Vitor Faverani Earns Solid Reviews

http://bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2013/10/vitor_faverani_earns_solid_reviews


Vitor Faverani earns solid reviews
Fav’s far from Melo



Photo by: Christopher Evans


BIG POTENTIAL: Vitor Faverani takes a break during practice yesterday. The Celtics are hoping the 6-foot-11 Brazilian can develop into a strong player inside.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013 PrintEmail Comments (2)
By:  Steve Bulpett, Celtics Beat


NEWPORT, R.I. — The immediate inclination is to compare Vitor Faverani to Fab Melo. Both are from Brazil and are within an inch or two height-wise, and, hey, those are some simple dots to connect even for a sportswriter.

But after a brief look at this year’s model and several conversations with Celtics types at the first day of training camp, the notion was rejected. With authority. The two are said to be miles apart at this stage.

“Vitor’s a player,” we were advised. “Fab’s a project.”

The Celts gave up on Melo after just one year. While there may have been some salary cap concerns in his trade to Memphis, they would have held onto him if they thought he could be what they hoped. Same for the Grizzlies, who released Melo. He’s now in camp with Dallas.

And while Melo reigned mainly in D-League Maine last season, Faverani could easily make his way into the Celtics rotation right away. Teams have a way of finding a place for people who shoot well and like to hit people.

The latter point was made weeks ago. Faverani left his first mark just beneath assistant coach Jamie Young’s right eyebrow during an informal workout.

“Eight stitches,” Young said yesterday, pointing to the thin line that remains. “I was playing dummy defense and he caught me with an elbow.

“Or you could say it was defense by a dummy,” he added, heading off the wisecrack rejoinder at the pass.

“Yeah,” said Young, “there was blood all over the place. Danny (Ainge) loved it.”

(Young swears his boss’ joy at the injury didn’t make him rethink his decision to remain with the Celts and turn down Doc Rivers’ offer to follow him to LA.)

Ainge will certainly be more pleased if Faverani, 25, can develop into a solid inside presence for the C’s. It was evident yesterday that the 6-foot-11 center has a nice touch from around the free throw line, and he showed some range before the doors were opened to the media.

“I thought Vitor was pretty good today,” said new coach Brad Stevens. “He’s obviously a guy with great size. I think he’s our truest center and a guy that can shoot the basketball. He made a 3, although he did it off the glass.”

Off the glass on purpose?

“He might have called it, but I couldn’t understand him if he called it,” said Stevens. “But he was good. He was good. And he did a good job defensively. (Assistant coach) Ron Adams has spent a lot of time with Vitor and really done a nice job with him.”

As for where Faverani fits on the Celtics food chain, the coach added, “I think that’ll sort itself out. I think the first step will be how he compares to the other bigs coming out of training camp. I think we’ve got a long way to go, and I say a long way to go. I know it’s a short amount of time (before next Monday’s first preseason game), but these three, four, five days of practice leading to our first exhibition game are going to be telltale.”

It’s interesting that Faverani is being discussed in relation to days, while Melo, who is two years his junior and took up the game later, is on a year-to-year series of checkpoints.

Faverani may not be a Brazilian in a million, but his more veteran teammates are taking notice.

“I think he is (an NBA player),” said forward Kris Humphries. “He has a lot of skill. It’s going to be an adjustment coming to the NBA. Things happen really fast out here, but I think he has a lot of potential. When he gets the ball low, he’s really shifty around the basket. I think he’ll be all right. Like anything, it’s just a lot of work and the right opportunity.”

Added guard Courtney Lee, “He’s a skilled big man. He can stretch the floor and can shoot the ball extremely well. I think he’ll help us. He’s a big body. The more he gets comfortable, the better he’ll do and he’ll show that he is an NBA player.”

Unable to resist a little more dot connecting, and leaving aside the question of whether the Celtics should have given Melo more time, it sounds as if Fav and Fab are rather different at this time.

“Yeah,” said Lee. “A lot different.”



bob
MY NOTE:  GO VITOR!!! Man, would this be a coup by Danny if Vitor turned out to be a solid NBA center, even a backup?



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