NBADraftPiker: NBADraftPiker Presents: Jan Vesely

Thus far the great Czech Republic has produced many wondrous things. To name just a few marvels, the Czechs have given us:

It has also produced two former NBA players, much less palatable than the aforementioned brew. Jiri Welsch spent five uneventful years on four NBA teams, occasionally shooting threes, but more often enjoying the simple pleasures of watching American style basketball courtside.

Before the arrival of the disappointing Welsch, gentle giant George Zidek had already traversed the Atlantic in search of stardom and glory . Little known fact: George Zidek’s real name is Jiri Zidek, making Jan Vesely the first Czech-born baller not named Jiri to grace the NBA with his presence. Fans of NBA Hangtime for N64 (the absolute gold standard in NBA console games, still yet to be surpassed) will remember Zidek as one of the many lumbering giants of the game rendered almost completely useless by their inability to ever make non-dunks. Unfortunately, the real-life 7-footer was all too similar to his electronic counterpart, shooting a laughable 40.8% from the field in his abbreviated NBA career.

Although Czechs have been unable to hack it at the NBA level, there have been a number of successful Balkan ballers, and a handful of skillful Russians and Lithuanians as well. Here is what FreeDarko Presents…The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac had to say about the Serbian style of play:

“Tough and rugged, yet with a high level of finesse”

This more or less sums up the history of Eastern-European imports, considering the four highest scoring Eastern Euros in NBA history are Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Toni Kukoc. Half of those four are currently riding the pine in the NBA Finals, coincidence? Yes. Below, Vlade and Peja, who Vlade affectionately dubbed "special boy," enjoy a shot of Patron out of a pimp cup they bought on eBay.

However, Jan Vesely appears to be unlike any of his predecessors. In order to appreciate Vesely you are going to have to throw out the book on Eastern European basketballers. I know, I know the book doesn’t actually exist, and all I gave you was a sentence that technically refers only to Serbia & Montenegro, but please just humor me and throw out the book.

As my friend and mentor, Leo Tolstoy once said, "'The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him." Granted, I may not be able to explain to you such esoteric topics as string theory, or collateralized debt obligations, but neither of those modern marvels existed in old Tolstoy's day. Basketball, on the other hand was on the eve of it's 20th birthday when the great Tolstoy passed away. Urban legend even has it that he once threw down a windmill on an 8 foot hoop. Below, Leo pontificates on the wonders of the triangle offense to a spellbound pair of Muscovite youths.

So with that in mind, I implore you to clear your mind of everything you thought you knew, and prepare yourself for a psychadelic odyssey of rim rocking throwdowns and gnarly scowls. Seriously, if you watch one video from this blog watch this one:

Jan Vesely highlights

First off, I want to thank Ousvec for a highlight video done the right way. Bonus points for the Ying Yang Twins soundtrack, and timing the dunks to the "BOOM'S".

Now let's run a thought experiment. Let's say there is a 6'11" college Junior throwing down the gargantuan dunks you just saw, blocking shots left and right, and generally doing his darndest to channel the great Shawn Kemp (at right). He could be white, he could be black, as long as he can dunk like Vasely it doesn't matter. Now, most importantly, let's give him a cool name. We will call him Slick Watts (real NBA player, look it up!). Not only would you have heard of Slick Watts, he would probably be right there with Jimmer Fredette as the only two guys the casual NBA fan cares about. He would also be a top-3 pick.

On the down side, it appears none of the fine people at Partizan Belgrade have gotten around to teaching young Jan how to dribble the ball. Also, please note that he is something like a career 50% free throw shooter. Honestly I couldn't care less. I am smitten. Watch Jan sky for a rebound 2:08 into the video and the reaction afterwards. This guy oozes confidence and has unbridled swagger, the likes of which we have yet to see from an Eastern-Euro. In the past draftnicks have tended to get a little too overwhelmed by physically-gifted players, but for whatever reason (read: but because Jan Vesely is from Eastern Europe) this has not been the case for Jan. This awkward snapshot from the Euroleague's website may also have hurt his draft stock... is he too busy to untag it?

Vesely has by far the most potential of any prospect I've seen so far. He is also a shoe-in to be a terrific rebounder, and has a very good chance of being an impactful defender. Count me in!

Darko Time!

Next Up: The rambunctiously named Bicmack Biyombo.