Jan Vesely Part II: He a Bust

[closg00]

Vesely was also voted on here as the player we most wanted NOT to draft. It just blows my mind that what was so obvious to us somehow escaped the notice of people who are paid to make these decisions.

It's probably because our scouting staff watched a lot more tape of Vesely against inferior European competition where he looked good. It only mislead them.

We lacked most of that video and saw only a few highlights of championship level games where Vesely didn't look so good. Then we checked out Vesely's stats (like his horrible FT percentage and mediocre rebounding) and came away unimpressed. Finally, we observed that he was so light in the haunches that he couldn't possibly hold his position against PF's.

People, go back and read the 2011 pre-draft articles. Incredibly, Ernie wanted to draft Vesely in the 2010 draft but JV hadn't made himself available yet. Ernie himself scouted Vesely during one of his favorite GM perks, the European "scouting" junket. JV was scouted at several Euro games by Grunfeld/staff. Perhaps later they united in their quest after watching plenty of those highlight reels.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Seems they don't use the same red flag indicators most here use like the ones you mentioned. If a player can't shoot FTs, thats a huge red flag for me. Short of a player like Shaq, not many players can over come that and if they haven't learned to do that by the time they are 18, that says a lot about them to me.

You should be able to at least hit 70% as a min. And if you are below that, you better be a monster rebounder.

And when I watch a player, fast break drunks might be the least impressive thing to me. Dunking off the dribble in half court is way more impressive. It shows you have some handles and a move or two.

Back to FT shooting. There is just zero excuse in my mind for shooting 50% then 30%. Get a shooting coach and practice. Its not that complicated. Its not like he is uncoordinated. So thats a huge red flag to me because it goes to dedication, focus and maturity.

Ves would have been a real nice mid/late first, early second pick depending on the draft class. In 2-3 more year he could be a reliable starter or quality reliable bench player. That said, he could start this year with the right players around him but that's different then being a "starter" all on his own.

If EG has any one major flow, its shooting for long term potential over sound production with upside. He would have probably drafted Joe Alexander if he had a chance. Funny thing is we are talking about wanting Asik. Well Asik was available at 36 the year McGee was drafted.

http://www.eurobasket2013.org/en/cid_8X ... 53029.html

In Eurobasket FIBA play, he averaged 17 and 11 over 5 games. Yet, he shot 11/31 FTs.

Twenty missed FTs in just 5 games is HARD to do, but Vesely did just that.

Had he shot a mere 21/31, that would have made his average 19 and 11. His team would have scored 2 more a game. FT shooting with him has to be psychologically hard as much as any other reason for him being so bad. NO WAY are FTs that hard to shoot.

[hands11]

CCJ

I'm glad he was productive over there and had fun.

But most of what he did won't translate. He scored as a center in the post over weak post defenders. That also allowed him to rebound. The defense was total crap in those games. He didn't shoot from outside hardly at all.

What he needs to do it make 70% of his FTs and he needs a mid range game. If he can add that to the things he already can do, he has a chance. From there, he would buy the time he needs to get strong and learn to rebound better. But he will probably never be a good defensive rebounder. But thats ok. What he does already plus FT shooting, plus a mid range game and improved offensive rebounding over time will be enough to be a viable player. 6th man quality that can start with the right players around him. He isn't likely to be more then that. Problem is, that is not a 6th pick in most drafts.

We agree that he does have some skills. Its just, what he doesn't do is enough to totally cripple what he does do.

[deneem4]

I want to see him started next to nene at pf...

Wall
Beal
Ariza
Vesley
Nene

[hands11]

I want to see him started next to nene at pf...

Wall
Beal
Ariza
Vesley
Nene

Then you probably are thinking along the lines of the lines ups at the bottom of the previous page.

[popper]

Funny thing is we are talking about wanting Asik. Well Asik was available at 36 the year McGee was drafted.

Ugh.... I'm taking the gas pipe right now.

[payitforward]

Funny thing is we are talking about wanting Asik. Well Asik was available at 36 the year McGee was drafted.

Ugh.... I'm taking the gas pipe right now.

Also available when we took JaVale were -- Ryan Anderson, Nicolas Batum, Serge Ibaka, Kosta Koufos, George Hill and DeAndre Jordan.

[hands11]

I was wonder when Ves would show up..


Jan Vesely ‏@JanVesely24 13m

Just finished evening shooting with my coach. Dont know what is wrong with my hair
http://instagram.com/p/eqkZdMNYEW/

Only a few days to go before camp starts.

[gesa2]

From Tom Haberstroh's Wizards player profile (insider only):

Vesely has been paid millions to play basketball, but it's not clear whether he actually knows how to play. He may have the most hallow skill set in the league, but he'll continue to play because he's long, can jump through the roof and, let's face it, he was the sixth overall pick in 2011. The truth is that Vesely wouldn't sniff an NBA rotation if he were a second-round pick.

It's tough to stomach his game film, and the statistics are just as gruesome. He shot 30.8 percent from the free throw line, missed more than half of his layups, nailed a crisp 17.5 percent of his jumpers and registered six times as many fouls as blocks. He ranks among the worst at his position in just about every category.

Defensively, he can put a dent in pick-and-rolls because he's long and mobile, but he's a horrible basket protector who fouled at 6.4 per 36 minutes. Because of his length and bounce, he should be much better equipped to block shots, but Patrick Beverley registered the same exact block rate last season (2.2 percent). Vesely probably needs to go back to Europe or the D-League to build his skill set, because he's probably a sunk cost in the NBA at this point.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/preview2 ... r-profiles

Ouch!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think this reporter is a bit too harsh.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... rja01.html

Jared Jeffries played in 10 or 11 NBA seasons, some 630 games, and over 16,500 minutes. . He played about 23 minutes in each of 25 playoff games. His per-36 points, rebounds, and blocks are all slightly less than Vesely's. His WS/48 for his career is also slightly less than Vesely's. He has slightly more assists per-36 over his career than Vesely.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... lja01.html

Jan has been much more foul prone than Jared Jeffries was over his NBA career.

If the writer wants to pull a random Beverly block stat out, I would point to a similar-sized Jeffries as a much better comparison of what Jan Vesely could become.

[keynote]

Will his EuroBasket swag carry over into the season?

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MrMichaelLee/status/384729648153632768[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MrMichaelLee/status/384731797071753216[/tweet]

I'm not impressed by the report of the dunk, but I do like the idea that Vesely is chirping at guys after dunking on them.

[badinage]

A viscous dunk, huh?

Must've had his slobbering tongue out.

[nuposse04]

With all the other arbitrary videos they post on twitter, why is there no evidence of said dunk? Was the tape confiscated already?!

[keynote]

A viscous dunk, huh?

Must've had his slobbering tongue out.

Mike Lee corrected that in a later tweet.

With all the other arbitrary videos they post on twitter, why is there no evidence of said dunk? Was the tape confiscated already?!

I'm sure Pops retained LeBron's Thought Police to get the job done.

[payitforward]

With all the other arbitrary videos they post on twitter, why is there no evidence of said dunk? Was the tape confiscated already?!

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... im-9-30-13

[nuposse04]

With all the other arbitrary videos they post on twitter, why is there no evidence of said dunk? Was the tape confiscated already?!

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... im-9-30-13

Hmm, that was nice, but its still in practice, against someone who I'm sure didn't play meaningful minutes last season. If he can replicate some of this swag in preseason, I'd be ecstatic.

[keynote]

^ Yeah, it was aiight.
And, based on Lee's tweet, I had envisioned him puffing his chest out and giving Pops a little good-natured trash talk afterwards. Evidence, in my eternally optimistic mind, of a burgeoning confidence.

Instead, he looks fairly sheepish after the dunk. It's everyone else that's hooping and hollering - much as they would if the class geek made an unlikely shot in a game of 21 during recess. Color me disappointed.

[nuposse04]

Well maybe he really is the euro blake griffin wanna-be then. Blake doesn't beat his chest or anything after he gets a good facial in, he just stupidly stares off into space rather stoically.

[deneem4]

That looked lik a john wall dunk...im nt sure which one...but seeing jan attack physically is a great sign..his #1 problem is confidence and tht shows he gaining some even if its just pratice

[dangermouse]

Was that Beal with the drive and dish?