After another ridiculously efficient performance in the Basketball Champions League (BCL) from Gavin Ware, Emmet Ryan explains why the big man may be the most self-aware player in Europe right now
Gavin Ware had the best performance you didn’t see this past week. In exactly 20 minutes on the floor he had 24 points on 11 of 13 shooting as well as 7 rebounds. This performance isn’t an outlier nor is it one of a rim hog. While 3 of his 11 made shots were dunks, the rest all came from mid-range or longer. Arguably only 1 of those 8 makes was contested and that’s exactly what Ware wants and gets.
The 29 year old hasn’t exactly been a name that’s spoken of loudly in European circles. After a good career with the Mississippi State Bulldogs in college, the JDA Dijon man has enjoyed stints in Belgium, France, Japan, and Germany, but rarely with a contender. Now, at 29, he’s proving not only to be a key piece for Dijon but proving that he has the type of game that will age well in Europe.
The window
Time is the enemy of all athletes but it’s more visibly obvious for pro ballers from the US that make the jump over to Europe. Typically, they’re 22 or 23 when they make the move and will rarely go to a team that pays particularly good wages their first season. They’ve got to adapt to another culture, an unfamiliar city, almost invariably a new language, as well as a very different approach to basketball. It’s a whopping culture shock that can eat up players or make them (see Hines, Kyle on how to make the most of adapting).
The peak years athletically for most sports people are their mid 20s, which means that US baller making the jump really needs to get going early to have their peak explosiveness as an asset when seeking their second contract on this continent. The playing peak tends to be ages 27 to 29, where a player is still close to their absolute top athletically while nearing the peak of their IQ powers.
After 29, while very young in human years, it’s all about ensuring as many years of value are created as possible. The best way to make those years is to put the work into your game before that inch here and there of physical powers begins to fade, to have made the adjustments in the way you play to retain value as you age. It’s the difference between still playing at a level like the BCL and LNB Pro A as Ware does now at ages 32 through 35 as it is seeing a dropoff to a lower quality, and lower paying, level in those final years.
Fundamentally, it’s about making 10 years of relevant pro ball to your post-playing life into 13 or more of those years. This season, Gavin Ware has shown he already has made those adjustments and is proving his value for the long-term.
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The efficiency king
The BCL obviously runs from a smaller sample size than something like Euroleague but, through 9 appearances this season, Ware is averaging 14.8 points and 5.2 rebounds on just shy of 21 minutes of play per game. Crucially, his field goal percentage is a ludicrous 75.6 per cent and he’s shooting 81.8 per cent from the free throw stripe. He also hasn’t attempted a single three ball which oddly has played into his outside game. Ware’s athleticism at the rim has repeatedly made defenders underrate his ability to shoot from mid range to close to the free throw line. In simple terms, he’s rather good at those shots.
Ware’s stats would be even more eye-popping if his two down performances against Unicaja Malaga were removed from the equation, where he 2 of 6 across 29 total minutes in those two games. That shows a potential ceiling to where and how he can contribute. Malaga are riding high in Spain’s Liga ACB right now and would have been amongst the favourites for Eurocup had they entered that instead of the BCL, but those two so-so days aren’t enough to get me in any way down on Ware.
In LNB his displays have still been wonderfully efficient, scoring 11.3 ppg on 64.8 per cent shooting in just over 18 minutes per night. The French league naturally has more eyes on it this year due to Victor Wembanyama, but it’s a good level in Europe and Ware’s Dijon side is performing well so far including being ahead of Euroleague side Asvel in the standings.
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Knowing his role
I was fortunate enough to be on commentary duty on Wednesday for Ware’s performance and his was not the name I expected to be saying quite so much going into it. The big man to watch was Zach Hankins of Hapoel Jerusalem, while Markis McDuffie and David Holston seemed to be the must watch ballers for Dijon. Now, to Holston’s credit, he absolutely balled out in that game but Ware was a much quieter marvel than the all-action point guard.
Ware top the index rating for the BCL for the week despite coming off the bench and, more importantly, he knew exactly what his role was everytime he got up. Tandeming with Jacques Alingue, his role was essentially to give a different look to the finesse then physical type by essentially flipping the attributes.
Gavin Ware has been extraordinarily efficient for JDA Dijon this season.
Ware imposed his authority with his size but it was his brain that exerted it, making him a ball-handler’s dream to work with. Without fail, irrespective of the circumstance of the pass, Ware knew the best place to be to have an open look from mid-range and he was in that spot every time. That’s the type of game that extends a career.
At 29 he is still showing his athletic prowess, those explosive alley-oop finishes at the rim left no doubt of that, but it was his relative lack of need of touches to be effective that stood out the most. The game Ware has can easily be maintained by a player of his size and build for another five years and he’s already got the core tools of it down.
Will that be enough for a Euroleague side to take a look at him in a 12 to 15 minute role off the bench? Right now, probably not but he will have chances to prove himself capable of that level as the season progresses. More importantly, right now he is showing that he is capable of maintain his current level for several seasons to come and that has a value of several hundred thousand euros or dollars in terms of the difference in his overall career compensation. That is nothing to sniff at in the slightest.
He’s more than good enough to be a crucial piece for a BCL title contender right now. Ware knows he has an opportunity to be that for a long time to come and he showed why in Jerusalem on Wednesday night.
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