OT: Former Wizards bust Jan Vesely named Euroleague MVP

[UcanUwill]

Congrats to Jan, but I still dont think hes an NBA player, he won basically because his team was very dominant. So dont rush at thinking he might finally live up to his hype, nope.

I am prepared to make a longer comment if someone interested, but overall, as euroleague fan I feel embarassed such a player was named MVP, but thats reality of the day, overall talent level gets better, but Euroleague never had such lack of star caliber players.

[closg00]

Good for Jan, he was not psychologically cut-out for the NBA. In-contrast, Sato was able to make the adjustment to the NBA game.

[Gig18]

I'm happy for Jan. It's great that he's accomplished this and I think it's a validation that the kid can play.
His confidence was totally shot by the time we traded him. And basketball is all about confidence. You've gotta believe you're a badass.

[gtn130]

Jan was terrible at basketball from the day he was drafted. Having confidence can only take you so far when there is no position on the court you can actually play.

It was a terrible pick and nothing would have changed that IMO. Spurs could have drafted him and the result would have been the same.

[UcanUwill]

Jan was terrible at basketball from the day he was drafted. Having confidence can only take you so far when there is no position on the court you can actually play.

It was a terrible pick and nothing would have changed that IMO. Spurs could have drafted him and the result would have been the same.

I am on the record saying that turning him into a big was a huge mistake. Sure he lacked offensive skills, but make him practice corner 3 and he could have beemn decent 3 and D small forward IMO. He was small forward in Belgrade and his only legit skill was perimeter defense. He couldnt guard bigs in Europe, but Wizards took him and decided to turn him into an NBA center. I think that was terrible decision, I think he could have been Shane Battier type player if the team that drafted him stuck to the idea he is a wing. After years, he packed ton of weight and finally caught up with his new position - which is center, but his ceiling suffered from that.

[closg00]

Jan was terrible at basketball from the day he was drafted. Having confidence can only take you so far when there is no position on the court you can actually play.

It was a terrible pick and nothing would have changed that IMO. Spurs could have drafted him and the result would have been the same.

I am on the record saying that turning him into a big was a huge mistake. Sure he lacked offensive skills, but make him practice corner 3 and he could have beemn decent 3 and D small forward IMO. He was small forward in Belgrade and his only legit skill was perimeter defense. He couldnt guard bigs in Europe, but Wizards took him and decided to turn him into an NBA center. I think that was terrible decision, I think he could have been Shane Battier type player if the team that drafted him stuck to the idea he is a wing. After years, he packed ton of weight and finally caught up with his new position - which is center, but his ceiling suffered from that.

Have his basketball skills actually progressed? The highlight clips I've see recently are more of the same, Jan punishing smaller opponents and dunking on him. I look forward to watching him play against NBA talent.

[UcanUwill]

Jan was terrible at basketball from the day he was drafted. Having confidence can only take you so far when there is no position on the court you can actually play.

It was a terrible pick and nothing would have changed that IMO. Spurs could have drafted him and the result would have been the same.

I am on the record saying that turning him into a big was a huge mistake. Sure he lacked offensive skills, but make him practice corner 3 and he could have beemn decent 3 and D small forward IMO. He was small forward in Belgrade and his only legit skill was perimeter defense. He couldnt guard bigs in Europe, but Wizards took him and decided to turn him into an NBA center. I think that was terrible decision, I think he could have been Shane Battier type player if the team that drafted him stuck to the idea he is a wing. After years, he packed ton of weight and finally caught up with his new position - which is center, but his ceiling suffered from that.

Have his basketball skills actually progressed? The highlight clips I've see recently are more of the same, Jan punishing smaller opponents and dunking on him. I look forward to watching him play against NBA talent.

Not really, Except he greatly improved his FT shooting, I believe he is hiting them at almost 80% clip, which is a great improvement. He also sometimes hits a nice Printezis-esque one hand shot close to the basket, but he thats about it. MVP is misleading, it really was a year where there was no one to give the award to, Jan only averaged 12 and 5 basically, he is just an effective garbage man athletic big, but his team had dominant record, so they figured they would give MVP to one of the Fenerbaches players, that happened to be Jan. He is weakest MVP winner in recent memory by far IMO.

[LyricalRico]

I am on the record saying that turning him into a big was a huge mistake. Sure he lacked offensive skills, but make him practice corner 3 and he could have beemn decent 3 and D small forward IMO. He was small forward in Belgrade and his only legit skill was perimeter defense. He couldnt guard bigs in Europe, but Wizards took him and decided to turn him into an NBA center. I think that was terrible decision, I think he could have been Shane Battier type player if the team that drafted him stuck to the idea he is a wing. After years, he packed ton of weight and finally caught up with his new position - which is center, but his ceiling suffered from that.