Jiri Welsch Article

[Karma]

The National Basketball Association’s conference finals in North America are in full swing, but Jiří Welsch, the only Czech playing in the professional league, is already home for the summer.

After wrapping up his third NBA season, Welsch was eager to escape from under the hoops, or rather, from the Cleveland Cavaliers’ bench. “I needed a break, mainly for psychological reasons. I needed to forget about basketball for a while,” Welsch told Czech Business Weekly.

After his inaugural NBA season two years ago, in which he played for the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks, Welsch was traded to the Boston Celtics last year and quickly became the first Czech to become a regular member of an NBA starting lineup. Welsch got off to another good start in Boston this season, but was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in February.

Welsch left for Cleveland with big expectations. The up-and-coning Cavaliers, led by second-year sensation LeBron James, are expected to grow into an NBA championship contender in the short term and Welsch was hoping to play a key role in the team’s emergence as an Eastern Conference threat. “I had big expectations, I believed I was going to the team that wanted me and that I would be playing [regularly] there,” Welsch said.

The move to Cleveland, however, brought disappointment instead. Despite playing well in Boston prior to the move, the Czech swing man — a shooting guard who can also play forward - found little opportunity to play regularly with the Cavaliers and was quickly relegated to the bench.

“I got a bad start in Cleveland. I picked up an injury in my first game with the Cavaliers and was out for the following three games. I lost some of my form and I soon ended up on the bench where I remained until the end of the season,” Welsch said.

Welsch said he was disappointed that new Cavaliers head coach Brendan Malone, who replaced the fired Paul Silas at the end of March, did not have faith in him. “I didn’t get a real opportunity to earn a spot in the [starting] lineup. I was merely jumping off the bench in late stages of games that were all but lost,” Welsch said.

Welsch’s hunger to play basketball could become a key advantage for the Czech national team in the upcoming men’s European Championship qualifiers in August and September, however.

Despite declining an invitation to play for the national team last year, choosing to focus instead on pre-season NBA training, Welsch agreed to join head coach Michal Ježdík’s team this time around.

Unlike Houston Rockets center and Chinese All-Star Yao Ming, who was ordered by the Chinese Basketball Federation to join China’s national team for the Asian Championship in September, Welsch was keen to accept Ježdík’s invitation. “I would not be able to reject the national team twice in a row,” Welsch said.

Welsch’s return coincides with another big addition for the Czech team. He will team up with U.S.-born Maurice Whitfield, the point guard for Czech league champions Nymburk. Whitfield gained Czech citizenship in February in addition to his U.S. citizenship and will make his national-team debut in the qualifiers, when the Czechs will challenge Poland and Estonia in a round-robin format. The points leader will advance to another qualifying round, the penultimate step to the European Championship tournament in September.

Welsch said he hopes that the addition of Whitfield could help further popularize basketball in the Czech Republic.

Also on the team will be Jiří Zídek, the first Czech ever to play in the NBA. Zídek played with the Charlotte Hornets, Denver Nuggets, and Seattle Supersonics between 1995 and 1998 and now plays alongside Whitfield for Nymburk.

In yet another effort to help make the game more popular in this country, Welsch plans to once again organize a summer training camp for talented young players. At the same time, the Czech will spend the summer here getting himself into top shape for the NBA.

“I’ve already proved that I can play well, against anyone,” Welsch said. “All that matters is being at the right spot at the right time, and to be ready. I know that I’ll be ready and that I’ll get another chance to prove my skills.”

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[West Remy]

That is a decent article but I fear it makes Cleveland look like they never gave Jiri a chance and were wrong in doing so. Coming down the stretch, Cleveland needed to win games and didn't have a lot of time to give him. Plus Jiri was in Boston's doghouse before coming to Cleveland, so his confidence and game was already shot. I hope Jiri does better next season but I have the feeling out of Sasha, Luke and Jiri, that Jiri was the weakest link.

 

[imahustla]

Between Jiri and Sasha, I'd rather have Sasha because he is much younger and did well when he started at the 2 for a bit last year. He needs to get better in hitting wide open 3's instead of choking on them, that's where he can make his bread and butter. Luke is clearly the best of all three I think, but we'll see.

If we get Mike Redd or Joe Johnson, one of these guys is expendable, the other backs up Redd at the 2, and the third backs up both the 2 and the 3. I want to keep Sasha badly though, he is that Jon Barry-type player that provides a spark off the bench with momentum-swinging 3-pointers.

 

[Karma]

Remember too we have Ira Newble. So if we sign a 2 guard, we have Jiri, Ira, Sasha and Luke all playing behind 2 guys who'll play around 40mpg. In relaity two player are expendible in that situtation. Trades will be in the works this summer.

 

[PIP]

i never want to see the name jiri in a title ever again.

whenever something goes wrong ? just blame jiri..... doesn't matter what it is.

doesn't matter if it's on the court..(lbj with a bad game) ? jiri's fault..

snow shoots another air ball ? jiri's fault..

somebody gets hurt ? jiri's fault.
___________________________________________________________
OR OFF THE COURT

no hot water for your morning shower ? (DAMNIT JIRI)

somebody got your order wrong at lunch ? (jiri's fault)

flat tire ? (THANK JIRI)

i can't stand him with a passion.......................................

 

[NarlCavs]

Jiri could be a solid backup role player in the right situation. He does have a versatile game and was a very productive player for Boston in 2003-04.
The Cavs didn't help him at all when they missold him after acquiring him last season. They made him out to be some great shooter who would solve all the Cavs perimeter and 3 point shooting problems. He can hit an occasional 3 but isn't some drop dead 3 point bomber.

The Cavs do have to sort out the players who they currently have at SF and SG. Somebody will be traded. I'd have to say Sasha will be it since he has the most value and they can probably afford to give him up. I just hope they get good value in return since I think he has nice talent and can be a good NBA player. With the talk of trading into the draft, Sasha could be the one to get a pick. Jiri would be the next one who would be most likely to get traded although I don't know how much value he has at this time.

 

[Glen Infante]

I think I am the only one that will ever stick up for this guy.

Once Jiri gets comfortable he will display his abilities.

When Jiri came to Cleveland, he was hyped up. Hyped up as a 3pt specialist, and he isn't. Jiri is a good mid range shooter, and he can draw contact and get to the line whenever he wants.

He had so much pressure riding on his back after the trade, and with a little help of bad luck and a coach('s) who didn't trust him his game evaporated.

Jiri was a stud in Boston. He is a potential double digit scorer on any given night with starter minutes. He definatly has more offensive skills than Ira Newble, and Jiri also tries on defense unlike others.

Let's not forget to mention that Jiri can play 3 positions, and there isn't many players out there that can do that. His knack for drawing contact makes him acceptional to play the wing positions and his ball handling skills gives him some oportunity to run some pg.

I have found it weird that Jiri continued to rot on the bench even after being apart of the dramatic comeback in NO. Whenever Jiri steps into the court during a blowout, the Cavs magically find a way to get back into the game.

How about we blame Jiri for that one?

 

[Karma]

With the Cavalier's looking to get into the draft to grab a point guard, there is a window of oppotunity for Jiri. The Cavs wont go into the season with just Snow and a rookie point. They will need a 3rd player if the rook isn't ready as Snow isn't cannot play anymore then 30mpg effectively. Jiri may be an option as our backup point with our rookie. This then drops one player from our swingmen rotation.

 

[PIP]

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS

 

[Karma]

LeBron's_pippen, look I am not saying that Jiri is our point guard answer, I am only stating that if we get into draft and snap up a point guard, we would still need to aquire a 3rd guard. This allows us insuranse for injury, plus insuranse if our rookie isn't quite ready. Using Jiri who does have the ability to play point saves us spending some of our precious cap space on an insurance player, whilst also dropping one player off our swingmen list which is too long.

 

[PIP]

i agree we need a third guard-- but jiri did nothing but fu<k up in his limited minutes.. i can only imagine with more time how much worse it would have gotten..

airball, over the basket, off the glass, --- you name it , he shot it- the ball did nothing but go in the basket.. (THE SHOOTERS TOUCH) my ass

his defense was overrated, and he had a ton of offensive fouls in his minutes- hell all he did was foul...

the only thing i will give him credit for is handling the ball.. he can handle the rock..

but i don't care what anybody says !!!!!! giving him more minutes- is not the recipe for success... i'm getting heart burn just thinking about it

 

[Karma]

I'd still rather utilise Jiri if he hasn't been traded, in a backup role at point, then spend an extra 2 or so million on a stop gap player when we have other areas of need. Jiri gives us a fundamentally sound player. He can do a little bit of everything, whilst not being overly strong in any catergory. I wont mind seeing him back as I'm confident, you'll see a better player.

 

[Glen Infante]

People need to give Jiri some slack. He was traded during mid-season for christs sake, right AFTER losing his starting role. The Celtics traded Jiri when his confidence was already shot.

What were you expecting from this guy really? To shoot the rock like Reggie Miller?

Take a look at his statistics and tell me that giving him more minutes equals more erratic play. Jiri was a solid starter for the Celtics.

 

[PIP]

brother your in the minority on this one..

 

[Glen Infante]

I usually am when its about Jiri Welcsh. I just have high hopes for the kid. I always have.