If the Rockets are considering Rush they should consider this guy. From what I have read about him it seems like he would be a perfect fit. Here is his profile from nbadraft.net. Jiri Welsch Birthdate: 1/27/80 NBA Position: PG/SG Ht: 6-6 Wt: 205 European Team: Olimpija Ljubljana Hometown: Pardubice, Czech Republic Euroleague Profile TeleBasket Profile NBA Comparison: Brent Barry Team player who handles ball with ease and has a sweet stroke from downtown and an exceptionally well developed mid-range game. Jiri is a great defender, as he takes advantage of his fast legs and hands and his body strength. He likes to attack the basket and makes great decisions off the dribble drive. With excellent court sense, he is a consistent high-percentage shooter and 3-pt shots are no exception. Comparison with Sani Becirovic: Jiri is as skillful as Sani on the offensive end of the floor, with Sani having better developed game of taking his man of the dribble (which is his specialty). Welsch is also good in taking his man off the dribble as he has a faster first step and is overall faster than Sani, but hasn't got as many dribbling moves as Sani. I would give Welsch the edge in the shooting department and decision-making as he has much better assists to turnover ratio than Sani. But the difference is on the defensive end, where Sani has always been a liability and is hurting his team with his inability to break through picks. That factor was also seen last year when Jiri was backing up Sani. Coach Sagadin assigned Sani to cover less dangerous opponents, while Jiri was assigned to cover the best of them. That was especially seen in playoff stages of euroleague as Sani was replaced in the starting 5 with Jiri, who responded exceptionally well. This year, with Sani gone, Jiri has taken over his spot and has become the team's leader. He is regularly scoring around 20 points a game through this season, and plays exceptional team ball.
I agree. At first I was thinking that a mid-, to late-first rounder might be too much for a third (non-starting) guard. However, if we can't get a good starting small forward, I wouldn't mind seeing more of the three-guard lineup with Welsch instead of Moochie. Too bad the guy's not a couple inches taller or he could be our starting small forward. I like Nachbar, but some people have slight question marks about his defense and his range. And while he has good ball-handling skills, I don't know if his game's much of a point forward type. Nachbar seems to be a good offensive player, but one who I have a feeling may not feed well offensively off other players a la Langhi. Welsch seems more fit for team ball, and that's something we need from any new additions to the team, IMO.
Welsch handles the ball well enough to man the point and is very adept at getting to the basket. Unlike most Europeans, his defense is actually a strength.
a year ago wasn't Welsch nothing special. if he want to play in NBA, he must have taken gigantum leap with a year.
I don't see any big men available @15 that would be an improvement over what we have now. According to most mock drafts the only SF's that will be available to us are Nachbar and Jeffries. I like Jeffries and take him over Welsch but doubt if he would be there. I really don't think Nachbar is anything special. He only avg 12 points and isn't considered a good defensive player. If we don't get a SF in the draft there are plenty of good free agent SF's available. Essentially drafting a player like Welsch would allow the Rockets to have an extra spot on the roster for a frontcourt player because he could back up the PG and SG.
That's about what Pau Gasol was averaging before he came to the US. Also as some Rockets fans overseas have stated, the best players don't always get the minutes and oftentimes coaches are trying to distribute minutes. Nickoloz Tskitishvili (damn, didn't even look up the spelling) is another example of someone who has no stats to speak of yet may be a lottery pick in a couple of weeks.
Tskitishvilli doesn't play because Nachbar is a vet who is in front of him. Vets don't lose their jobs to newbies, not even if they are better.
Drafting Welsch at #15 would allow the Rockets to have the flexibility of trading Moochie or K.T. to reel in a veteran SF. However, if we draft and keep Ming, then we might seriously consider signing Wang Zhi Zhi as a SF. From a cultural adjustment standpoint, Ming would not feel quite so lonely in a brave new world. Also, Wang has a good shot from the outside and he is tall enough to guard the tall SFs. We could put Welsch or Oscar Torres on the smaller, quicker SFs. Our backup backcourt would be comprised of 6-6 players in Welsch and Torres, so we would have a height advantage in most cases. The backup forwards would be 6-9 or taller, and the backup centers are 6-11+ and 260+, which at least are passable for a center.
The following front court players may be available: Bostjan Nachbar 6-9 220 SF (Slovenia) 1980 Chris Jefferies 6-8 220 SF Fresno St. Jr. Maybyner "Nene" Hilario 6-10 230 PF (Brazil) 1982 Marcus Haislip 6-10 230 PF Tennessee Jr. Melvin Ely 6-10 256 PF Fresno St. Sr. Amare Stoudemire 6-10 240 PF HSSr. Jason Jennings 7-0 250 C Arkansas St. Sr. Trading the 15th pick is an option, if the Rocks do not see a front court player they like on the day of the draft. The 15th pick usually lands a team a solid starter. If the Rocks draft a guard, that player will be a bench player since Francis and Mobley appear to be Rudy's starting guards for the next 4/5 years. That player also would leave the Rockets via FA asap to get starter minutes. The only exception I see is if a 2/3 like Woods falls to the 15th pick. The 3 minutes would offset the lack of 2 minutes.
Welsch could have a future at the 3. He obviously couldn't play there now but if he beefs up then 6-6 is enough to play as a SF. Does anyone doubt that he has the skills that we want out of a SF with our current team? He can handle the ball to take some of the load off Steve, he can spot shoot, he doesn't need tons of shots and he's a very good defensive player. If he were 6'8" would he be a guy that everyone wanted? Probably so, but I don't think having a tall SF is all that important. At least not when we have Ming and EG to help out down low. We really need someone who is a good defender on perimeter players but isn't an offensive liability. IMO Welsch and Jefferies are the closest things to that player. We'll see what Jefferies can do in Chicago, but I think he could be the answer.
I would only take 2 of the players you have listed before Welsch. Stoudemire because of is potential and Hilario, but I don't think either one of them will be available at 15. Who ever we draft at 15 will be a bench player whether he's a big man or a guard. If we had a better option than Mooch, Cat and Francis wouldn't have to play so many minutes. This would allow them to be fresh at he end of games. Not to mention the wear and tear you put on your body when you play that many minutes over an 82 game season.
I take Jiri Welsch over Nachbar. Welsch has as much range as Nachbar, maybe better. There are questions about Nachbar's 3 point range. Welsch is a better ball handler and passer. But most importantly Welsch has great court vision AND he plays DEFENSE. Nachbar at 6'8 is only 2 inches taller than Welsch. Welsch could play 3 positions while Nachbar may be able to play 2. Nachbar is ANOTHER defensive liability, 'nuff said. The only SFs better than Welsch are Caron Butler and Tskitishvilli, and both wll be long gone by the 15th. The only player I would take ahead of Welsch, of those that might be available, would be Nene Hilario. Only because the Rockets desperately need the front court players to backstop the atrocious D of the back court. Plus Nene is all out hustle and intimidation.
