Slather me, Lather me, Blather me - 2011 Draft Thread 5

[The Consiglieri]

That's a good point, Rico.

There are specific matchups we'd need to avoid, but Vesely can give most PFs the Haywood treatment... even if he's giving ground, you still have to shoot over his extendo-arms.

I'm moderately excited by a Singleton-Vesely forward combo. That's a lot of length and athleticism on the defensive end. (It's also a lot of bricks on the offensive end... Hopla!)

Give it time, and some bumps in the road would actually be helpful, too good too fast will prevent us from ever reaching what we hope this is building too. It's a strange place to be in for me, excited about the future, but hoping it starts with some more baby steps rather than a grand leap.

[Induveca]

Vesely is giving no one the Haywood treatment. The kid weighs 230 if he's lucky at 6'11.

Don't fall for these YouTube highlights, all his highlights are in the open court on a break against weak defenders. I'll say it again, Danilo Gallinari routinely drove the lane for hard slams in the EU, and had highlights disturbingly similar. So did Maciej Lampe. So did Nikoloz Tskitishvili........

Most of these guys found out quickly that their EU games don't translate to the pros, and became attempted jump shooters/3 point bombers. Unfortunately, Vesely can't shoot AT ALL........and is weaker than all of those guys.

He certainly seems talented, but the kid is a MAJOR project.

[Illuminaire]

Vesely is giving no one the Haywood treatment. The kid weighs 230 if he's lucky at 6'11.

Don't fall for these YouTube highlights, all his highlights are in the open court on a break against weak defenders. I'll say it again, Danilo Gallinari routinely drove the lane for hard slams in the EU, and had highlights disturbingly similar. So did Maciej Lampe. So did Nikoloz Tskitishvili........

Most of these guys found out quickly that their EU games don't translate to the pros, and became attempted jump shooters/3 point bombers. Unfortunately, Vesely can't shoot AT ALL........and is weaker than all of those guys.

He certainly seems talented, but the kid is a MAJOR project.

Your argument against his length affecting shots is that he might not be able to dunk as often in the NBA?

I really don't understand the flow of your points. You either jumped to a completely different subject with no transition, or you were never actually responding to my post.

[SumTingWong]

Vesely is giving no one the Haywood treatment. The kid weighs 230 if he's lucky at 6'11.

Don't fall for these YouTube highlights, all his highlights are in the open court on a break against weak defenders..[snippity snip]

Dude is tough as nails. To quote his mamasan when he was a toddler, "Jani may be small but he be fierce."

Case in point the infamous "Brawl sans Duval"-- named in memory of the late Alexier Duval who was carted off on a stretcher after Vesely was finished with him.

That was the game where he got the nickname Rocky for his overhand right that turned out the lights on many a player that night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbq0fSxt ... re=related

Jan lost two teeth reportedly biting off the ear of another player (WARNING: Vesely is bleeding profusely in this vid.)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyNUaJGa ... r_embedded

There were so many fist fights, broken bones and ejections in this Rollerball like death match that the game had to be finished 3 on 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V34n79cI ... re=related

But when it was all said and done the last man standing was none other than our own beloved hero Jan Vesely himself. He finished with 23 points, 16 boards, 5 steals, 13 blocked shots, 1 KO, 2 TKOs, 8 stitches and some dentalwork.

Czech mate.

[hands11]

We're so damn fickle on this board - boarderline schizophrenic. Look back at the draft threads over the past few months and the majority of folks would have been happy with Chris Singleton @18 and Nolan Smith @34. Outside of Vesley (who's impact is still unknown) I thought we did very well. The philosophy entering the draft was to start with intelligent, competitive, mature players and we did exactly that. I'm still undecided about Vesely as I'm unfamilar with his game, but we dramatically improved the culture of the team with this draft. Blatche and McGee better wake up else they'll miss this bus.

True

My approach was different entirely but I do understand the approach they took.

My idea was trade down and upgrade the shooting ( harper ), get an all around SF ( Morris/Tobias ) and get center help Nikola Vucevic. Do this by trade and and/or buy a pick. I would have also liked to see someone like Brooks here or even a project PF like Jeremy Tyler. That is what I wanted this year.

They went a different direction. They went for pure D, a swing for the fences with Jan and PG/SG help with Shelvin Mack

I think my approach would have made us better next year and hopefully moving forward as we packaged players if we needed to, while theirs provides players with less upside and will likely yield us a better draft position for the following year. But you upgraded your D with Singleton and hopefully Ves.

It is a difference in strategy and because of that, I am not surprised we added none of the players I wanted to see added. I think it was a missed opportunity but I will role with it because it is what we have.

[Zonkerbl]

Dude may have no jumper but he has a superhero personality and an adorable girlfriend. How can you go wrong?

[hands11]

You gotta hand it to EG. He's certainly executing Leonsis' plan well. Every player drafted in the Leonsis era has been a hard worker who plays with energy and passion. In a couple of years after everyone gets some experience, this group should be a fun team to coach.

Has he picked anyone who can shoot? I guess the thought process is that players can learn to shoot if they have good work ethics.

I'm more than OK having games in the 80s that we have a good chance of winning

This was something I beat on years ago. Who scores more points then their opponents wins be it 82-80 or 120-118.

Come playoffs, you need to stop people and that makes most teams more perimeter oriented which not as many are good at when that is their only option.

I think back to that Denver team or was it GS that one year they scored like 130 a game and lost a ton because all they did was break and chuck shoots.

I get what they did. It was something I wanted years ago. It just wasnt what I wanted to see them do this year. My strategy I believe would have also improved the D some but it would have improved the offense more as well.

They went pure D more. It is a viable plan.

[sfam]

First off - 3 firsts for Kanter? No frickin way. The guy is not the next Karl Malone.

Timberwolves fans seem to think that would've been fair compensation.

Now that the draft has happened, I don't think I would trade our two picks we actually received for Kanter. I certainly different expect singleton to be there.

[dobrojim]

Anybody know if GMEG's presser is online?

He was going to speak at the Draft Party last night
but everyone headed for the exits after Singleton was
picked. Which isn't to say that the annoucement of
his pick was badly received. On the contrary, I thought
it was analogous to what happened here. Better received
than the JV pick.

[Induveca]

Vesely is giving no one the Haywood treatment. The kid weighs 230 if he's lucky at 6'11.

Don't fall for these YouTube highlights, all his highlights are in the open court on a break against weak defenders. I'll say it again, Danilo Gallinari routinely drove the lane for hard slams in the EU, and had highlights disturbingly similar. So did Maciej Lampe. So did Nikoloz Tskitishvili........

Most of these guys found out quickly that their EU games don't translate to the pros, and became attempted jump shooters/3 point bombers. Unfortunately, Vesely can't shoot AT ALL........and is weaker than all of those guys.

He certainly seems talented, but the kid is a MAJOR project.

Your argument against his length affecting shots is that he might not be able to dunk as often in the NBA?

I really don't understand the flow of your points. You either jumped to a completely different subject with no transition, or you were never actually responding to my post.

Illuminaire, I wasn't responding to you at all actually. Was just sort of my response to the entire thread and vibe of the past 15 pages or so......

[hands11]

Center: McGee starts, backed by Seraphin, NDiaye, and Blatche.

PF: Blatche, backed by Vesely and Booker. Lewis and Singleton can both go here too if needed.

SF: Singleton starts I think. Lewis may hold on to it if healthy or become a 6th man. Vesely and Young can also go here at times. I'd like to bring back Evans also.

SG: Young, backed by Crawford. Evans(?) and Jeffers, and possibly Mack.

PG: Wall, Crawford, Mack.

I cleaned this up to make counting easier.

C: McGee/Seraphin/NDiaye
PF: Blatche/Vesely/Booker
SF: Singleton/Lewis/Evans
SG: Young/Crawford./Jeffers
PG: Wall/Mack.

That is 14 so what are the 12 active. I doubt Singleton starts.


C: McGee/Seraphin ( vet role center or Hamady if he got better enough )
PF: Blatche/Booker/Vesely/Seraphin
SF: Lewis/Booker/Singleton/Vesely
SG: Young/Crawford
PG: Wall/Mack/Crawford

That is 12 and I don't like the balance at center or SG will. And they didnt add what they needed in pure shooters at any position short of maybe PG. This is why I didnt like the going pure D this year strategy. They could have added better shooters and rounded players. The still only have one pure shooter on the team and that is Nick. This is more of a Chicago mode. Win with D.

NDiaye/Jeffers

It's another evaluation year to see what Seraphin and Hamady can do because there is no help at center.

I'm not counting Evans in here though I liked him. They have to many SF already.
They also have enough SG Young, Craw, and Mack.
I dont think these rookies are going to get a ton of play right off the back. Singleton will be used for what he does, a defensive stopper. Ves is going to have to show he can play the NBA game and he will get worked in as he does.

What I see in that roster is a mess and lots that needs to be proven before you can decide who to keep or not. Mack negates some of Crawfords value since Craw played good at PG. Singleton takes something away from Booker.

To me, that roster looks like a mess unless a lot goes right.

I would have much rather seen.

C: McGee/Seraphin/Nikola
PF: Blatche/Lewis
SF: Booker/Tabias or Morris PF/Harper
SG: Young/Crawford/Brooks
PG: Wall/Crawford

Hamady/PG/Jeffers

[JonathanJoseph]

Vesely is giving no one the Haywood treatment. The kid weighs 230 if he's lucky at 6'11.

Don't fall for these YouTube highlights, all his highlights are in the open court on a break against weak defenders. I'll say it again, Danilo Gallinari routinely drove the lane for hard slams in the EU, and had highlights disturbingly similar. So did Maciej Lampe. So did Nikoloz Tskitishvili........

Most of these guys found out quickly that their EU games don't translate to the pros, and became attempted jump shooters/3 point bombers. Unfortunately, Vesely can't shoot AT ALL........and is weaker than all of those guys.

He certainly seems talented, but the kid is a MAJOR project.

Except the difference seems to be in attitude. Vesley isn't going to be intimated and then start becoming a long range shooter. Or at least that's the assumption.

I'm still reserving judgment and pretty optimistic about his athleticism and attitude, to say nothing of his jump shot.

edit: Gallinari has turned into a pretty good player also

[pancakes3]

how the hell did we go through ~450 pages of draft talk and nobody bring up the fact that vesely lost 2 teeth trying to bite someone's ear off!!?!

[Illuminaire]

Except the difference seems to be in attitude. Vesley isn't going to be intimated and then start becoming a long range shooter.

Vesely's attitude is my main source of optimism for him as a player. I am so not sold on his skill level being anything close to NBA quality... but working hard and giving a damn is a talent too, and he has that in spades.

Defensively, I like him better the more I watch him. He's thin, but he's relentless. He is almost guaranteed to gain strength and weight - NBA conditioning programs will see to that. If that's all he does, he should be a really good defender at the 3-4, and maybe some 5s. And even while he's getting backed down, you still have to shoot over him.

Offensively... eh. Well, here's hoping.

[sfam]

Except the difference seems to be in attitude. Vesley isn't going to be intimated and then start becoming a long range shooter.

Vesely's attitude is my main source of optimism for him as a player. I am so not sold on his skill level being anything close to NBA quality... but working hard and giving a damn is a talent too, and he has that in spades.

Defensively, I like him better the more I watch him. He's thin, but he's relentless. He is almost guaranteed to gain strength and weight - NBA conditioning programs will see to that. If that's all he does, he should be a really good defender at the 3-4, and maybe some 5s. And even while he's getting backed down, you still have to shoot over him.

Offensively... eh. Well, here's hoping.

"Here's hoping" is right. That's what we do with picks that have ridiculous upside. That's what we've done with McGee for instance. But in this case the intangibles are there - hardworking, relentless on the court, tough minded without being an idiot, good taste in hawt chicks, etc. Why wouldn't you be hoping, or better yet, eagerly awaiting the upside to emerge?

[sfam]

BTW, if I were the Wiz mgmt, I would hire an outside consultant shooting specialist to work with Vesely and Singleton starting now. Pay him in full upfront so when the lockout occurs, he can still work with them.

[DCZards]

Good draft. I wasn't high on Ves but once Thompson was gone JV was probably the way to go. I don't expect a lot from him this year, but he is apparently an outstanding athlete who plays with energy and intensity and that's a good start.

It's pretty much a consensus on this board that we lucked up with Singleton. I watched him quite a bit when he was at Fla. St. and there's a lot to like about his game. He has a ways to go offensively, but the Zards needed to get a LOT better defensively and Singleton is a special defensive player and a game-changer on that end of the floor.

Smart, solid move with Mack. I've always been impressed with his on-court poise, and that counts a ton when you're playing the point. He's a leader on the court...and I wouldn't be surprised to find that he's a leader off the court and in the locker room as well.

With Mack, Booker, Singleton and Wall (assuming his defense improves) you have four athletic, hard-nosed guys that will create nightmares for perimeter scorers and passers when they're on the court together. Of course, we wouldn't have much scoring with the foursome either...but as they say "offense wins games, defense wins....."

[SumTingWong]

BTW, if I were the Wiz mgmt, I would hire an outside consultant shooting specialist to work with Vesely and Singleton starting now. Pay him in full upfront so when the lockout occurs, he can still work with them.

We already got Hopla working overtime on it.

[Illuminaire]

BTW, if I were the Wiz mgmt, I would hire an outside consultant shooting specialist to work with Vesely and Singleton starting now. Pay him in full upfront so when the lockout occurs, he can still work with them.

We already got Hopla working overtime on it.

Hopla has been out of the organization for a while. I haven't seen any news about him being rehired...

[SumTingWong]

BTW, if I were the Wiz mgmt, I would hire an outside consultant shooting specialist to work with Vesely and Singleton starting now. Pay him in full upfront so when the lockout occurs, he can still work with them.

We already got Hopla working overtime on it.

Hopla has been out of the organization for a while. I haven't seen any news about him being rehired...

It's a running joke/needle to management around here by the regs. I just thought I could jump in too with all the excitement over the great draft and such. (kicks stone with downcast eyes and sniffs sadly) Sorry...