I'll be posting a bunch of these "staying or going" NBA Draft analysis pieces in the upcoming days, but I thought why not start with the guy you care most about.
His name is Greivis Vasquez, aka, the "Vivacious Venezuelan." He's a 6-foot-6 point guard (no matter what Gary says) for the University of Maryland. He's a junior and he has yet to hire an agent. His stated intention is to try out the pre-draft camps, see how he stacks up and go from there.
You know the rest, let's get started.
CURRENT PROJECTIONS: Very little. He's not listed on most mocks because nobody believes he's leaving and he's not seen as a first-round prospect. DraftExpress has him going late in Round 2.
STRENGTHS: NBA-ready passing skills and vision on the break. Ability to finish with contact in the lane. Passion and charisma.
WEAKNESSES: Perimeter jump shot. His quickness driving through the lane isn't ideal either. This year he was able to out muscle smaller, slower defenders in the paint. He'll have no such advantage in the league.
NBA COMPARISON: Manu Ginobili. Whoa. Stick with me here. Before you go and comment on how crazy I am for writing that, just hold on. He'll probably never be as good as Ginobili, but their styles are similar.
They both take those long strides while driving the lane and often go off of the wrong foot or use the wrong hand for layups at the basket.
They're both South American. That counts too right. Oh, and hey, they both have guarded Kobe Bryant. Just ask GV about it. I'm sure he'll be glad to talk to you about it for a couple minutes, errr couple hours.
PREDICTION: He's staying. I hear his family may not be in the best financial situation. I hear this means he might be willing to take the money in Europe, even if he can't somehow get into the first round with his camp performance. I hear he's waiting to hear what recruit Lance Stephenson is doing.
That's all fine and dandy. But a man who invested as much physical and emotional energy as Vasquez did this season isn't just going to get up and leave on a whim.
A guy who says the following about his head coach, isn't just packing his bags and leaving College Park with one more year of eligibility:
"He's a tough guy, who never gives up and always tries hard," Vasquez said. "It's just a privilege to play for him. ... I mean, if I got to go to war with him, I would die for him before he dies."
Plus, Gary thinks he's coming back. And what would he do without Boris the Puerto Rican Barber? And he's never actually gotten the chance to carry out that very serious threat against Greg Schimmel.
He should come back, at least for that.
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Haha I don't know if I would call the threat "very serious," but I've gotten a lot of run out of that situation in ice-breaking conversations.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've seen Greivis playing ball in the ERC twice this week. He seems to get great pleasure out of beasting regular students in pickup games.