It’s been a regular occurrence at the end of each Wizards training camp session: Rookie Jan Vesely at the basket or the foul line, working on the simple fundamentals of his shooting motion.
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From a simple step into a standing shot from two feet away, to the full range of picking up the basketball off the floor and fluidly launching his high-arcing free throw — often with assistant coach Ryan Saunders’ hand lightly at his back, helping him stay balanced and not fade upon his release — Vesely is embracing the task of transforming his game and adapting to the NBA.
The individual instruction he’s receiving every day will play a crucial role; it’s not something that was emphasized during his three-year professional career in Europe.
“We did in shooting drills, not a lot of one-on-one drills,” Vesely said. “But the NBA’s different than European basketball. It’s different that we work one-on-one here and more than in Europe.”
At 6-foot-11, 240 pounds, with long, well-defined arms, Vesely looks far from out of place on the court.
In his first official practices since being taken sixth overall in last June’s draft — and stealing the spotlight thanks to a congratulatory kiss from his girlfriend — Vesely hasn’t appeared to miss a single instruction from a teammate or coach.
“With him, he’s so talented, he can take his time a little bit,” teammate Roger Mason Jr. said after giving Vesely some advice after a missed jump shot. “I was just letting him know, giving him support, that in this league, you don’t have to rush. A young guy, the tendency in this league is to rush.”
But rarely has Vesely been able to do what he was known for best in Europe, getting out on the break. During Sunday’s practice, he was so excited to run the floor during a scrimmage that he got caught looking down at his feet and didn’t see a long outlet pass from John Wall until it had sailed past him.
“Of all of our players, he has a great feel for the game, really understands, passes the ball extremely [well], makes the extra pass, knows when to hold it, when to get rid of it,” Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. “The speed of the game, that’s not his problem because that’s his forte, getting up and down. For him, it’s just constantly working on his fundamentals.”
That said, Vesely said he knew Wall was fast but chuckled when asked if it was difficult for him to adjust to the NBA pace.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Vesely said. “I think I’m getting every day into better shape so I think can get to this rhythm.”
Said Wall: “I think he’s still just learning how the NBA game is, how physical it is, how quick it is. But I think he’ll be good down the road. He’s athletic, can play defense, can jump. He does those things, and he just wants to work. He’s not rushing. He’s not frustrated or anything. He’s just playing hard.”
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