The John Wall era hasn’t begun as many had hoped. The first pick in the 2010 draft is not playing as well as he did last year and that wasn’t all that great. He has flashes of greatness, of course. For example, against the Boston Celtics, Wall put up 19 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, one steal, one block and just one turnover. The Wizards lost, of course.
At Kentucky, Wall was always in a hurry and tended to force the action. He hasn’t changed much with the Wizards. He is still in a hurry, forces things, and tends to not see the floor well.
Lack of shooters
Wall doesn’t appear to be a selfish player. His job is to find the open man and he tries to do that. He’s clearly a team-first player who wants to win games. Last season, Wall had some decent (but not great) shooters around him like Kirk Hinrich, Gilbert Arenas, Cartier Martin, Maurice Evans, Rahard Lewis, and even Yi Jianlian. The team shot 44.3% from the field and 33.2% from behind the arc.
This year is another story. Wall has nobody to drive and kick to. The Wizards are not shooting quite as well as they did last season. They are hitting only 39.7% from the field and 28.9% from three point land as a team. It would be helpful if their shooters could start knocking down some shots. This mostly applies to Jordan Crawford and Rashard Lewis. Both of them are off to poor starts and need to start knocking down some shots. If they can’t get it together, they should find someone that can. Crawford is a candidate for the D-League.
Wall tries to do too much
Given the abysmal shooting that the Wizards display night after night, it makes sense that Wall tries to do too much at times. His trust in his teammates probably suffers as a result. It also doesn’t help that the team bickers with each other and the staff. Sometimes, it is hard to figure out the game plan.
He should be fine, though. Plenty of point guards (Gary Payton and Chauncey Billups for example) take three or four years to blossom. Wall knows his role is to hit the open man. He won’t be the most efficient or even the highest scorer. He would probably average ten assists on many other teams. Give him time and he’ll do the same with the Wizards.
Having grown up in Kentucky, I am a lifelong Kentucky Wildcat fan and follow the Wildcat players into the NBA. You can follow me on Twitter here. Still want more? Go to my blog.
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