Jan Vesely

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think Popovich is engaging in a bit of hyperbole. Leonard was excellent as a rookie and certainly has some room for improvement. But star? I'm not ready to go that far yet. He was a very low usage role player last season (13.1% - 51 out of 63 SFs who played 500 mins or more). I'm not sure if he has shot creation skills to be as effective in a higher usage role.

But I've been wrong on him before so what do I know, lol.

Dat, I think Kawhi Leonard will be a multiple all star game player before his career is over. He will be a star. I am virtually sure of that for several reasons.

1. Kawhi Leonard had the highest Wins Produced on the Spurs for the season:

http://www.nerdnumbers.com/splits?team= ... F30%2F2012

2. There have only been four players aged 20, with a Win Score per 48 over 0.171:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... rder_by=ws

Think about that list. Lebron James, Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, and Andrew Bynum.

3. The stat geeks at Wages of Win named players who should have been on the Olympic team per WP/48.

http://wagesofwins.com/2012/08/14/

4. WoW also proclaimed Kawhi the real Rookie of the Year, just ahead of Kenneth Faried.

http://wagesofwins.com/2012/04/20/nba-award-races/

Rookie of the Year – Kenneth Faried Kawhi Leonard

Leonard has been an absolute beast. He’s a rebounding machine and grabs tons of steals. He also keeps his turnovers and fouls low and also he shoots well to boot! Patrick called for him to be rookie of the year way back. While a surging Kenneth Faried has made it interesting, this award is all Leonard’s. The Spurs remain top of the West and that’s with Ginobili missing a big chunk of the season. They can thank some amazing play from Leonard and some iffy trade choices by the Pacers (not to mention the other teams that missed him in the draft.)

Leonard is much, much better than Jan Vesely or Chris Singleton. It is not as if many of us didn't know that prior to the draft. The surprising thing has been Leonard is a good shooter. He has the attributes to be a great player at both ends of the court. Few SFs have ever rebounded better, and Kawhi Leonard gets a lot of steals.

He would have been a nice pick at #6 in 2011.

[closg00]

I think Popovich is engaging in a bit of hyperbole. Leonard was excellent as a rookie and certainly has some room for improvement. But star? I'm not ready to go that far yet. He was a very low usage role player last season (13.1% - 51 out of 63 SFs who played 500 mins or more). I'm not sure if he has shot creation skills to be as effective in a higher usage role.

But I've been wrong on him before so what do I know, lol.

Why would Pop need to engage in any hyperbole? Pops projection for Leonard is not a stretch, Leonard played like a vet in his rookie year.

[Dat2U]

I think Popovich is engaging in a bit of hyperbole. Leonard was excellent as a rookie and certainly has some room for improvement. But star? I'm not ready to go that far yet. He was a very low usage role player last season (13.1% - 51 out of 63 SFs who played 500 mins or more). I'm not sure if he has shot creation skills to be as effective in a higher usage role.

But I've been wrong on him before so what do I know, lol.

Dat, I think Kawhi Leonard will be a multiple all star game player before his career is over. He will be a star. I am virtually sure of that for several reasons.

1. Kawhi Leonard had the highest Wins Produced on the Spurs for the season:

http://www.nerdnumbers.com/splits?team= ... F30%2F2012

2. There have only been four players aged 20, with a Win Score per 48 over 0.171:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... rder_by=ws

Think about that list. Lebron James, Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, and Andrew Bynum.

3. The stat geeks at Wages of Win named players who should have been on the Olympic team per WP/48.

http://wagesofwins.com/2012/08/14/

4. WoW also proclaimed Kawhi the real Rookie of the Year, just ahead of Kenneth Faried.

http://wagesofwins.com/2012/04/20/nba-award-races/

Rookie of the Year – Kenneth Faried Kawhi Leonard

Leonard has been an absolute beast. He’s a rebounding machine and grabs tons of steals. He also keeps his turnovers and fouls low and also he shoots well to boot! Patrick called for him to be rookie of the year way back. While a surging Kenneth Faried has made it interesting, this award is all Leonard’s. The Spurs remain top of the West and that’s with Ginobili missing a big chunk of the season. They can thank some amazing play from Leonard and some iffy trade choices by the Pacers (not to mention the other teams that missed him in the draft.)

Leonard is much, much better than Jan Vesely or Chris Singleton. It is not as if many of us didn't know that prior to the draft. The surprising thing has been Leonard is a good shooter. He has the attributes to be a great player at both ends of the court. Few SFs have ever rebounded better, and Kawhi Leonard gets a lot of steals.

He would have been a nice pick at #6 in 2011.

Leonard's shooting ability was a revelation. But I still wonder about him making the transition from uber role player to star. Leonard was often the 4th or 5th option on the floor. He was very efficient and rebounds like a star PF, that's why the stat geeks love him. But all of the players you mentioned are much higher usage players. LeBron is at nearly 30%. Chris Paul nearly is 25%. Bynum is at 21%. Even Faried is significantly higher at 16.7%. I'm just not ready to assume he's going to be able to be nearly as efficient if he's playing a far more significant role offensively.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

We will see. Usage is one of the stats I really haven't accounted for or appreciated, Dat.

It obviously does matter if a guy can be a Rodman-type player, unburdened by any responsibility on offense. He can put a lot more in to rebounding and defending, and also has the luxury of taking quality shots under not too much duress.

My thought is Leonard adjusted well for 20 years old, regardless of his low usage and great teammates. I think his offense will evolve along even as his usage goes up. We will see.

[closg00]

Behold the glory that is the new Jan Vesely web site.
http://24janvesely.com/

[doclinkin]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyvz4kMNiTo&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Love his heads-up reads and spacing on many of the designed pick and rolls. He's something of a stealth weapon for us going into next season, not many pre-season previews are focused on him but Jan's development was a key piece in our late-season improvement. Yes, we have a crowded frontcourt, but he's reliable on both ends and will see time since coaches can trust him not to be a liability. If he adds anything like a reliable pick and pop jumper our offense becomes even more dynamic. But as it stands any decent coach and PG can find ways to feature him.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Behold the glory that is the new Jan Vesely web site.
http://24janvesely.com/

Nice!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyvz4kMNiTo&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Love his heads-up reads and spacing on many of the designed pick and rolls. He's something of a stealth weapon for us going into next season, not many pre-season previews are focused on him but Jan's development was a key piece in our late-season improvement. Yes, we have a crowded frontcourt, but he's reliable on both ends and will see time since coaches can trust him not to be a liability. If he adds anything like a reliable pick and pop jumper our offense becomes even more dynamic. But as it stands any decent coach and PG can find ways to feature him.

"Do you know where you are? You're in the jungle, baby!" Nice mix tape! Axl Rose & Slash at the height of GnR. Very appropriate sound track for Vesely's game, too.

doc, I don't know what I'm going to do in a couple years if I can't complain about EG's work...

Vesely is a really smart player. He's a bigger Bobby Jones, minus some offense. Vesely and Beal are going to play the right way. Both of them are going to be Wizards for a long, long time. As for his spacing, Vesely is the one member of that crowded frontcourt who can play with anyone. He can finish off of passes from Nene. He can facilitate both Nene and Seraphin. He can defend passing lanes and get out in the open court on the wings with Chris Singleton. And Jan can put up lots of bricks for Okafor to rebound. Just kidding.

Although I complained about Jan Vesely going 6th ahead of Leonard and Faried, I like his energy and his basketball IQ. EG didn't do terribly picking Jan Vesely.

[dobrojim]

I've been dealing with the cold turkey of the off-season by watching some DVR'd
games from the end of last season. One of the things that impresses me about
Vesely is his passing, specifically some of the touch passes he made. That said,
he better show us some ability to hit a mid-range jumper. If he can do that, he'll
be a pretty effective player.

[hands11]

I think Popovich is engaging in a bit of hyperbole. Leonard was excellent as a rookie and certainly has some room for improvement. But star? I'm not ready to go that far yet. He was a very low usage role player last season (13.1% - 51 out of 63 SFs who played 500 mins or more). I'm not sure if he has shot creation skills to be as effective in a higher usage role.

But I've been wrong on him before so what do I know, lol.

But it is exactly the right thing to say. He sets the bar high for him and shows he believes in him.
And because pops has props, he raises his value.

Now it is up to him to grow into the high bar.

[payitforward]

I think Popovich is engaging in a bit of hyperbole. Leonard was excellent as a rookie and certainly has some room for improvement. But star? I'm not ready to go that far yet. He was a very low usage role player last season (13.1% - 51 out of 63 SFs who played 500 mins or more). I'm not sure if he has shot creation skills to be as effective in a higher usage role.

But I've been wrong on him before so what do I know, lol.

But it is exactly the right thing to say. He sets the bar high for him and shows he believes in him.
And because pops has props, he raises his value.

Now it is up to him to grow into the high bar.

It's the right thing to say because it's accurate and for no other reason. Either a guy performs or he doesn't. Leonard performed. You don't say "not significant because he was low usage." Guys can fail to perform with low usage too! Basketball is 100% performance and nothing else. You don't make a guy better by over-praising him (think Andray Blatche; think John Wall for that matter). A guy *makes himself better*. He meets the challenges you give him, and then he meets the ones you give him because he met the first ones.

[hands11]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyvz4kMNiTo&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Love his heads-up reads and spacing on many of the designed pick and rolls. He's something of a stealth weapon for us going into next season, not many pre-season previews are focused on him but Jan's development was a key piece in our late-season improvement. Yes, we have a crowded frontcourt, but he's reliable on both ends and will see time since coaches can trust him not to be a liability. If he adds anything like a reliable pick and pop jumper our offense becomes even more dynamic. But as it stands any decent coach and PG can find ways to feature him.

I've been a big Ves supporter since I saw him on the court last year but I would have been more entertained if they mixed in some video of other stuff like some rebounds, quick outlets, and touch passes. But it was called dunking ninja. Personally, I got bored watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skRu3QkTfpY

I found this one. They need to put someone with some knowledge regarding shooting under the hoop rebounding. Practice is good but practicing the wrong form is not.

Now it was day 1 on summer camp. Hopefully they have addressed the release issue.

He should be practicing from closer in with excellent form until he gets that down. They shouldn't even be feeding him shots out there until his form is down from closer in. Hopefully they were just getting film on him at this point. You can see he is frustrated by the results. Hell, I'm not shooting coach and even I can tell him .. release at the top, not on the way down. Your 6-11 with long arms, who are you leaning away from ? Help O B One

The good thing I see is that it he does that less when he is moving ... which he will be. I don't see them lining him up outside for a catch and shoot game.

Hopefully Hoops spent some time with him.

This one shows some of the passing but someone with all the game footage someone could cut together something really nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWR5Tvab2iw

[hands11]

I think Popovich is engaging in a bit of hyperbole. Leonard was excellent as a rookie and certainly has some room for improvement. But star? I'm not ready to go that far yet. He was a very low usage role player last season (13.1% - 51 out of 63 SFs who played 500 mins or more). I'm not sure if he has shot creation skills to be as effective in a higher usage role.

But I've been wrong on him before so what do I know, lol.

But it is exactly the right thing to say. He sets the bar high for him and shows he believes in him.
And because pops has props, he raises his value.

Now it is up to him to grow into the high bar.

It's the right thing to say because it's accurate and for no other reason. Either a guy performs or he doesn't. Leonard performed. You don't say "not significant because he was low usage." Guys can fail to perform with low usage too! Basketball is 100% performance and nothing else. You don't make a guy better by over-praising him (think Andray Blatche; think John Wall for that matter). A guy *makes himself better*. He meets the challenges you give him, and then he meets the ones you give him because he met the first ones.

I said nothing about low usage.

The underlined stuff you wrote that is in line with what I was saying.
He played well. Pops then says " I think he will be the face in the future" Good stuff for a young talented kid who produced well in his first year to hear. Specially for a team that is aging and will need someone to step up and fill the void.

There are lots of reasons it was a good thing to say. Hopefully the kid reaches his full potential.

[closg00]

Post feature on Jan, it was kind of a downer actually.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wi ... story.html

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Post feature on Jan, it was kind of a downer actually.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wi ... story.html

Very negative tone to the article. Recounted Vesely's achilles injury, his hip problem last season, that Vesely felt they let him play more with his body in Europe; and Coach Wittman talked about situations where Vesely was ineffective.

Damn! I thought my posts here were negative.

That kid should want to go back to Europe. Wittman knows what his veteran players can do. Same old stupid Wizards stuff IMO. The new guys haven't proved crap, but because they are veterans they are ahead in the pecking order. Vesely will be the catch hell guy, just like the previously departed young players, who were "knuckleheads" before they left.

I see things develop really early. I am sure others will say I am wrong, like they usually do. This IS negative. Vesely iS NOT a shooter or a scorer. Like Wittman said in the article, Jan makes things happen with his energy. I am afraid, however, Jan is going to be ostracized or treated harshly for what he can't do. Him being white and European will also cause him to get yelled at more, similar to how Jeremy Lin catches a lot of heat for his every mistake.

Hope not, but I see this becoming a story. Eventually, if the Wizards stink, Jan is going to want to go back to Europe, if he already doesn't. Adding veterans (both Okafor and Ariza will figure into the F rotation--and Jan will never play SF on this team as configured) will cut his minutes a lot. Chris Singleton played a lot of PF against Charlotte, and that could figure to cut Jan's minutes. I don't see Vesely improving under these conditions as much as I see him bailing on the Wizards.

[payitforward]

Jan played extremely well the last part of the season last year. Coach was watching. I wouldn't be worrying this much after one preseason game following on 4 days of practice!

[rockymac52]

I personally don't expect Vesely to be all that different than the guy we saw last season. Maybe some marginal improvement here and there, and from what it sounds like, his jumper is a lot better (although still probably "bad" all things considered, it was just THAT bad last season). But for the most part, he's still very raw, and his game is always going to lack several key, fundamental skills, so it will be easy for us to see them from afar and let it cloud our vision accordingly.

But, on the other hand, we're not asking very much of him at the moment, at least when our other four big men are healthy. Nene and Okafor should be starting. Booker and Seraphin should be the next two off the bench. Vesely is our 5th big right now (ignoring the possibility of Sinlgeton playing more PF this year, for now). That means he's getting mostly garbage minutes or very brief appearances where we'll ask him to provide a burst of energy and not much else. He could thrive in that role... potentially. Bottom line, he won't be getting enough minutes to actually hurt us, unless of course we suffer a serious injury or two in the front court, in which case the season is probably all but lost anyways, so who cares?

I don't expect Vesely to ever live up to the expectations that come with the 6th overall pick, even if it was a weak draft. I think his upside is more along the lines of a good role player who can come off the bench and provide a spark by hustling and doing all of the little things well, and maybe adding a highlight reel dunk here and there. I can't imagine he's ever our starting PF. And if he is, it's because we have several serious injuries to our big men, or it's because Vesely surprised me and developed into an actually GOOD player who deserves to start.

[nate33]

Post feature on Jan, it was kind of a downer actually.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wi ... story.html

Are we reading the same article?

I didn't think the article was particularly negative. It pointed out most of Vesely's shortcomings of last year and attempted to explain them (injuries, lockout, adjusting to the NBA, etc.). This is stuff we already knew. The new information in the article was about how Vesely has improved his shot and how he is realizing how he must adapt his game to the NBA. I didn't get a vibe that management was down on Vesely or that Vesely had one foot out the door on his way back to Europe.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I didn't say they are down on Vesely and that he had one foot out the door. Just the tone was negative and that I expect that is the way the whole thing can play out.

Vesely is not responsible for Ernie Grunfeld drafting him sixth overall. Nor is it his fault he is a PF who was drafted to compete at SF, a position Jan is ill-suited for in the NBA, particularly since he cannot "body" players like he did in Europe.

I appreciate the uniqueness of Vesely's skill set at his size. I would rather read comparisons of Jan to Bobby Jones and read articles that emphasize realistic expectations. Can he be like Kirilenko? I don't see the same kind of quickness but Jan does do some nice things, defensively. Vesely's strongest part of his game is how he can finish in transition, off the catch, and off the dribble.

I just want Vesely to keep having fun and to develop positively. I don't want Jan to leave unfulfilled back to Europe, discouraged, like Pecherov did.

[truwizfan4evr]

Why do wizards fans think Jan has better upside then Booker? I actually think there the same type of players booker has a better jump shot and post moves inside.