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| European Roundup: High Expectations for Vesely
November 20, 2009
Jonathan Givony
After a surprisingly strong debut season in the Euroleague, playing for possibly the biggest overachievers in European basketball—Partizan Belgrade-- expectations were always going to be extremely high for Czech teenager Jan Vesely going into this year.
While his minutes are up (24 per game on average compared with 18 last in both the Adriatic League and Euroleague) and his production has risen accordingly, it’s increasingly clear that this is not going to be the breakthrough season that some NBA scouts had hoped for.
Part of that might have to do with the very obvious fact that Partizan is sporting a much weaker squad this season, having lost arguably their three most important playmakers on both ends of the floor in Novica Velickovic (Real Madrid), Milenko Tepic (Panathinaikos) and Stephane Lasme (Maccabi Tel Aviv), as well as a double-digit scorer in Uros Tripkovic (DKV Joventut). In their place they brought a very athletic but extremely inexperienced and often-erratic American combo guard in Bo McCalebb as their main (lone?) facilitator, and a couple of blue collar but physically limited big men in the form of Lawrence Roberts and Aleks Maric. The team seems to be struggling a lot more this year in both the Euroleague and Adriatic League so far (5-6 record combined), but obviously it’s still extremely early, only 11 games into the season.
For someone who is clearly a hustling role-player and energy guy like Vesely, this change in team dynamics will have a much stronger effect. After all, it’s much easier to play that type of glue-guy role while being surrounded with great teammates and unselfish passers, as his limitations offensively are now becoming much more noticeable. Those who were expecting to see a big jump this season in his technical ability and the development of his skill-set might be a little disappointed.
Vesely is starting exclusively at the small forward position for Partizan, despite standing 6-11. This is clearly the position that head coach Dusko Vujosevic intends to develop him at, which will likely be very beneficial for him long-term. Vesely’s frame is slowly starting to fill out, although he still has a ways to go before reaching his full physical potential, particularly as far as his lower body strength is concerned. He’s still very much the same terrific athlete he’s known as, running the court like a deer and being very explosive getting off his feet to finish plays around the rim.
Offensively, Vesely’s role for Partizan is fairly simple. His job is to sprint the floor in transition any opportunity he can (something he does superbly), catch and finish around the basket, crash the offensive glass, and hang out in the corners waiting for spot-up jumpers. Occasionally he’ll get a chance to post-up smaller players taking advantage of his superior size and athleticism, but his average footwork and limited post-moves doesn’t make this option as appealing as you might hope.
As a shooter is where Vesely needs to continue to improve the most if he’s to make the full transition to playing out on the perimeter. He’s 5/12 on the season from beyond the arc, a solid percentage (42%) on an extremely limited amount of attempts (about one per game) that indicates that he clearly has to work to do on this part of his game. His mechanics remain a bit on the rigid side, not quite as fluid or natural as you might hope, but more than good enough to leave room for optimism that he’ll continue to develop this part of his game.
Vesely’s ball-handling ability is still very much a work in progress, he doesn’t show the skills or feel you look for to be trusted to create shots from the perimeter at his size. Judging by some of the decisions he makes with the ball, he’s obviously not the smartest or most naturally talented guy you’ll find around, as most of his game revolves around his energy and athleticism at the moment.
Defensively is where Vesely probably shows the best upside, as not only does he have a terrific physical profile for a small forward, he appears to have the lateral quickness to match. Its impressive to see the way he slides his feet and is able to stay in front of perimeter players, something that gives his team all kinds of options guarding the pick and roll. He plays extremely hard on top of that, trying to contest everything around the basket and closing out extremely well on the perimeter. Being such a big guy defending players much smaller than him, and being relatively inexperienced on top of that, he’s not immune to being beat off the dribble from time to time, but the potential he shows on this end of the floor remains considerable.
While he’s a solid offensive rebounder--he’s just not afraid to throw his body around in the paint and has the tools to be a factor—Vesely seems to be a surprisingly average defensive rebounder at this point in time. He boxes out well and plays with big time energy on this end, but seems to lack the strength (and possibly the timing) to come away with many loose balls. Part of this likely has to do with the fact that his coaches want him getting out in transition as much as possible to take advantage of how well he runs the floor.
All in all, Vesely looks like an extremely useful player with plenty of upside to continue to develop. After all, he’s only 19-years old, and is somewhat of a late-bloomer on top of that. He may not have the offensive skills or natural talent NBA teams look for in a very high pick, and probably wouldn’t fit every team’s style of play, but there will be plenty of coaches who could fall in love with his physical attributes and the energy he brings to the table. The way Omri Casspi is playing thus far with the Kings surely has to be helping his cause, as the two have some clear-cut similarities in their style of play, although Vesely’s physical tools and upside are noticeably superior.
It will be interesting to see how Vesely’s agents, David Bauman and Aleksandar Raskovic, go about deciding whether or not to enter their client’s name in this year’s draft. Vesely is under contract with Partizan until 2013, but the team (like almost all clubs in former Yugoslavia) has fallen on hard times financially lately, and may be tempted to sell him to a bigger European team if they were able to cash in on a significant buyout. The NBA's meager 500,000 dollars (the maximum allowed under the CBA) likely won't interest them as much. Either way, Vesely could probably use another Europe to continue to polish up his skill-set.
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European Roundup: Dominant Donatas?
February 6, 2009
The European basketball player “factory” known as Partizan Belgrade continues to churn out quality prospects, continuing to be the best team in Europe at mixing winning with player development. The latest stud to come out of their ranks is 18-year old Czech big man Jan Vesely, a player they acquired via Slovenian-based Geoplin Slovan, who has produced quite a few players (Goran Dragic, Emir Preldzic, Mirza Begic, Gasper Vidmar) themselves.
Vesely immediately stands out thanks to his physical attributes. He’s listed at 6-11, and sports a well proportioned frame that should easily fill out. He’s also very athletic by European standards, running the court extremely well and being very reactive getting off his feet for powerful dunks.
In terms of skill, Vesely is far from a finished product, but already shows a nice framework to build off of. He’s pretty raw with his back to the basket, but has decent ball-handling skills which he’ll put on display from time to time, sometimes grabbing a rebound and taking the ball coast to coast himself. He can also face-up and take his man off the dribble a little bit—nothing extraordinarily, but certainly enough to keep you intrigued considering that he’s just 18-years old. Vesely looks a little bit out of control on occasion, making some unforced errors and generally being somewhat turnover prone, as his feel for the game doesn’t appear to be off the charts, and he’s obviously extremely young.
Vesely is mostly a hustle player for this very talented Partizan team. His offensive responsibilities generally involve running the floor, grabbing rebounds, cutting off the ball and finishing around the rim. He’ll take the occasional spot-up jumper, showing solid shooting mechanics and range out to the European 3-point line, but he’s not consistent at all from that range, hitting just 3/24 on the season, and 31/59 (53%) from the free throw line.
The fact that his coach (Dusko Vujosevic, considered arguably the top talent developer in European basketball) even allows him to shoot 3-pointers tells you a lot about the amount of freedom young players are given at Partizan. This is not just another European team mind you—they are currently playing (competitively) in the Top 16 of the Euroleague, and are in 1st place in the Adriatic League. Vesely is gaining an unbelievable amount of experience as a starter for them—which is incredibly rare at this level relative to his age.
Defensively, Vesely does a pretty solid job—if he didn’t, there is no way he would see minutes. He plays hard, moves his feet well on defense, and gets his hands on a lot of balls thanks to his activity level. He’s a pretty solid rebounder (better offensively than defensively) and is capable of blocking shots and getting in the passing lanes. He needs to get stronger, smarter and more experienced, but there is a lot to work with here.
All things considered, Vesely is one of the more intriguing prospects to emerge on the European scene this season, both in terms of his current high-level production and particularly his long-term upside. If he continues to work and develop, he has a chance to emerge as a serious NBA prospect in the next few years.
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