Official John Wall Appreciation Thread 2.0

[Nivek]

Agreed CCJ. B-R must have Dragic classified as a SG. If he was on the PG list, he'd be in that top group.

[Illmatic21]

For Wall to be officially elite, I need to see him shoot around 44% fg, 35%+ from three, and draw 6-7 FTAs a game.

That's not going to happen with this offense. We don't have the floor spacing.

I agree, which is why I'm of the opinion that Wall (and Beal) will never be efficient under Wittman's offense.

For all the talk about Wall settling for jumpers too often, he's still one of the best and most productive slashing guards in the league this season,

- Despite being the first thing opponents try to stop
- Despite our lackluster pace
- Despite our inability to space the floor
- Despite getting shafted by refs

http://bkref.com/tiny/9YcES

Shots at the basket this season, minimum 100 FGs, sorted by percentage of assisted field goals so that the PGs are at the top.

Wall's production stacks up with any other guard this year. The only one who is doing a better job converting at the rim with a comparable assisted buckets % and volume is Goran Dragic. But Phoenix plays a much faster pace and is much better at spacing the floor than we are. When you consider that, Wall's numbers look even more impressive.

Wall, Dragic, Parker, and Harden stand out as the tier of the most productive and efficient slashing guards in the league this year. Wall stands out within that subset because his team is the only one that sucks at spacing the floor. And he's also the one making the most plays for his teammates from that group.

Wall is an elite slasher and facilitator and he's a very good two way player considering the awful defenders you usually see at the PG position. There is only one other guard in the league better at doing all of those things than Wall--CP3.

Sorry, but those stats are skewed. A lot of that is from fastbreak points, of which Wall is second among guards (Harden is first)

Wall is our horse in the fastbreak, the team knows how to get him the ball and get out of his way. He deserves credit for making himself one of the best transition players in the league (although I wish he was just a little more consistent in converting layups when running full speed). But that has nothing to do with slashing in the half court.

There's an actual stat that describes what you're looking for, drives per game:

Wall ranks 40th in drives per game, at 5.8
Wall ranks 39th in ppg on drives, at 3.9 (converting at 48.6%fg)


From that list the best slashing guards in the league are clearly Lawson, Parker, Ellis, Dragic, and Isaiah Thomas, driving around 9-10 times per game and shooting around 50%+ on those drives. Wall doesn't even rank.

Obviously the Wizards terrible spacing is the primary cause for Wall not driving more. But Memphis has less than desirable spacing also and Mike Conley still manages to drive at a high frequency (8 drives/game). And when you watch him play, you can see why. Conley is very skilled at probing and attacking the defense in a way that creates space, and he doesn't pick up his dribble in tight spots.

I think Wall could help himself out a bit more by watching film on guys like Conley, Dragic, Parker, etc who make it a point to keep their dribble alive and create more driving lanes for themselves. Wall is too straightline when he drives, he needs to adopt some 'wiggle' and make himself more unpredictable. Hopefully the coaching staff can bring this to his attention somehow, if he added that this offseason the game would get a lot easier for him moving forward.

[tontoz]

Dragic has a TS of 61%, pretty strong for a pg averaging 20 ppg.

[Knighthonor]

Wow did anybody else seem a glimpse of prime Wade in Wall last night?

[go'stags]

The best thing about Wall is that his weaknesses (long 2 attempts, creating space for himself to get to the basket, turnovers) are things that he can easily improve (long 2's) and things that with work he can get better at (creating space). He already shows major flashes of being highly productive without turning it over (see all of his high assist/low turnover games), and with more experience he will only get better.

A better coach (hello George Carl!) and better floor spacing will do wonders for him.

He already does so many things that even the good point guards can only dream of. The sky is the limit, and I feel very confident he can reach it.

[go'stags]

Not to mention watching his growth keeps me interested in a team whose future I am not too keen on. It will be better if EG is fired, but I don't have confidence in Ted to pick a good GM.

Watching the steady, patient growth of Wall is becoming a pleasure, even if I wish it would happen quicker. No more long 2's!

[Youheardme90]

40 assists and only 6 turnovers in the last 4

[Illmatic21]

40 assists and only 6 turnovers in the last 4

Chris Paul in his last 4: 48 assists to 3 turnovers.

For not having two athletic freaks to throw 4-5 lobs a game to, Wall is doing pretty good

[hands11]

He was dead tired and his handles started getting sloppy, but in the third OT... down the stretch..Gortat out... Trevor A out...

Wall comes up with back to back steals and then breaks some ankles on a drive for two can close the game out.

That should do a lot for his growth. Nothing like playing through something like that.

Congrats Johnny Ball Game.

[Illmatic21]

Looking around different forums, a lot of people were watching the Heat/Knicks blowout, then when TNT switched to our game it was like everyone was tuned in to the John Wall show.

This kid is a rising superstar, get him some national coverage!

[stevemcqueen1]

[hands11]

Is there one of the clean block that was call goal tending ?

[stevemcqueen1]

I don't know. I just took that from someone else's post in a different forum.

[Brenice]

Is there one of the clean block that was call goal tending ?

On that block, you can clearly see the rotation of the ball change because of Wall, not the backboard. The ref's had to see that during the review...they just were not going to reverse anything.

Did you notice all controversial calls were initially pro-Toronto. That's so they can claim "inconclusive" and not change the call. On Beal's basket at the buzzer, the ref appeared to be quick to rule it after the buzzer as if to make sure they didn't have to change it after review. Now, that was the correct call, but the NBA should not blame Wizards fans for being paranoid.

[Brenice]

That's posterized. I can hear Wall say "Get that spit outta here" and Lowry saying "WTF". Wall didn't have to step over the prey. LOL

[hands11]

Is there one of the clean block that was call goal tending ?

On that block, you can clearly see the rotation of the ball change because of Wall, not the backboard. The ref's had to see that during the review...they just were not going to reverse anything.

Did you notice all controversial calls were initially pro-Toronto. That's so they can claim "inconclusive" and not change the call. On Beal's basket at the buzzer, the ref appeared to be quick to rule it after the buzzer as if to make sure they didn't have to change it after review. Now, that was the correct call, but the NBA should not blame Wizards fans for being paranoid.

Yeah. All the close calls where like that. And for the most part, I think they got them right.

Gortat did seem to tip it out.. very close though.
who was it.. Wall that reached around to tip out on Vaz or was it TA... again close but I think the right call.
Beals shoot was to late and Hansbourgh did go straight up so it wasn't a foul.

But the Wall block. That seemed clearly a block to me from every angle. And it was an insanely amazing play by Wall. And that could have ended the game right there.

And the refs sucked on several fouls on Wall. One maybe two drives he was clobbered and nothing.
But they didn't call anything when Lowry would go barreling in looking for contact. They got those right.

But we got to see 3x OT and a win. Great game. And give props to the fans in Toronto and the way they put on a fun atmosphere at that stadium. Those fans really made some noise and get into it. They made it fun to watch. Great experience for the young Wizards who haven't played in an playoff environment like that.

Awesome warm up game for the playoff to come.

[hands11]

That's posterized. I can hear Wall say "Get that spit outta here" and Lowry saying "WTF". Wall didn't have to step over the prey. LOL

And good D by Temple.

[stevemcqueen1]

I'm glad they didn't give Lowry a foul on that BS. Running into a player rather than trying to actually finish a real shot. He got some FTs off of at least one BS attempt that I wish they would rule is not a shooting foul. Some crap underhand heave in the general vicinity of the basket a step or two after contact is not part of basketball. Dude tried it every single time too.

[Illmatic21]

Just went back and read some posts earlier in this thread.. it's like night and day how much more pleased we've become with Wall in just the last one year.

And by contrast, personally I'm much more annoyed with Bradley Beal than I was this time a year ago.. in this very thread some Wiz fans were saying he was more important than Wall
Still so young though. Hopefully he works hard this summer and is able to take a 3rd year leap like John did

[stevemcqueen1]

Just went back and read some posts earlier in this thread.. it's like night and day how much more pleased we've become with Wall in just the last one year.

And by contrast, personally I'm much more annoyed with Bradley Beal than I was this time a year ago.. in this very thread some Wiz fans were saying he was more important than Wall
Still so young though. Hopefully he works hard this summer and is able to take a 3rd year leap like John did

I'm excited about having both. I believe in them. I never thought Beal had the kind of upside and impact ability that Wall does. Wall is a truly dynamic athlete with the best raw skill set of pretty much any guard in the game now. And he's a gifted playmaker and leader that excels at making his team better.

But I still love Beal's potential. He's a future mid 20's per game scorer that does the bulk of his work off the ball, but who is also capable of finding teammates, rebounding, hustling and making the winning plays, etc. He's got the right personality, the intangibles of a winner and serious pro. And I think he's going to grow into a pretty brawny player capable of wearing opponents down physically and playing great D. We've got a while before he reaches his potential. And we're going through growing pains now. But he is going to be so good one day. He and Wall are going to be perennial All Stars.

Damian Lillard is way better than I expected, but I still think Beal ends up being the best overall perimeter player from the 2012 class. With what we've seen from Beal at ages 19 and 20, I think he's going to be the best SG in the NBA in as little as three or four years. I think there is a great chance we'll have the best PG and SG in the NBA at that point.