WASHINGTON, D.C. - Like I mentioned before, I didn't get a chance to talk much to Jan Vesely or Kawhi Leonard, since I was grilling (not really) Derrick Williams about his position and his role in the NBA for a feature for SBNation.com for tomorrow.
(Also, if you're curious, here's all my stuff from media day for SBNation.com, little of it Wizards-related).
Anyway, I did sit in on enough of Vesely's interview session to hear him sheepishly explain why he can't shoot free throws.
"It's a long story," he said in broken English. "I don't know. It was too much pressure in Partizan. I was thinking too much about everything."
I also heard Vesely briefly explain how he needs to work on his shot.
"I didn't shoot too much. I play a lot against the smallest players, so I didn't shoot too much from the outside. So I need to work on it."
I figure these comments will be greeted negatively, but keep in mind that I missed a lot of his session and probably missed a lot of the more positive stuff. Chris Miller of Comcast SportsNet spoke to Vesely more extensively, and I'm sure there's more happy stuff there once the interview airs.
I did get a chance to ask Vesely what he learned from his extra year in Europe (remember, he almost declared for the draft last season). I'm not sure he understood the question perfectly, but here's his response:
"I wanted to grow up mentally and work on my dream. This year, I was one of the main players on [my club team]. Three years ago, I was a different player."
Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard, in the brief time I sat in with his session, didn't say much he didn't say when he came to D.C. The only difference is that he said he figures he'll play "the 2 or the 3" in the NBA, which surprised me a bit.
"I'm just working on my catch-and-shoot three-point shot. Other than that, dribbling the ball out there, getting some ball screens, creating offense from out there is all natural to me," he said. I'm just working on my catch-and-shoot from three, pull-up threes, quick three-point shots. But as I've been working out, I'm feeling real comfortable with my job."
Also, Leonard said he hasn't really experienced winter before since he's always been in San Diego. It'll be funny to see him experience that if he gets drafted by the Raptors.