Agler Scouts Vesela
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Kevin Pelton, stormbasketball.com | March 3, 2003
While
Jana Veselá will officially be a rookie when she joins the Seattle Storm for training camp next month after being added to the team's camp roster on Wednesday, Veselá is certainly no stranger to the sport at its highest levels. The 26-year-old forward from the Czech Republic is a veteran of two Olympic Games with her national team and has competed in Euroleague against and alongside WNBA stars for years.
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"She has a wealth of international experience," said Storm Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel Brian Agler, who saw Veselá play during his trips to Europe last offseason. "She's played against the best WNBA players because she's on such a good Euroleague team there in Valencia. She plays alongside DeLisha Milton-Jones, Erika de Souza, Belinda Snell, Becky Hammon. She's on a real good team. I've seen her play against Spartak and some of the best teams in Euroleague."
With those kinds of teammates, Veselá does not put up big numbers in the box score, but her ability to fill in where needed has proven successful. She's averaged 5.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in Euroleague play, seeing 23.4 minutes a night on a deep roster. Veselá has split time with Snell and Anna Montañana, both WNBA veterans.
"I think she can come in and play a significant role for us," Agler said. "I'm very impressed with her versatility. She can play probably 3, 4 and 5. She has good court awareness. Good defender, good rebounder. Has three-point range. I like how she competes. She handles the ball in the open floor, sees the floor. She's just a very team-oriented individual and I really like the way she plays the game of basketball."
In particular, Veselá's ability to play facing the basket and handle the basketball - classic for a European post - brings a new dimension to a Storm frontcourt that largely features interior players aside from 
Lauren Jackson.
2010 figures to be a big year for Veselá. Her Ros Casares team has qualified for next month's prestigious Euroleague Final Four, and in September the Czech Republic will host the FIBA World Championship for Women.
"She's playing in it," said Agler, "but she got the OK from the Czech Basketball Federation to come over and play this year, so she'll be here for the full season."
