Fran Vázquez’s Signing Adds More Intrigue to Unicaja
By Rafael Uehara
Regal FC Barcelona and Unicaja Malaga reached an agreement on Tuesday – July, the 17th – on a trade of 19 year-old up-and-coming prospect Álex Abrines in exchange for Fran Vázquez. Unicaja then signed Vázquez to a two-year deal. The 29 year-old started his pro career in Malaga and now returns after 11 years, six of them spent in Cataluña, to replace Joel Freeland, who left to join the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, as the club’s cornerstone, at least for the next couple of years.
It’s really intriguing to see what Vázquez will do with more playing time and on a maximized role. Over the last couple of years, Vázquez had been relegated to fourth big on Barcelona’s rotation, maybe because he annoyed management by not re-signing a lucrative extension a while back and then used the possibility of joining the Orlando Magic to try leveraging a better deal or maybe because he annoyed head-coach Xavi Pascual with his lack of consistency in terms of effort.
It’s undeniable, however, Vázquez remains one of the most talented big men in all of Europe. Often when Barcelona was pushed, Pascual eventually gave in and threw Vázquez out there in important moments like the team’s run at the EuroLeague championship two years ago or its run at the Spanish league championship last season, when Vázquez started the entire series against Real Madrid and had a monster performance on the decisive game five, posting a 16-point, eight-rebound, four block stat-line.
Vázquez’s numbers also reflect his talent. In 22 EuroLeague games last season, in limited action (average of just 13.7 minutes a game), he posted averages of 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks per 36 minutes played, according to in-the-game.org. He blocked 35 shots in 34 games in the regular-season of the Spanish league and then 18 in 11 postseason games, according to ACB.com. Vázquez ranked third in the postseason in two-point shooting, scoring at a 60% rate over 55 attempts. There is no way around it, Vázquez was very productive.
But it can’t be ignored Vázquez put all those impressive numbers on a limited role. In fact, 46 of his 142 field-goals in the Spanish league last season were dunks, that’s almost a third of his scoring. Playing alongside more high profile offensive options such as Erazem Lorbek, Juan Carlos Navarro and Marcelinho Huertas, the vast majority of Vázquez’s points came on put-backs, working the baseline as escape valve option or on rare occasions, screening for Huertas on pick-and-rolls.
So we can’t be certain he will sustain that level of production while playing more minutes and drawing more coverage as Unicaja’s top scoring ace upfront. Projections are he should be able to, though. Vázquez isn’t as skilled a post presence as Lorbek, for example, but through the years, he has shown to be affective when called upon for the eventual post-up. He doesn’t have a ton of mass to back down opponents on pure strength but Vázquez is a physical freak whose combination of length and athleticism always permits him to get his shot off in the block. He is also a terrific finisher off the pick-and-roll and should develop a nice chemistry with Sergi Vidal. Not to mention his activity on the offensive glass. And he rarely turns it over, as in-the-game.org points.
Defensively, besides great lane protection through his shot-blocking, Vázquez brings great pick-and-roll coverage as because of his athleticism, he is able to hedge way outsde and recover in time or even switch to check guards and wingmen in the perimeter without giving up too much. It will be important that Fran brings in the effort game in, game out, though as Unicaja won’t have the luxury of sitting him out when he doesn’t fell like going strong that particular game like Barça did and also because the team is counting on him to turn their fortunes around defensively. Unicaja allowed the sixth most points in the Spanish league and posted the eighth worst defensive rating in the EuroLeague last season.
Besides Vázquez, the aforementioned Vidal has been Unicaja’s other high profile acquisition this summer. The guard led Lagun Aro GBC to a postseason appearance last year, leading the Spanish league in minutes, ranked third in three-point shooting and in steals, eighth in ranking and scored the 10th most points in the league from the foul line. Unicaja hasn’t had elite talent running the point in a few years and they hope Vidal, named a first-team all-Spanish league last season, is a solution for the problem.
Unicaja still has a couple of gaps to fill, especially in the wing where Captain Berni Rodrguez has parted ways with the team and Gerald Fitch’s status remains unclear. But slowly, this is shaping up to be an intriguing team for the upcoming season. Luka Zoric, who led the team in scoring and rebounding in the EuroLeague last season, returns and alongside Vázquez and either Augusto Cesar Lima or Ognjen Kuzmic, whichever prospect emerges for the third big role, should be part of a very entertaining frontcourt.
Editor's Note: Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara or reached via e-mail at rafael_uehara@live.com
Regal FC Barcelona and Unicaja Malaga reached an agreement on Tuesday – July, the 17th – on a trade of 19 year-old up-and-coming prospect Álex Abrines in exchange for Fran Vázquez. Unicaja then signed Vázquez to a two-year deal. The 29 year-old started his pro career in Malaga and now returns after 11 years, six of them spent in Cataluña, to replace Joel Freeland, who left to join the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, as the club’s cornerstone, at least for the next couple of years.
It’s really intriguing to see what Vázquez will do with more playing time and on a maximized role. Over the last couple of years, Vázquez had been relegated to fourth big on Barcelona’s rotation, maybe because he annoyed management by not re-signing a lucrative extension a while back and then used the possibility of joining the Orlando Magic to try leveraging a better deal or maybe because he annoyed head-coach Xavi Pascual with his lack of consistency in terms of effort.
It’s undeniable, however, Vázquez remains one of the most talented big men in all of Europe. Often when Barcelona was pushed, Pascual eventually gave in and threw Vázquez out there in important moments like the team’s run at the EuroLeague championship two years ago or its run at the Spanish league championship last season, when Vázquez started the entire series against Real Madrid and had a monster performance on the decisive game five, posting a 16-point, eight-rebound, four block stat-line.
Vázquez’s numbers also reflect his talent. In 22 EuroLeague games last season, in limited action (average of just 13.7 minutes a game), he posted averages of 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks per 36 minutes played, according to in-the-game.org. He blocked 35 shots in 34 games in the regular-season of the Spanish league and then 18 in 11 postseason games, according to ACB.com. Vázquez ranked third in the postseason in two-point shooting, scoring at a 60% rate over 55 attempts. There is no way around it, Vázquez was very productive.
But it can’t be ignored Vázquez put all those impressive numbers on a limited role. In fact, 46 of his 142 field-goals in the Spanish league last season were dunks, that’s almost a third of his scoring. Playing alongside more high profile offensive options such as Erazem Lorbek, Juan Carlos Navarro and Marcelinho Huertas, the vast majority of Vázquez’s points came on put-backs, working the baseline as escape valve option or on rare occasions, screening for Huertas on pick-and-rolls.
So we can’t be certain he will sustain that level of production while playing more minutes and drawing more coverage as Unicaja’s top scoring ace upfront. Projections are he should be able to, though. Vázquez isn’t as skilled a post presence as Lorbek, for example, but through the years, he has shown to be affective when called upon for the eventual post-up. He doesn’t have a ton of mass to back down opponents on pure strength but Vázquez is a physical freak whose combination of length and athleticism always permits him to get his shot off in the block. He is also a terrific finisher off the pick-and-roll and should develop a nice chemistry with Sergi Vidal. Not to mention his activity on the offensive glass. And he rarely turns it over, as in-the-game.org points.
Defensively, besides great lane protection through his shot-blocking, Vázquez brings great pick-and-roll coverage as because of his athleticism, he is able to hedge way outsde and recover in time or even switch to check guards and wingmen in the perimeter without giving up too much. It will be important that Fran brings in the effort game in, game out, though as Unicaja won’t have the luxury of sitting him out when he doesn’t fell like going strong that particular game like Barça did and also because the team is counting on him to turn their fortunes around defensively. Unicaja allowed the sixth most points in the Spanish league and posted the eighth worst defensive rating in the EuroLeague last season.
Besides Vázquez, the aforementioned Vidal has been Unicaja’s other high profile acquisition this summer. The guard led Lagun Aro GBC to a postseason appearance last year, leading the Spanish league in minutes, ranked third in three-point shooting and in steals, eighth in ranking and scored the 10th most points in the league from the foul line. Unicaja hasn’t had elite talent running the point in a few years and they hope Vidal, named a first-team all-Spanish league last season, is a solution for the problem.
Unicaja still has a couple of gaps to fill, especially in the wing where Captain Berni Rodrguez has parted ways with the team and Gerald Fitch’s status remains unclear. But slowly, this is shaping up to be an intriguing team for the upcoming season. Luka Zoric, who led the team in scoring and rebounding in the EuroLeague last season, returns and alongside Vázquez and either Augusto Cesar Lima or Ognjen Kuzmic, whichever prospect emerges for the third big role, should be part of a very entertaining frontcourt.
Editor's Note: Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara or reached via e-mail at rafael_uehara@live.com
Posted by Rafael Uehara at Wednesday, July 18, 2012 4:29:07 PM 
Categories: Euroleague, Spanish league
Tags: Rafael Uehara
Categories: Euroleague, Spanish league
Tags: Rafael Uehara
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