With the 2011 NBA Draft fast approaching, there are quite a few unknown entities within this year’s talented crop of potential draftees. With as many as 4 International prospects like Donatas Motiejunas, Jonas Valanciunas, Jan Vesely, and Bismack Biyombo all potentially being selected within the first 15 picks, surely NBA scouts and GM’s are trying hard to find the latest footage of these future pros in action during league play.
Most were originally very high on the offensive minded Motiejunas, then became focused on the still very raw 19 year old Lithuanian prospect Valanciunas as Top 5 selections. But after recent comments by Jonas indicating that he feels he may not be quite ready for mixing it up against NBA players, many have recoiled at the thought of Valanciunas, who has been rumored to be selected as high as #4, remaining in Europe for a few more seasons.
Now the focus has turned to KK Partizan standout Jan Vesely. The 21 year old, 6’11 and 240lb native of the Czech Republic has been getting some rather unfare comparisons to this year’s NBA Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin because of his penchant for ferociously dunking seemingly everything. At least once a game, Vesely will take off from inside the paint,or even outside it, and try to dunk on an opponent emphatically. Many fans in Europe have rather humorously taken to calling Vesely the “Dunking Ninja.”
Although he played SF in Europe, Vesely has the size and length to play at the 4 in the NBA. He has an improved 3 point shot but struggles to shoot above 50% from the charity stripe. He has an ever improving low post game but defense and rebounding appear to be areas of weakness as he struggled to grab just 2 rebounds in 24 minutes of play during the regular season. But boy is he fun to watch!
Check out Vesely’s official 2011 NBA Draft Mixtape:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
