January 19, 2010
A weekly feature in which we spotlight a player from the West Michigan area, comparing him to his NBA or major NCAA counterpart based on his playing style, talent (relative, of course), appearance or anything else that warrants a comparison.
Noah Veach takes it to the rack | Louis Murray, Murray Sports Photography
Noah Veach (Grand Haven) — Gerald Wallace
- Spirit animal — A.P.B.T.
When taken in the context of his environment — amidst a plethora of players who view basketball as a game characterized by fancy dribbling, and within a game that has evolved away from old staples like the hand-check toward the things that Anderson Varejao does — the mere existence of a player like Gerald Wallace is somewhat confounding. A player that thrives on contact, leverage and strength while spending the majority of his time facing the basket is about as at home in the NBA as Gilbert Arenas is going through airport security.
The high school game has been similarly regulated away from physical contact, which makes Wallace’s counterpart, Grand Haven forward Noah Veach, seem just as foreign.
Still, in what continues to progressively become a finesse game –particularly when played on the perimeter — it’s an undeniable thrill to see a guy like Veach rip the ball out of another player’s possession, or drive to the hole in an entirely un-finesse-like fashion, with no regard whatsoever for who might be in the way.
In simplified terms, Veach is a beast. He is as comfortable banging with much bigger players in the post as he is on the perimeter, but in bringing the physicality of a post player to the outside, Veach introduces a unique dimension to the makeup of a successful perimeter player. Similarly to Wallace, Veach is effective on the speed-dominated perimeter by virtue of being stronger and more aggressive than his opponents. And in a surprising paradox, even frequently giving up multiple inches in height Veach is effective in the size- and strength-dominated post by virtue of being stronger and more aggressive than his opponents. Veach is the basketball personification of the old “fight in the dog” adage.
In terms of measurable offensive skills, Veach is good, but nothing out of the ordinary. His jumper is decent, but not great. His ball-handling is adequate (even as a forward, he is known to advance the ball up the court under duress for the Bucs). His court vision is pretty normal, too. Stick him in NBA2k10 and he’d be a player you’d like on your team, but like Wallace, there’s no one characteristic that particularly stands out. Veach is essentially an average-to-above player as determined by his individual skills, but if you consider a basketball player as only the sum of his individual parts you’re missing the big picture, especially in cases like Veach.
Because if you take that decent jumper, handle and vision, add in hundreds of hours in the gym and infuse it all with an aggressiveness that typically only appears in linebackers and enforcers, you’ve got a player who is capable of excelling in virtually any role, and against any opponent. That’s when you’ve got something.
And as for defense… Suffice it to say that there’s a reason Grand Haven has held their opponents to single-digit scoring in 14/32 quarters this season.
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