Profile Of Jiri

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

In Fenton's Pro Basketball column, he says Ainge 
has the right idea with the Celtics, but the wrong players.
Team needs a rebounder and a legitimate point guard to run a
fast-breaking system, and it will take a few years to tell if
Banks can be that type of PG...

The long road leads to Boston
By Jim Fenton, Brockton Enterprise staff writer 
The priority list of sports in the Czech Republic is clearly defined.
"Soccer and ice hockey are at the top,'' said Jiri Welsch, who grew 
up in a small town east of Prague, "and then there's a big gap before
 everything else, like basketball and volleyball.''
Imagine the odds of someone in that setting going from a nation in which 
basketball takes a back seat all the way up to the greatest league in the world.
Only two natives of the Czech Republic have accomplished the feat, and the 24-year-old Welsch is one of them, jumping to the NBA after spending five professional seasons in Europe.
The Boston Celtics' small forward, who has been one of the rare pleasant surprises in a difficult 2003-04 season with his versatility and toughness, took the long route out of his native land to the NBA.
Now, Welsch is a big part of the Celtics' plans as executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge sees him developing into an important part of the rotation for years to come.
Thanks to his father, Pavel, Welsch discovered the game at the age of nine and quickly became hooked.
While others around him explored soccer and hockey like most do in his country, Welsch stayed with basketball and kept moving up the ladder to the point where he was playing as a pro at the age of 17.
He improved so much that NBA scouts took notice, and Welsch was a first-round draft pick in 2002, joining George Zidek (who played for Charlotte, Denver, Seattle) as the only Czech Republic citizens to make it to the NBA.
"Basketball is not big there,'' said Welsch. "It has a good history, but right now, the situation in my country is not very good in basketball.''
Welsch can thank his father for directing him towards basketball  a sport he knew nothing about  and guiding him along the way.
Without his father getting a bunch of youngsters together to experiment with basketball in their hometown, Welsch might have gone in a different direction with his athletic career.
"It was a coincidence how I started,'' said Welsch, who joined the Celtics from the Dallas Mavericks last October in the Antoine Walker trade. "I come from a very small town (Holice) and there had never been basketball there before. My father was a basketball fan who played for fun with friends.
"He decided to run a basketball club. That's how it all got started. He coached a bunch of kids that were around. It was at a local club, like a boys club. Whoever wanted to come in and learn and try to play basketball, they could.
"There were about 15 kids who would come to play and practice on a regular basis. We'd play a few times a week. It's how I got started. I didn't know anything about basketball. But once I started, I felt I liked playing with the ball and liked being on the court and learning new things with the basketball.''
Unlike the traditional youngster in the Czech Republic, Welsch stuck with basketball and moved to bigger cities in his country in order to compete against better players.
It wasn't until he reached the age of 13 when Welsch became acquainted with the NBA and watched his first games on television, the 1993 NBA Finals when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Phoenix Suns.
Welsch, who was born in Pardubice, dreamed that one day he would be able to move to America and be part of the NBA, though it sounded so far-fetched at the time.
"I kept learning more and more about the NBA and I wanted to go there,'' said Welsch, who has started 40 of the Celtics' 51 games this season. "I kept rising in the levels I was playing. I went from my hometown team to the other teams where they play in a first division and have a big basketball tradition. I got noticed there.
"I started playing professionally when I was only 17. I started to play in even better teams and made the national team and got noticed in Europe. That's how I got noticed (by the NBA), and I kept making steps forward.''
As a pro in Europe, Welsch averaged 14.6 points for Pardubice in the Czech Republic in 1997-98, then scored 11.8 points the next year for Sparta Praha in the Mattoni National Basketball League. In his final season in his native country, Welsch scored 19.1 points for Sparta Praha in 1999-2000 and emerged as one of the league's top players.
Welsch moved to Slovenia and played for Olimpija Ljubljana in the Adriatic Goodyear League in 2000-01, averaging 10.6 points off the bench, then scored 15.5 points on 65 percent shooting in 2001-02.
The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Welsch in the summer of 2002, taking him 16th overall, before trading him to the Golden State Warriors for two future picks.
After taking the long road, Welsch had made it to the NBA and he was overwhelmed.
"I was there in New York on draft night,'' said Welsch. "I tried to stay close to the ground and not to get too much hope up because the NBA Draft is so unpredictable. People kept saying I'd be in the first round. Whatever happens, happens.
"I got picked 16th and it was amazing. It was a great experience to be there and hear my name called and to shake hands with David Stern. It was incredible.''
Welsch spent a disappointing rookie season with the Warriors a year ago, playing only 234 minutes in 37 games and scoring 61 points.
For someone who was the main focus of things back home, it took a lot of adjusting for Welsch.
"For me, it was tough from the mental standpoint,'' said Welsch. "This was the first year in my career of sitting at the end of the bench night after night and watching the game and not really getting a chance to play except in the garbage time when the game was over.
"It was very hard, but the most important thing was to be patient and keep believing that better days are coming.''
Welsch wasn't sure what was coming when he was traded to the Mavericks as part of the Antawn Jamison-Nick Van Exel deal last Aug. 18.
Dallas has a roster stocked with talent, and Welsch was thinking he might be buried on another Western Conference bench.
Then, on Oct. 20, Welsch was on the move again, sent to the Celtics with Raef LaFrentz and Chris Mills for Walker and Tony Delk.
It proved to be the break Welsch needed in his career. Former Celtics coach Jim O'Brien quickly found out that Welsch is a strong defender and an unselfish offensive player, and he went into the starting lineup before the first month ended.
Welsch, who is averaging 9.1 points and is one of the NBA's best 3-point shooters at 44 percent, has made a favorable impression with everyone associated with the Celtics. Welsch has court awareness and can always been counted on to make hustle plays.
"I think Jiri's a wonderful player,'' said interim head coach John Carroll. "I'm real glad Danny got him because he really knows how to play the game. He sees things that others, not only on our team, but other teams don't see.
"You can tell he's a guy who has played basketball since he's been young and he learned basketball the right way. He's kind of a throwback in my mind. I'm just looking forward to working with him the rest of the season because I think he's got a big upside.''
Ainge initially saw Welsch when he worked out for the Phoenix Suns, the team Ainge used to coach. Right away, Ainge saw a player who could do a little bit of everything and kept a mental note for future reference.
When he got the job with the Celtics and made the Walker trade, Ainge insisted that Welsch be part of the package.
"I'm excited about what he can become,'' said Ainge. "I'm not surprised what he's doing. He's had some fantastic games, he's played very well and he's had some not-so-good games. But he's shown how tough he is. He plays hard night in and night out. He plays defense. He's competitive every single night.
"He's going to get better. He's just a kid who has a belief in himself. He wants it very badly. From what I understand, he's the hardest worker on this team as far as being in the weight room, getting out on his own and getting shots up. He has a huge desire.''
Back home, Jiri Welsch is getting more and more notice as his role with the Celtics expanded this season.
There have been more e-mails than a year ago, more media inquiries, and Welsch is proud to be representing his native land.
"It was a big deal when I got drafted,'' he said. "People thought I was going to come in as a rookie and play and be a star right away. The reaction was kind of mixed after my rookie season when I didn't play much. But this year, I'm playing a lot and playing well and people and media are definitely noticing. There's a lot of attention, I think, about our games in my country.''
His father, Pavel, and mother, Mroslava, made one visit to California last season to watch him, and they will likely be in Boston by the end of this season.
When they come to America on this trip, they will see their son playing a prominent role for the Celtics. Pavel Welsch, the man who got it all started by giving youngsters a chance to play basketball in a small Czech Republic town, will likely be beaming.
"I don't think in his wildest dreams he would think I could make it this far,'' said Jiri Welsch. "I didn't think I could make it this far. Basketball is not such a popular sport in our country. It's just an incredibly long way to get from there to here. But it happened and I'm definitely happy.
"He's very proud. He's always been, and my whole family, they've been my biggest supporters. My father was always giving me advice, supporting me.''