Xavier Rey

It’s hard to understand why this excellent U-20 player received so little playing time for Spain. It’s not like everyday you have an extremely reliable post presence that takes good decisions in the offensive end and intimidates on defense. He showed his very nice passing out of the post, some low post skills to put the ball on the net, his mid-range jumper and his remarkable defense. He was also extremely solid in the low post, showing good positioning, being very team oriented, and having quite an intimidating presence with his shot-blocking ability. Anyway, Rey’s potential keeps bumping into the fact that he’s a 6-9 center (6-10 at best) with decent, but not great athleticism.

Rey’s consistency under the rim was one of the biggest reasons Spain reached the semifinals. He definitively looked better than he did in L’Hospitalet earlier this year, but still faces a big problem NBA-wise: he plays totally like a center and doesn’t feature the combination of size and athleticism to look intriguing enough at that position.

Anyway, his defensive effort in the Championship was remarkable, becoming the virtual bodyguard of Antelo, and a real intimidator in the paint (second in blocks in the tournament). He delivered his best production against Serbia and Montenegro in the quarterfinal round, getting no less than nine rejections in the first half of the game. He’s quite mobile, showing a nice vertical leap, and enjoys really good timing, but still goes for the block too much, which gets him into foul trouble in some games, although his defense didn’t suffer because of it. He was also dominant going for the rebound, imposing his strength and frame, while using again his timing.

Offensively, I think he was severly misused. Blame it on the coach, blame it on certain teammates who were too in love with their scoring options, blame him for not asking for the ball insistently enough, but the feeling was that he could have been a much important producer for Spain, and quite effective by the way. Rey features the skills to easily become an offensive reference in this category, starting with his nice post-up game, where he shows some footwork and accurate footspeed. He can also hit the mid-ranger with some consistency, even with a slight fade-away movement. Putting the ball on the floor to attack his rival is another option, as he’s quicker than most of his center rivals, although he’s not too prolific here. But he wouldn’t be so valuable with the ball in his hands if he weren’t a good passer, particularly facing the basket.

Not a bad profile at all for a paint player. And even if his NBA potential is very limited, he has the tools to eventually become a pretty good player in Europe.

One of the very few true paint players seen in L'Hospitalet, Xavier Rey used his 6-9 (almost 6-10) well-built body to dominate in the paint. He's a pretty athletic kid, with a nice vertical and good mobility. Indeed he has the physical tools to play power forward. And that should be his goal at this developing stage, because his future is very limited as a center, given his size and the fact that his athleticism isn't top-notch.

So considering what could be seen in L'Hospitalet, and despite his stats, I can't feel anything but disappointment. He barely showed any special skill that made me think he's evolving in the right way. The majority of his points came right under the basket and against much smaller players. There, he shows a very good reactivity; he recieves the ball and dunks in a blink of the eye.

He also tried some mid-rangers, looking quite comfortable, and put the ball on the floor a few times to go for a penetration with mixed results, as he's not particulary quick while dribbling. He's pretty good in transition, running the floor like a forward. And he looked solid on defense.

Not enough, anyway, to feel too excited about him. But he has some very good conditions to play this game at a high level. A player to keep on the radar.