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Utah Jazz: Taylor Hendricks has seen major improvement physically
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There are a lot of areas that rookie Taylor Hendricks can improve. Heâs a really raw and young player with incredible instincts and athleticism. But there is one area where there has already been significant improvement throughout his first NBA season â his body.
One of the first directives given to Hendricks after being drafted back in June was that he needed to hit the weight room and work toward the kind of strength that will serve him against brute NBA competition. Though he didnât need to be told twice, and was eager to get to work, the process took some getting used to.
âHis approach has really grown,â Jazz coach Will Hardy said. âHeâs never lacked the want to, I think itâs just kind of understanding how to go about it every day. Thatâs been a big positive sign for me as a coach that heâs learning how to go about his business every day.â
And Hendricks has taken the directive to gain strength very seriously.
âHeâs done a really good job of embracing the day-to-day professional habits,â Hardy said. âThe season is really long, and the guys that have had the most success generally are the ones that are able to build very sustainable habits early. Itâs not just about the basketball part. Itâs about how you take care of your body. Iâve seen Taylor improve physically over the course of this year, which has been a big emphasis for him.â
Not only has Hardy noticed a difference, but so has Hendricks. Thereâs a difference in his literal strength, in how his body is moving and in his conditioning, and thereâs also a visible difference.
âIâm in the weight room multiple times a day,â Hendricks said. âSo, Iâm definitely working hard and itâs nice to see someone else notice it. But yeah, I definitely have noticed.â
With more game reps and with the upcoming offseason, there will be more expectation for Hendricks to improve some of his on-court game. But this has been one of the most important first steps in him becoming a well-rounded NBA player.
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SALT LAKE CITY — A California man in Utah, as part of his duties with the National Guard, is accused of trying to solicit sex from a young teenager.
Joshua Ruben Rodriguez, 29, of Fresno, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with attempted rape of a child, a first-degree felony, and enticement of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began when an agent with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation posed as a 13-year-old girl on a “popular social media site … in an attempt to locate and apprehend adults attempting to have sexual contact with children,” according to charging documents.
On April 16, Rodriguez sent the agent a message — believing he was talking to a teen girl — that stated, “I’ll be direct with you, I would like to get to know you and (have sex with) your mind into a daze to where you feel like a woman,” according to charging documents.
When the “girl” asked if he had a problem with her age, Rodriguez replied, “I don’t have a problem with your age,” the charges state.
The agent told Rodriguez to meet at an apartment complex in Salt Lake County where the girl lived, claiming her mother would be gone. When Rodriguez arrived, he was taken into custody, the charges state.
“(Rodriguez) does not have ties to Utah. He is a resident of Fresno, California. (He) was in town as part of his military service with the California National Guard,” prosecutors stated in charging documents while requesting he be held without bail pending trial.
ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — One person was hospitalized at the St. George Regional Hospital after a car rolled and caught fire just south of the Utah-Arizona border.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department in Arizona said its crews responded to the crash near the Black Rock Road exit – roughly two miles south of the state border – on Sunday night.
Upon arrival, crews put out the car fire and found the driver had left the scene. A single occupant, who was able to get out of the car on their own, was transported to the hospital by a Beaver Dam ambulance.
MORE | Crashes
Their condition has not been publicly released.
Details on what led to the crash and the condition of the driver were not immediately available.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department said law enforcement investigated the scene.
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz missed out on the NBA Playoffs, but still scored a big win thanks to a coin flip.
In Monday’s tiebreaker coin flip to determine who had the fourth-worst record in the league last season, the Jazz came out winners over the Sacramento Kings, who had the same 22-60 record.
Had the Jazz lost the coin flip, they would have been fifth in NBA Draft Lottery odds. Only the worst four teams are guaranteed to remain within the top eight of the lottery.
If Utah had fallen to fifth, there would have been the chance they could have dropped out of the top 8 teams in the lottery, and owed the draft pick to Oklahoma City, which was top-8 protected in a previous trade.
The Jazz now have an 11.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 10.
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