Jan Vesely Part II: He a Bust

[Dat2U]

Not sure if anyone else saw this.

From Adam McGinnis on Twitter:

AJ Price revealed that Jan was scared to shoot because he was afraid of going to free throw line #wizards

https://twitter.com/adammcginnis/status ... 6682911745

IMHO, the biggest thing holding Vesely back is a lack of confidence. I think the kid has talent and I actually think he could be a decent shooter. I was at almost every home game this year and watched Vesely during pre-game warm-ups almost every game. He actually has a decent stroke and believe or not looks like a competent, confident shooter during warm-ups. However, during the game, he looks scared to death to take a shot and when he does, it appears as though he is just throwing up there hoping it goes in instead of stepping into the shot with confidence. Same thing with his free throw shooting (looks good during pre-game warm-ups...but horrible during game situations). I don't think his problem is a mechanics problem; it is a confidence problem. Unfortunately, I think I would feel better about his prospects if it was the other way around.

I think you, CCJ and a few others are in denial. Vesely needs a lot more than a dose of confidence, he needs skill... and unfortunately that's not something to be attained over night.

There's a big difference from hitting jumpers in quiet moments during practice or before games and hitting them in actual games. The NBA is filled with guys who look great during practice (Kwame anyone?) but are never able to translate that to performing in front of 20,000 people.

The lack of confidence in game situations often comes from a lack of trust in ones own skills. If you don't trust or believe in your skills then there's a good chance you've not worked hard enough to improve or perfect those skills.

Vesely's numbers show he's about as bad a professional basketball player as can be. He's not just bad, he's unusually bad. That IMO goes beyond just a lack of confidence. Or in other words, calling it a confidence issue doesn't get to the root of the problem. I think the real problem has been work ethic because the skills are simply not there and everything else stems from that.

I think the kid will be back overseas after next season unless the Wizards make the terrible decision of exercising his option. He doesn't have an NBA future IMO. I'd even consider buying out his contract to free up a roster spot if he hasn't shown significant improvement by training camp.

[Dat2U]

I guarantee vesley is only missing one thing from becoming the player we think he can be...a poster dunk infront of a hyped crowd over a good defender during a pivotal point in a game...opp team calls timeout...sees himself on sport center a few times...all the kid needs

I think he is still as good as he was at the end of his rookie season. Confidence is what Vesely lacks the most. He is very unskilled but that shouldn't get in the way of him bring his greatest asset, tremendous energy for a player with his height, reach, and mobility.

deneem4, maybe you are correct to say one great highlight reel dunk could go a long ways to making Jan Vesely the best player he can be. Get the fans on his side and he will go all out.

Folks needs to get the last 6 games of 2011-12 out of their heads. That was not reality. That was not real basketball. That was at the end of a strike shortened season which was jammed packed with back-2-back games. The quality of play at the end of that year was simply terrible. Many teams were playing out the string, playing guys that wouldn't normally play in roles that they wouldn't normally fill. Unless a team was fighting for a playoff spot, the level of play simply did not measure up. Reading anything into these performances seemed like a terrible idea at the time, and especially nowadays. Morris Almond is not walking through that door!

[deneem4]

Im gonna post a link to ves playing back in his country and u can see his demeanor and energy...and his confidence is jus incredibly high...compared to him with the wiz...back in his country he looks lik hes playin with noah energy and birdman skill jus looks lik a whole different vesely...if he can bring tht energy to the wiz...he can definitely be a valuable player for us

[hands11]

I dunno hands. "Everything" is about right when it comes to Vesely. There's also the language barrier. Vesely is not going to be as articulate as the Americans.

Well if he hasn't leaned the words, I need to work on my shooting, I will personally hire an English tutor for him so he learns those words.

And if he need helps with shooting confidence, I'm sure Kevin S can teach him how to let the ball fly.

[hands11]

Im gonna post a link to ves playing back in his country and u can see his demeanor and energy...and his confidence is jus incredibly high...compared to him with the wiz...back in his country he looks lik hes playin with noah energy and birdman skill jus looks lik a whole different vesely...if he can bring tht energy to the wiz...he can definitely be a valuable player for us

I don't know. Go back and watch those videos and what you see is a young kid that dunks and shows off. You see very little skill. What you see is a one trick athletic pony. I think there is one clip of him driving off one dribble for a dunk. That was supposed to be his NBA offensive move. And he has some blocks.

He was a weak handed rebounder and DraftX highlighted that he would have to work on that.

We knew he was a project. But by now, we expected him to add at least as much mid range as Booker added in his second year. He didn't do that.

I remember reading something from someone that knew his game from overseas. IIRC, they said he didn't work hard in the off season and would often come to camp out of shape and work him way into game shape. Well that isn't going to cut it.

As Dat said, Ves's problem is skills and his lack of them comes from not putting in the work. Its that lack of skills that leads to the lack of confidence. I've seen him miss those mid range shoots in practice. Why would he think he can make them in a real game ? And .25% from the Fing FT line. Really ? If you shoot from the line worse then D Howard, Shaq and Dennis Rodman, you know you have a problem.

What he does have is a good natural sense for spacing. He has good BBIQ and that helps him with quick passes to get the ball moving up court. He can even interior pass. Add to that his national length and athleticism and you would think he was a good prospect. And he would be if he was focused and put in the work. Clearly he hasn't.

What it feels like is that he wasted two years of development. Two years. I really don't see him doing anything better now then he did when he got here. That tell me he hasn't put in the work. And that is a huge problem. He is behind the curve now.

Playing Euro ball my be fun for him and it may help his confidence. But that is not going to solve the problems. Not like 10000s FT attempts and working with the shooting coach would. Not like working with a strength coach would.

Ves needs to seriously put it in high gear. He has a lot of ground to make up. He is 23 now. Not 21.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I guarantee vesley is only missing one thing from becoming the player we think he can be...a poster dunk infront of a hyped crowd over a good defender during a pivotal point in a game...opp team calls timeout...sees himself on sport center a few times...all the kid needs

I think he is still as good as he was at the end of his rookie season. Confidence is what Vesely lacks the most. He is very unskilled but that shouldn't get in the way of him bring his greatest asset, tremendous energy for a player with his height, reach, and mobility.

deneem4, maybe you are correct to say one great highlight reel dunk could go a long ways to making Jan Vesely the best player he can be. Get the fans on his side and he will go all out.

Folks needs to get the last 6 games of 2011-12 out of their heads. That was not reality. That was not real basketball. That was at the end of a strike shortened season which was jammed packed with back-2-back games. The quality of play at the end of that year was simply terrible. Many teams were playing out the string, playing guys that wouldn't normally play in roles that they wouldn't normally fill. Unless a team was fighting for a playoff spot, the level of play simply did not measure up. Reading anything into these performances seemed like a terrible idea at the time, and especially nowadays. Morris Almond is not walking through that door!

Vesely and Seraphin both started the last 15 games, and the last six were wins.

What I recall is Jan averaged over 8 and 8. Kevin scored in double figures in 15 of 16 games or thereabouts. Dat, Vesely was not a bad rebounder then. He also had a positive +/- on court rating.

Dat, I am not in denial. In the exit interview Wittman mentioned Vesely flying all around in some games and lacking confidence in others. Vesely was a bad pick at #6. He is not hopelessly untalented.

[deneem4]

So asik is more skilled than vesley???...or the chicago bulls developement coaches are that much better than the wizards? Remember the bulls wanted vesely...and I guarantee if they would've got him he'll be wayyyy better than he is now

[hands11]

So asik is more skilled than vesley???...or the chicago bulls developement coaches are that much better than the wizards? Remember the bulls wanted vesely...and I guarantee if they would've got him he'll be wayyyy better than he is now

Calling BS

He would have done better on the Bulls because they have had a more talented established roster and system. More shooters. More ball handlers. Better spacing. More experience in running a system that they have run longer.

The Wizards eventually got there when Wall and Beal finally started the shoot well but that was a first for both of them in the NBA. They were not established.

Bring back the Wall and Beal that ended the year with Trevor A and Webster, a healthy Nene with a stretch 4 and another back up PG/SG as good a Rip has been, and Ves will look a lot better. Even if he adds nothing more then he already has.

Ves is a transition player and glue guy. You need pieces to add the glue too. The Wizards didn't have enough pieces. Nor were they established.

If you gave Chicago the players the Wizards had last year, Ves would have looked just like did.

The team was in a total rebuild. That by definition means it was not a stable situation.

Hell, even Beal struggled with the roster they have. No true PGs or PF. But when Nene returned to starting minutes and Wall got it going, all the sudden things where easier to Beal to develop.

[Nivek]

Over at the blog, I have up my latest similarity score piece -- the epic fail edition. This one looks at Vesely, Seraphin and Singleton.

The quick summary:

- almost no hope for Vesely becoming useful
- a wee bit more hope for Seraphin becoming useful, but still not likely
- almost no hope for Singleton becoming useful

[nate33]

Over at the blog, I have up my latest similarity score piece -- the epic fail edition. This one looks at Vesely, Seraphin and Singleton.

The quick summary:

- almost no hope for Vesely becoming useful
- a wee bit more hope for Seraphin becoming useful, but still not likely
- almost no hope for Singleton becoming useful

Seraphin is such an enigma to me.

In theory, he has most of the skills needed to be a very good NBA player. He's strong as an ox which allows him to be a good post defender. He has sufficient length to hold his own in help defense. He has nimble feet which help him defend the pick and roll well. He shoots 43% from 16-23 feet, which is rock solid for a big man, especially one with just 3500 minutes under his belt. He shoots an incredible 73% on hook shots. He has good enough hands to catch passes in traffic. The tools are all there, except for the rebounding. I don't understand his lack of rebounding.

What's holding Seraphin back is that his deficiencies in the bball IQ department prevent him from putting it all together. He is horrible at dealing with double teams; he shoots too often and too early in the shot clock; and he commits way too many offensive fouls when setting picks. It seems to me that the last two should be relatively easy to fix, and the double-team issues may get gradually better in time.

[FAH1223]

Seraphin is such an enigma to me.

In theory, he has most of the skills needed to be a very good NBA player. He's strong as an ox which allows him to be a good post defender. He has sufficient length to hold his own in help defense. He has nimble feet which help him defend the pick and roll well. He shoots 43% from 16-23 feet, which is rock solid for a big man, especially one with just 3500 minutes under his belt. He shoots an incredible 73% on hook shots. He has good enough hands to catch passes in traffic. The tools are all there, except for the rebounding. I don't understand his lack of rebounding.

What's holding Seraphin back is that his deficiencies in the bball IQ department prevent him from putting it all together. He is horrible at dealing with double teams; he shoots too often and too early in the shot clock; and he commits way too many offensive fouls when setting picks. It seems to me that the last two should be relatively easy to fix, and the double-team issues may get gradually better in time.

Seraphin should watch a lot of ZACH RANDOLPH.

[BigA]

Over at the blog, I have up my latest similarity score piece -- the epic fail edition. This one looks at Vesely, Seraphin and Singleton.

The quick summary:

- almost no hope for Vesely becoming useful
- a wee bit more hope for Seraphin becoming useful, but still not likely
- almost no hope for Singleton becoming useful

The quicker summary:

- they a bust

[pancakes3]

Poor rebounding to me suggests a poor motor. Poor clock management suggests a dull mind. The size, hands, and jumper means he has all the tools but lacks the mental discipline to put it all together. Hm. A PF who can shoot jumpers but lacked hustle and discipline...

Sounds so familiar yet I can't really put my finger on it...

[Deivy202]

Poor rebounding to me suggests a poor motor. Poor clock management suggests a dull mind. The size, hands, and jumper means he has all the tools but lacks the mental discipline to put it all together. Hm. A PF who can shoot jumpers but lacked hustle and discipline...

Sounds so familiar yet I can't really put my finger on it...

Wont matter come draft day Wizards will draft a SF and Vesley wont see any more playing time he barley even saw the field. We are better off just trading him for anything or releasing him.

We need smart IQ players who can consistently do there job and need 1 guy who is gonna be our 20-30 PPG star to get us a championchip.

Other wise we will never even go to the playoff or first round and go further .

[pancakes3]

I was actually trying to draw a parallel between Seraphin and Blatche. Vesely is hopeless.

[Dark Faze]

I feel pretty good about Seraphin. The things he needs to work on are almost all fixable under coaching. He's not having to learn ridiculous amounts of offensive/defensive basketball like Vesely.

Ves is a great passer. That's really his only skill and he can't use it because you have to actually draw some form of defense or create some form of offense to make sure of it. He'll be out of the league soon.

Singleton is terrible right now. I think somewhere deep down there's a 3 and D guy but the minutes it would take to develop him are going to result in a lot of losses for a team. He'd be a great tank commander.

[Dat2U]

I think he is still as good as he was at the end of his rookie season. Confidence is what Vesely lacks the most. He is very unskilled but that shouldn't get in the way of him bring his greatest asset, tremendous energy for a player with his height, reach, and mobility.

deneem4, maybe you are correct to say one great highlight reel dunk could go a long ways to making Jan Vesely the best player he can be. Get the fans on his side and he will go all out.

Folks needs to get the last 6 games of 2011-12 out of their heads. That was not reality. That was not real basketball. That was at the end of a strike shortened season which was jammed packed with back-2-back games. The quality of play at the end of that year was simply terrible. Many teams were playing out the string, playing guys that wouldn't normally play in roles that they wouldn't normally fill. Unless a team was fighting for a playoff spot, the level of play simply did not measure up. Reading anything into these performances seemed like a terrible idea at the time, and especially nowadays. Morris Almond is not walking through that door!

Vesely and Seraphin both started the last 15 games, and the last six were wins.

What I recall is Jan averaged over 8 and 8. Kevin scored in double figures in 15 of 16 games or thereabouts. Dat, Vesely was not a bad rebounder then. He also had a positive +/- on court rating.

Dat, I am not in denial. In the exit interview Wittman mentioned Vesely flying all around in some games and lacking confidence in others. Vesely was a bad pick at #6. He is not hopelessly untalented.

I'm here to restate that you are in complete and utter denial CCJ. If you really think Vesely, Kevin & Chris can actually play then your not seeing reality. Trading Ves or Seraphin would not come back to haunt us. Even in a best case scenario, these guys are replacement level types. As of now, they are 3 of the worst players in the entire NBA and it's sad that I can't even overstate how bad they are.

It's not just about confidence or needing more development. It's about the fact these guys are the WORST OF THE WORST in the NBA. Vesely is a Nikoloz Tskitishvill sized bust. And even Nikoloz had some bright moments in summer league & preseason games. Vesely has showed even less than Skita did. There's no getting around that.

Kevin Seraphin was arguably the worst C in the NBA that got significant minutes this past season. Not slightly below average, inconsistent or even mediocre mind you, but bad as bad could possibly be.

Even the sun shines on a baboons ass once in a while so if you can point out a good game or good 6 game stretch (when the rest of the league was mailing it in) then good for you. But it doesn't deny the fact that Ves, Seraphin & Singleton are all complete dreck and the Wizards would be far better off with all 3 off the roster next year.

[Dark Faze]

Seraphin had a TS% of 55 and a PER of 16 last year which is good. I don't think he'll ever be good on D but I think there's enough offensive potential there to try to get some sort of value for him if you do move him.

I'm trying to find out who is worse between Ves and Singleton. At least when Ves gets on the floor he just fouls a lot but doesn't actively hurt the team. He's just kind of there and then gone. Singleton though with a usage higher than guys like Sefolosha and Kyle Korver (key parts of their teams) in combination with a TS% of 42 (jaw droppingly bad) is about as close as you can get to having a human representation of tanking.

[closg00]

Klay Thompson says hello from the playoffs.
http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/5/6/ ... jan-vesely

[verbal8]

Klay Thompson says hello from the playoffs.
http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/5/6/ ... jan-vesely

If Vesley plays well this summer, trading him for cap space might be the best move. With a lot more cap space available this summer, some team might see it as getting a free "draft pick".