chance for making their nights as long as possible. And I think I can do that in this league."

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Because this draft is deep in big men, there's only one player at this position -- Nick Young of USC -- projected to be selected by a team that was in the lottery.

But that doesn't mean there's a lack of quality shooting guards in this draft.

In fact, one of the reasons the draft is so deep is the number of quality guards who will be available well into the second round.

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It is the type of throwaway line from NBA scouts that most often is offered as a courtesy:

"He's a winner."

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"He'll probably be the best-running big man in the NBA," Don Nelson said. "I haven't seen a 7-footer run the floor like he does."

You might think Nelson was talking about Dirk Nowitzki, the German forward who would go on to become a perennial All-Star and eventually the Most Valuable Player of the NBA. But Nowitzki wouldn't come along to change the face of the Mavericks for another year.

No, Nelson's decade-old praise was being heaped on Chris Anstey, an Australian import who lasted 155 games before being unceremoniously dumped from the NBA's orbit.

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SALT LAKE CITY -- On a fundraising trip in the home state of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney said criticism of his Mormon religion by rival campaigns is happening too frequently.

"Clearly, any derogatory comments about anyone's faith -- those comments are troubling.

The fact they keep on coming up is even more troubling," Romney said on Saturday.

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