Jan Vesely

[Johnlac1]

Not comparing, but Dirk started his career in NBA slowly too. European players seems to take more time to adapt to NBA style.

I agree. I laugh at the fans who expect their no 1s to play like superstars from the start or else they're worthless. Even after it is pointed out that a lot of current stars, like Nash and some others, had their rearends firmly glued to the bench or played poorly their first seasons and seasons after their rookie year, many fans expect too much too soon. Nash was booed loudly by many home team fans when he'd enter a game his first couple of years. I guess it's useless to ask the fans for patience. It's not sure if Vesely will turn out to be even just a solid player, but I would ask their fans to give him at least into next season before they want to ditch him. Seven footers with that kind of athleticism and willingness to learn and play team ball are not that common. I'd give Vesely at least two or three years. If he doesn't show improvement, then discard him.

[DCZards]

Seven footers with that kind of athleticism and willingness to learn and play team ball are not that common. I'd give Vesely at least two or three years. If he doesn't show improvement, then discard him.

+1

I'd add high b'ball IQ to those qualities.

[Ruzious]

Even Enes Kanter - who I thought would step in as a rookie and shine - is having trouble offensively - though he is proving to be a dominant rebounder - and he is 2 years younger than Vesely - and he is supposedly doing a good job defensively.

[The Consiglieri]

^
Leonard and Farhied wouldve looked great for the Wiz.

Farhied would have, in hindsight. I know CCJ & others were calling for him but I'm trying to differentiate between a draft re-do versus who realistically could have been taken in @ 6.

Leonard was in the mix with Detroit at 8, I thought he was on yalls bigboard at 6 too

I think he was the backup plan if Ves went higher. There was plenty of smoke in the two months leading up to the draft that we really liked Leonard. I think all of us would have preferred to have taken Leonard, especially if we all knew just how bad he was at shooting.

[dobrojim]

Yeah, there was concern about how well KL could shoot.

oops, oh you meant Ves? OK.

[The Consiglieri]

Yep, meant ves, though obviously it was a concern about both.

[closg00]

I wish Vesely would stop passing out of the post when he's right underneath the basket, he should have face-jobbed JJ Redick.

[fishercob]

Watching that highlight vid, I see a stark contrast in body language. We have seen only tiny glimpses of the fire and swagger that Jan displayed with Partizan.

Mark Deeks (Sham of ShamSports) recently tweeted something to the effect of "why do people keep forgetting that there is an adjustment period for Europeans coming to the NBA." I think it was in the context of Dragic's recent dominance. Someone mentioned Dirk in this thread.

I posted at more length in the Seraphin thread, but his success clearly tells me we need to be patient before forming conclusions on Vesely. I like a lot of what I see, even though there is obvious room for improvement. As Jan starts to adjust and get his confidence -- enough to stare someone down when he dunks on their head, scream primally and exhort the VC to make some noise, etc -- I think he could really improve.

Patience.

[dobrojim]

He should spend 10 hours a day lifting and shooting over the summer.
If that doesn't make him very useful by the middle/end of next year,
we'll then be in a much better position to draw conclusions.

But I also love his instincts on the court. He's been rebounding,
defending and passing pretty well. Still needs more strength and a shot.
If he makes improvements in those directions, he'll absolutely justify
being a 6th overall pick. Nice job on Anderson tonight. Made me rethink
how badly we could use him. He looked quite ordinary.

[jangles86]

Jan has guts. We've gotta give this kid minutes and time because he is an athletic freak who'll scrap and fight tooth and nail for you. Needs to find his go to move offensively though, because right now he is feeding of missed shots and open lay ups. ( no different from wat McGee was doing really).

[Veselyfan]

Mark Deeks (Sham of ShamSports) recently tweeted something to the effect of "why do people keep forgetting that there is an adjustment period for Europeans coming to the NBA." I think it was in the context of Dragic's recent dominance. Someone mentioned Dirk in this thread.

Patience.

Look at Nikola Pekovic from the Timberwolves...Horrible rookie season and huge improvement in his second year.. He has dominated most of the centers he has played against,he is beasting..

[closg00]

*Bump* for the merge.

[hands11]

Seven footers with that kind of athleticism and willingness to learn and play team ball are not that common. I'd give Vesely at least two or three years. If he doesn't show improvement, then discard him.

+1

I'd add high b'ball IQ to those qualities.

He has already shown improvement.

Ves also has a lot to his game that doesn't show up in the stats.
When his stat numbers.. rebounds and pts, start going up, then his preconceived value will jump quickly.

He is the anti Nick. Anti McGee

His rebounding by month has gone from 2 to 4 then 4 and now 6
He is averaging 8 over the last 5 games and has recorded 2 2x 2x and missed another by 2pts

So now that he is rebounding better some are taking notice of his total game more. He is also starting to finish better around the rim. When he adds a mid range, peoples perception of him will take a sudden leap because then they will see better his total skills... i.e. all the things that don't show up in the box scores.

The kid is a basketball player. And a hustling, high IQ, athletic, long, leaping, good passing, good defending, not selfish one at that.

[Jay81]

Hollinger on Vesley this morning via twitter



Just watched Mil-Was too. I'm not a big Vesely guy but last night was very encouraging.

[truwizfan4evr]

I still think Jan has time to improve his jumper. I would like him to work on his ball handles and ft as well.

[DCZards]

Glad to see Jan getting some love. Most of us were down on him early on (although some of us said a few months back that it looked like he could be an above avg. rebounder) but now we're seeing glimpses of a guy who, with an improved jumper and a stronger body, could end up justifying being a top ten pick.

[Johnlac1]

Seven footers with that kind of athleticism and willingness to learn and play team ball are not that common. I'd give Vesely at least two or three years. If he doesn't show improvement, then discard him.

+1

I'd add high b'ball IQ to those qualities.

He has already shown improvement.

Ves also has a lot to his game that doesn't show up in the stats.
When his stat numbers.. rebounds and pts, start going up, then his preconceived value will jump quickly.

He is the anti Nick. Anti McGee

His rebounding by month has gone from 2 to 4 then 4 and now 6
He is averaging 8 over the last 5 games and has recorded 2 2x 2x and missed another by 2pts

So now that he is rebounding better some are taking notice of his total game more. He is also starting to finish better around the rim. When he adds a mid range, peoples perception of him will take a sudden leap because then they will see better his total skills... i.e. all the things that don't show up in the box scores.

The kid is a basketball player. And a hustling, high IQ, athletic, long, leaping, good passing, good defending, not selfish one at that.

Vesely has a chance to be an ex-76er Bobby Jones type of ballplayer. Coaches kill for those kind of players. Willing to play defense, rebound, and pass. Plus know the game. In fact, the whole club looks a lot better the last month.

[dobrojim]

except Jones was a pretty good to excellent jump shooter

I do love the way Ves passes the ball though. Seems to me
he is exactly the kind of player other players like playing with,
especially guys who like to shoot.

[hands11]

Glad to see Jan getting some love. Most of us were down on him early on (although some of us said a few months back that it looked like he could be an above avg. rebounder) but now we're seeing glimpses of a guy who, with an improved jumper and a stronger body, could end up justifying being a top ten pick.

I'm keeping track. That another convert.

Only four more game for him to get a few more. I'm sure once the season ends, the summer will be full of naysayers.

Then the inevitable improvement in summer league or something similar, but the naysayers will jump in again saying...ah.. its just summer league.

Then the 1000 trade scenarios were we trade him for a box of rock. Then he will shoot more next year. Oh course he will miss his share to start the season. More trade rumors. Then he will start converting and so will the fans. The Wiz go on a roll. Jes e ley. Jes e ley Jes e ley

Then of course, one or two lines of .. hey.. this kid isn't bad. I really was always pulling for him. I know he had it in him. Then on the bus they go. You can count on it like you can count of the sun setting tonight.

[hands11]

except Jones was a pretty good to excellent jump shooter

I do love the way Ves passes the ball though. Seems to me
he is exactly the kind of player other players like playing with,
especially guys who like to shoot.

You are right about that.

The kid is quick in his decision making and knows were to pass it before he even gets the ball. There is no stick-um. Again. He is the Anti Nick. He gets it and passes it in a blink and mostly right on target.

Wall has to love him with how quick he gets the break started. He seems to know where Wall is before he even get the ball.

And as a group, they are passing way better in the interior now. KS can pass also. I can't remember a Wiz front court that passed so well.