Jan Vesely Part II: He a Bust

[pineappleheadindc]

^
Is there nothing more fundamental than shooting free throws? When you think about good FT shooters, you think about good fundamentals -- Rick Barry, etc.

Jan "airball" Vesely has good fundamentals?

I'm afraid that Ted has entered into "Iraqi Information Minister" territory insofar as raw (and obvious) propaganda is concerned.

[FAH1223]

Ted's latest blog post on young players specifically on Vesley

I am not surprised that these stories about the draft and young players have started to appear in print. They are well researched and well written. But there are two perspectives to share.



Young players develop at their own pace and in context to how the team is developing and playing. When you are a sitting with one win this season, it is very easy, and frankly casual, to critique very young players. We now have six players we have drafted in the lineup, and one player that we traded for who was a first round pick in the lineup, as well in Jordan Crawford. So, that’s seven players out of 15 that have come into our rotation from the draft in the last three off seasons.



Frankly, more than half our team is now made up of seasoned and complementary playing vets. We have seven new vets in our lineup this season as well. And Cartier Martin, who has played with our team before. People advocate for change, and sometimes having so much change at a time when you also have core players out with injuries makes for a very tough start to a season. I am supportive of our young players, and will continue to advocate that we build around a core of players that we have drafted and developed. We have made trades to add the vets. We have done some free agent signings. What we haven’t done is wade into free agency to add a big star to our team.



We have many players on our team that we drafted. As noted, John Wall, our point guard is our most tenured player. This would be only his third season. He hasn’t’ played a minute yet this season. The other two players in that draft – three seasons ago – Kevin Seraphin and Trevor Booker –have also contributed. But Booker has been injured a lot of late. Take a look at this link and at the last six years of the fate of the first round picks in the draft as to injuries. It happens.



So two of the three players in our first draft of ownership are not in the lineup this season due to injuries.



We basically did start over, building a roster from scratch and a team that evolved around athleticism, running, and two players – Nene and Wall – who have special skills and can make players around them fit in and play better team ball. Nene has been limited to his minutes this season and has played only fou games with limited minutes.



Jan Vesely and Trevor Ariza are best situated in a running, fast-paced offense. We have now had to slow down play without John Wall in the lineup, and we are asking players to play half court sets. This is a miss -match for their specific skill sets. Jan Vesely is in his second year of development. You always support a young, talented player, who is 7 feet tall, can run and is fundamentally sound. Jan has our support, and is working hard to develop his all-around game. But this is his second year in the NBA, and he is playing without a starting point guard who can push the pace of play. We shouldn’t be so fast to write him off as a player. This is easy to do in media but not something that is smart to do for our franchise.



I support Jan Vesely.



Our draft has yielded many players that have been developing well. Kevin Seraphin is playing many minutes and contributing. And as he develops his game, will be looked at as a player that was a steal in that draft. Chris Singleton, in only his second year, is in our rotation too and playing well and contributing.



Bradley Beal is only 19 years old, is a rookie, and is learning what NBA basketball is all about. But he certainly has shown signs that he will be a key rotation player and a starting player as time goes on in the NBA. He will look better with John Wall in the back court too.



So, we will continue to develop our young players. We will bring back our injured players slowly and appropriately. Their long-term health and wellbeing is very important to them, to our fans and to us. We will work free agency to add to the team. We will try to make astute trades to improve, but we also must develop cohesion, chemistry and structure around a system with so many new and young players in the rotation.



The season to date has been a very tough experience for us all. I have been through tough times before, but this has been a very sobering and humbling experience. I am committed to getting it right and to building a franchise that is respectable, competitive and that wins for our fans.



I also wanted to come to the public support of our young players. I think that is important for them to know that we believe in them.

[closg00]

Here's Ted on Vesley:

http://www.tedstake.com/2012/12/02/publ ... g-players/

Jan Vesely and Trevor Ariza are best situated in a running, fast-paced offense. We have now had to slow down play without John Wall in the lineup, and we are asking players to play half court sets. This is a miss -match for their specific skill sets. Jan Vesely is in his second year of development. You always support a young, talented player, who is 7 feet tall, can run and is fundamentally sound. Jan has our support, and is working hard to develop his all-around game. But this is his second year in the NBA, and he is playing without a starting point guard who can push the pace of play. We shouldn’t be so fast to write him off as a player. This is easy to do in media but not something that is smart to do for our franchise.

I support Jan Vesely.

"Fundamentally sound"? I mean, I get that he seems to have a nice feel for the game, but ball handling, shooting, the ability to finish with either hand around the basket, and box-out technique are all fundamental skill sets that Vesley has yet to learn, let alone master.

Ernie is a master salesman and Ted is buying everything that Ernie is selling. This is very unfortunate for Wizard fans.

Why isn't the team doing better when Ariza and Jan are sitting then? If having a speedy PG is so critical to the success of the team, than why didn't they make an effort to sign a better back-up ( Brooks, Nate )

Jan is in his 2nd year of development? What development? All the other teams are rotating their draft picks through the NBDL?

I have zero respect for Ted, he just doesn't come-across as someone who is savvy when it comes to running a sports franchise.

[dangermouse]

He seems to be repeating a lot of what most of us are saying on here.

Except about Ves. He is wrong. Ves is a player you pick late 1st round. A 6th was just wayyyy too high.

Send him down to the d-league Ted. Having him come in playing inconsistent minutes, if at all, is not going to help all that much. Seraphin has proven to be the better player, and even a hobbled Booker is better. There is no room for him here. I still think he can be a good player, he just needs time and development. NBDL, Ted, that is what the D stands for after all.

[AFM]

Wow. " We have now had to slow down play without John Wall in the lineup, and we are asking players to play half court sets."
Ted....basketball is a half court game. You can't just run fast breaks whenever you want....

[blazinskillz]

+Sounds like he's counting on wall a lot. No doubt about it, Wall is getting the max.

[OffTheWall2]

Hmm.. Wasting Top 5/6 picks on busts.. Investing the Wizards future into a PG coming off a knee injury? Max contracts? This all sounds so familiar for some reason. I think I've seen this episode before.

[Knighthonor]

Maybe Jan not bad, everybody else is just too good, perhaps?

[GhostsOfGil]

Wow. " We have now had to slow down play without John Wall in the lineup, and we are asking players to play half court sets."
Ted....basketball is a half court game. You can't just run fast breaks whenever you want....

Last year Wizards were #2 in fast break points and in the top 5 for pace. We all saw how well that translated to the win column.

[closg00]

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/14 ... on-wizards

[closg00]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... -rotation/

[mhd]

BTW, David Aldridge (who knows the Wiz better than anyone) had this snippet in a column a couple of weeks ago:

"The Wizards are growing concerned with each passing second that Vesely, the sixth pick overall in 2011, is heading toward Bustville; getting another shot at a 2011 Lottery player would solve the problem, and they liked Williams a lot before the '11 Draft."

[AFM]

He a bust he a bust. Wiretap says Derrick Williams lookin for a trade. We have a chance at redemption

[closg00]

BTW, David Aldridge (who knows the Wiz better than anyone) had this snippet in a column a couple of weeks ago:

"The Wizards are growing concerned with each passing second that Vesely, the sixth pick overall in 2011, is heading toward Bustville; getting another shot at a 2011 Lottery player would solve the problem, and they liked Williams a lot before the '11 Draft."

Williams for Veseley works, Khan owes Ernie punking him on the Miller/Fye trade.

[penbeast0]

BTW, David Aldridge (who knows the Wiz better than anyone) had this snippet in a column a couple of weeks ago:

"The Wizards are growing concerned with each passing second that Vesely, the sixth pick overall in 2011, is heading toward Bustville; getting another shot at a 2011 Lottery player would solve the problem, and they liked Williams a lot before the '11 Draft."

Williams for Veseley works, Khan owes Ernie punking him on the Miller/Fye trade.

You aren't getting that straight up, you'd have to give up something considerable because of Williams's perceived potential and I just don't see Williams as ever being more than, say, Michael Beasley part 2. Heck, I'm not sure Vesely, for all his weaknesses, won't be a better NBA player since Vesely at least probably won't come in with that star mentality without the size/skill to back it up. Could be wrong . . . I'm not CCJ here on my talent evaluation skills.

[DANNYLANDOVER]

I still don't understand how bringing better players have contributed to Vesely's suckiness. Unless you believe that Vesely is better than Okafor and Singleton, then being behind them on the bench is the right decision. Hustle is not really an NBA skill. You just have to have it to be a professional. Vesely CANNOT play SF. He's not skilled on offense or quick enough on defense to contribute. You just can't draft a prospect that hasn't shown any identifiable basketball skill before that (this includes Beal too - he wasn't an elite shooter in college, but was still drafted 3rd overall smh). All in all, he's a BUST and I do not believe that he would be in rotation for any team in the NBA with playoff aspirations.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

WHAT DID SCOUTS SAY ABOUT VESELY?

Report #1

http://thepaintedarea.blogspot.com/2011 ... ct_17.html

Czech Republic's Jan Vesely has proven himself at the highest level of Euro ball for a few years and was a key cog in Partizan's run to the Euroleague Final Four in 2010. (M. Haubs wrote about his breakout performance at the Final Four last year.) Vesely is a potent combo of size and athleticism, who's a Top 10 talent in this draft.

Jan's a natural SF who has the capabilities to swing over to the 4-spot when needed. Fierce finisher in half-court situations. Rises high for emphatic dunks. Can be effective in either a half-court system or uptempo scheme. And Jan has the seasoning and skills to start right away in the NBA.

Partizan would often cross-screen Vesely into post-ups, similar to flex cuts/screens so prevalent in the Utah scheme. Vesely's adept at pinning or sealing his defender for quick post-ups. His length should give difficulties to nearly every SF trying to guard him on the block not named Durant or Rudy Gay.

Vesely has all the tools to be a quality starter in the NBA. If he can refine his shooting touch, won't be surprised if he has a career equal to Derrick Williams.

*--(Synergy Sports Technology provided data for this post)

Report #1 was published just before Jan Vesely was drafted, some 17 months ago. Like the other two reports to follow, this was the type of information that GMs used. JV was listed to go from 5-10, and Ernie picked him sixth. Today, isn't it interesting we're debating a JV for Derrick Williams swap?

Report #2

http://walterfootball.com/nbascoutingre ... vesely.php

2011 NBA Draft Scouting Report: Jan Vesely


Position: Power Forward

Size: 6-11, 240

School: Czech Republic, 1990


Strengths:
Three-point range
Catch-and-shoot ability
Runs the floor well
Can board then lead the break
Body control when driving to the hoop
Leaping ability
Not afraid to try and dunk over opponents
Length helps him as a shot blocker
Intensity

Player Comparison: Andrei Kirilenko. Vesely has a long way to go in becoming the defensive player that AK47 has been in the NBA, but their length and athleticism are very similar. Both players make an offensive impact at the rim and have been inconsistent outside shooters, but Vesely has shown growth his his all-around offensive game. Kirilenko can play either forward spot in the NBA and Vesely should be able to as well.

A second scouting report that said Jan can play either forward. The service that produced this report put out the most accurate mock draft. They best gauged the way GMs actually went, and obviously were not surprised Grunfeld chose Vesely.

Hindsight is 20/20, but to say Vesely has three-point range, and catch-and-shoot ability sounds like something his agent would have said. I don't know that he demonstrated that for scouts on any consistent basis. My GUESS is Vesely probably hit a three or two in the Euroleague Final Four (see below).

Report #3

http://www.nba.com/jazz/features/draft2 ... esely.html

(This is a SUPERIOR scouting report, with all sorts of breakdowns, questions, commentary and video)

BACKGROUND
Vesely is from the Czech Republic. Moved to Serbia in 2008-09 and signed to play professionally for BC Partizan Belgrade. He won the Serbian National Championship both years. In his first year as a pro he averaged 5 pts and 3 rebs in 17 games of Euroleague. In 09-10 he averaged 8 pts and 5 rebs in 22 games. Over the last three years his three point shooting has gone from 1 for 18 to 12 for 30 to this season 10 of 28 in 15 Euroleague games. He had his best games at the end of this year. In the final 4 games of the year in the “Top 16” games he played 31 mins per and averaged 19 pts 5 rebs . His team just won the Adriatic Final 4, he averaged 9 pts and 4 rebs in 24 minutes a game in the Final Four.

OVERALL
Vesely is very skilled for 6’11. From the video it is hard to believe he is really 240 pounds. The European game is mostly 1 in 4 out and he plays on the wing most of the game. At times they play him in the post on a smaller man. He is the equivalent of a small forward. His lack of strength prohibits him from having much success in the post.

When he gets going he plays with passion. He plays fearlessly. I was left with the impression he wanted to be the man. He made the biggest impression when the game was in the 4th quarter and tight.
Athletically he wows you with above the rim slams and his length. Not sure about his pure speed or his laterally movement. It really depends if he is a 3 or a 4 and that is not clear.

OFFENSE
The play that made me go WOW is hard to get out my mind. Down 7 in 4th q with 6:00 left he gets the ball on the right wing outside the International 3 point line. He has a pick waiting for him to his left instead he puts the ball on the floor and in one dribble gets to the rim for a thunderous dunk. It was absurd. Insane skill set to be able to make that play in one dribble. That is NBA skills. That translates and makes him a beast if he can do that with regularity.

PROJECTIONS
This is tough because so many parts of his game are question marks. Will he shoot, is he a three or a four.

Best Case Scenario: Detlef Schrempf or Lamar Odom
Likely Case Scenario: Hakim Warrick

Okay, that's what the experts said about JV.

When they were collecting all this information I was saying draft Kenneth Faried. Above all, don't draft Vesely. I had a bias two ways. One guy I really liked and another I thought was shaky. That said, I appreciate what Jan does well and I think he is a useful guy in the right system.

In a way, for Jan's sake, I think he should go back to Europe and be a star over there.

He's on the bench for a team that has a 2-14 record. The decision to bench Vesely is so strong now that with Ariza injured, the Wizards in typical overreact, knee-jerk fashion have ZERO minutes for Jan.

Whatever is wrong with Vesely's game, being a Wizard is not helping.

[noworriesinmd]

Just got back from the game. Got a pretty cool perk for having seasons tickets...I got to talk to a coach before the game. The fans who were in the room could ask really candid questions and one was about Vesely and if he was a wasted pick.

Whether or not the answer is true, it made sense.

They explained that confidence is really important to Athletes. Just think of JC, who brushes off missing a 40ft shot,...knowing he'd take the shot again vs Blache. After leaving DC, Blache is now in semi-beast mode. It has to suck being booed every time you get the ball and I know that effected him.

Vesely might be in the same funk. It was explained that Vesely is at zero confidence. I can't tell you statistically if he will improve or if the pick was wasted, but the explanation makes sense. He's a hustle guy, the Scouting reports showed something. I know some on the board didn't like the pick, but we have who we have....the scouting reports might have some truth in them.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Vesely is a bust for a #6 pick, but he can be an energizer and a dunker and a very useful NBA player.

Even if Vesely is not a conventional SF, he can be played some at SF the same way Jared Jeffries was for the Wizards. Scoring on dunks, rebounding, running the court, cutting to the basket for lobs, and forcing opponents to match up in size is what he can do.

It is too early to write off Jan Vesely.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

redundant sorry