Photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr
The bottom line with Vesely, though, is this: he’s not like most Europeans. Whereas Kanter hasn’t played in a year and Valanciunas and Biyombo play limited minutes for their club teams, Vesely was a main player on one of the best teams in Europe in Partizan. He’s tough, he wins and he plays big in big spots, which the Wizards witnessed when he scored 18 points in the Serbian League title game. He’s not a star in Europe, but he’s a key role player and a big part of their team. He’s also kind of cocky, and he won’t back down from anything or anyone. The Wizards, I believe, feel that they need that attitude more than they need his skills. Or, they think the skills will come around to match the attitude.
I’m less convinced than them, but it certainly could happen. We’ll have to wait and see.
via Washington Wizards NBA Draft Grades: A Good Draft, Maybe Great – Bullets Forever.
So while Bobcats fans were raising the flag of victory over drafting a guy whose floor-ceiling is Thabeet-Mutumbo and another whose floor-ceiling is … Kemba Walker/Kemba Walker, and Kings fans are feeling confident about pulling in a no-conscience shooter from BYU, Wizards fans from what I can see on BulletsForver’s comment section largely hate their pick.
Now, I’ve got a blindside for guys with killer instinct. It’s a cliche, but there are a number of guys in the league who have the mentality of trying to destroy you every time they get on the floor. It’s that latent aggression that really sells me on a guy mentally. Because typically, those are the guys who don’t get lazy or complacent. Baron Davis does not have that, and as a result, he spends most of his time on fashion and making movies (or now doing whatever you do in Cleveland). But Jerryd Bayless, for all the faults in his game, will continue to come at you 100% every single game because he hates you and everything you stand for. Nothing personal, he hates everyone. Kendrick Perkins bounced back from knee surgery about six months ahead of when Andrew Bynum recovered  from his because Perkins hates you and he wants to get back out there and crush you into nothingness.
Vesely’s got a little bit of that in him. That mean streak is evident both in his play and in his comments. Like saying Blake Griffin is the American Jan Vesely. Jugular.
It’s very much less about the dunks for me with Vesely as it is about this:
Vesely is a player who offensively is very comfortable posting up with his back to the basket. Â In the 92 post up possessions that Vesely had over the course of the season, he posted a PPP of 1.022 (good for a top 14% finish among international basketball players) on 65.4% shooting.
One of the biggest reasons for his success in the post is his ability to establish very good position down low.
Jan Vesely does a fantastic job of using his body and his butt as a tool that lets him be physical with his defender and get his body on the block.  Position is so important when posting up, if you start too far away, you aren’t going to be efficient as a post player.  When Vesely gets the ball so deep in the post, it makes all of his moves so much easier.
What I really like about Vesely is that he is very active and smart when establishing position.
That was the first thing I took away from watching Vesely on Synergy, was how aggressive he was in the post. He goes right at the opponent. Will be he defended by bigger opponents in the NBA? Sure. But then there will be chances for Andray Blatche and McGee until the Wizards replace them with better players.
Most bizarre from my viewpoint on Vesely has been this. “He can’t shoot! We’re screwed!”
What does everyone scream at the athletic forwards in the NBA for?
TAKING MID-RANGE JUMPERS. “GO TO THE HOLE, LEBRON/JOSH SMITH/ANTHONY RANDOLPH/MICHAEL BEASLEY!”
If you have a true power forward? That’s the guy you want taking the 18 footer. That’s actually usually a huge part of a  power forward’s offense in the NBA according to a HoopData study. But small forwards should stay away from there. If you don’t have a shot, you’re less likely to go to it.
The turnovers? Young guys turn the ball over and it won’t be as much of a problem for Vesely as it will for Wall.
You have to have a thick skin in this league. Vesely has it. He’s got aggressiveness, he’s got a mean streak, he’s got an impossibly hot girlfriend.
The 2011 NBA Draft: Where everyone slept on the wrong guys and hyped up the NCAA Tournament.
But perhaps most importantly, Vesely brings effort, intensity, and toughness to the Wizards roster—three things that have been sorely lacking over the past couple of years.
“I like defense, you know,†said Vesely during a conference call with the media in the Wizards pressroom. “Of course, I like to block shots. I like to stop the player with the ball. I can play defense at all positions.â€
Vesely likes to play defense. How many Wizards can honestly say that? I can count them on one hand with fingers left to spare. Saunders even went as far as to compare Vesely to Kevin Garnett on the defensive end, in terms of his quickness and the amount of ground he can cover, potentially.
The fire and tenacity that Saunders referenced, coupled with his versatility on both ends of the floor, were reason enough to fall in love with this Euro—it doesn’t hurt that he was one of the biggest players in the draft, standing 6’11†and weighing in at 240 pounds.
via Truth About It » Euro Legend Delivered, Sealed With A Kiss.
