Greivis Vasquez is back in Washington, where he spent the last half-dozen years of his life – two at Montrose Christian and the next four at Maryland – before getting drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies in June.
Wizards head coach Flip Saunders revealed prior to the game tonight that Washington had its eyes on Vasquez prior to the NBA Draft Lottery last May.
“We liked him,” said Saunders. “Going into the lottery, we knew we had some high picks, early pick, the late first round. Not knowing that we thought that we’d probably look for a point guard with our second pick, and that he was guy that would be very viable for us.”
Flip loves him some fearless point guards: “One, he’s got a great versatility, his ability to play a couple different positions. The other thing is he just makes plays. He’s one of those guys that’s a better player in game situations than he might be in practice, and I just like his competitiveness. He really loves to compete, he’s not afraid to take a big shot, he’s not going to back down from anybody. He has a lot of confidence.”
After a substandard performance in Las Vegas Summer League play, due in part to an ankle injury, Vasquez has emerged over the last three games for the Grizzlies as preferred backup point guard to Mike Conley over Acie Law. Vasquez said the transition from college to the pros hasn’t been easy for him.
“It’s a different game,” said Vasquez. “In college I was a scoring guard, point guard. Here, it’s just I gotta lead my team, learn the plays. I don’t really have to look to score that much, but I’m still being so aggressive. So now it’s time for me, just running the team, being kind of like a director over there, just lead the team and help Mike Conley, he’s our starting point guard. We have to keep the composure of the team and just do a good job so we can win games.”
The Latino presence is Memphis is also less than that around the Beltway – surely he’s the most popular Venezuelan in all of Tennessee – but Vasquez is learning about the merits of a good barbecue, and on the court he’s in no rush.
“I actually love my job,” he said. “I love what I do here. I just got to learn, and I want to do it the best possible way. I want to win games, I’m a winner. It’s not really about me getting the most run. I think I enjoy watching Rudy [Gay] score, or Marc [Gasol] or Zach Randolph.”
As for his return to Verizon Center, where he hit a string of five in a row during a shootaround drill this morning that got his teammates howling about being home: “It means a lot because I grew up watching the Wizards, and being here for six years, it’s something that I can’t let go yet. It’s home, but I’m very happy and excited to play against a good team and compete.”
