Official John Wall Appreciation Thread 2.0

[Higga]

This being an appreciation thread - I appreciate what JW said after the game last night.
He wants to W in the opener after 'losing every home playoff game' to which he must have been
referring only to IND and not to CHI who they won 1 home game against.

I just hope he doesn't let himself or the team get too uptight about it.
Seems like last year they were more nervous at home than on the road.
Relax and play your game (easier said than done perhaps).

Last year's home playoff record was very disappointing though. I'm glad
he's disappointed and eager to redeem himself. We got your back John.
Play smart and play hard. Good things will happen.

I'll be there and I expect us to put on a show and blowout the garbage Bucks.

[Ruzious]

This being an appreciation thread - I appreciate what JW said after the game last night.
He wants to W in the opener after 'losing every home playoff game' to which he must have been
referring only to IND and not to CHI who they won 1 home game against.

I just hope he doesn't let himself or the team get too uptight about it.
Seems like last year they were more nervous at home than on the road.
Relax and play your game (easier said than done perhaps).

Last year's home playoff record was very disappointing though. I'm glad
he's disappointed and eager to redeem himself. We got your back John.
Play smart and play hard. Good things will happen.

I'll be there and I expect us to put on a show and blowout the garbage Bucks.

It all depends on which Bucks team shows up. Mayo could stink the joint up, or he could swish 7 3's in a row. Knight may or may not be taking a step up at the point. Sanders and Henson may or may not show up. Giannis and Parker are wet behind the ears, but will have their moments - bad and good. Ilyasova... nuf said.

[CobraCommander]

I just love to see wall living up to his 19th rank in NBA- he is under more pressure than kyrie or Lillard considering he is the clear leader of the wiz and the others have people better players to help them- especially with beal out hurt

[Hidden Eye]

If Middleton doesn't score 40 points like last time they should be alright.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

John Wall did an interview with Glenn Consor as part of Monumental Network's Daily Wizdom.

I just want to say I am very happy that John Wall is a decent, humble human being. He is making the most of the path God has given him in life. John didn't have an easy upbringing. He could have made some really bad choices and not been where he is today. Wall seems to be a very wise young man. He's a good guy. That counts for a whole lot more than how well you play basketball.

[Santana Moss]

Can anyone (Wizards fan preferably) explain why Irving would get the nod over Wall? Yes, I can acknowledge Irving is the better shooter, but the NBA isn't a 1 on 1 game. In fact, the only reason Irving got his numbers is because he was on a bad team.

I will not be surprised if by the end of the season, he turns out to be the 3rd option behind Lebron and Love.

I am not a big a fan of point guards, but I can say that I am very proud to have John Wall on this team.

[jangles86]

Loving his game right now. In such control. Defense is huge. Really attacking the rim and getting to the line but also getting other involved. I think Nene and Gortat and such great fits for Wall. Gortat proving great pick and roll and nene midrange game is beautiful.
Look for Wall to be first or second all NBA team this year if we have a good winning record.

[MarcoPolo]

So some highlights guys.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7UMkLbtQXw[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO_JXTJsg1k[/youtube]

[Higga]

2nd 30/10 game in 5 games.

Averaging 20/10 a game. Granted it's only 5 games, but that's MVP caliber ball.

[Ruzious]

At least John Feinstein is consistent. He said on The Junkies show today that the Wiz best players are Beal, Nene, and Gortat - making a point to not include Wall. Give him credit for not letting the fact that Wall has clearly been their best player in the first 5 games sway his position.

[FAH1223]

Only gripe with Wall thus far has been inconsistent defensive intensity. However, he has done some good work getting steals but he's freelancing too much.

The bigs are also not rotating well which is similar to early last season

[TGW]

At least John Feinstein is consistent. He said on The Junkies show today that the Wiz best players are Beal, Nene, and Gortat - making a point to not include Wall. Give him credit for not letting the fact that Wall has clearly been their best player in the first 5 games sway his position.

John Feinstein is a blowhard who thinks his opinion is worth more than it's actually worth.

[DCZards]

At least John Feinstein is consistent. He said on The Junkies show today that the Wiz best players are Beal, Nene, and Gortat - making a point to not include Wall. Give him credit for not letting the fact that Wall has clearly been their best player in the first 5 games sway his position.

Maybe, just maybe, you can make the argument for Beal and Gortat being the Zards best players. But Nene better than Wall? That's just plain silly.

Feinstein had real issues with John Thompson II (like a lot of sportswriters) when he covered the Hoyas/college ball for the Post in the 80s and 90s. Problem is, Feinstein has never gotten over it and continues to use every opportunity he gets to hammer Big John...even to this day. Reportedly the Feinstein-JTIII relationship is the main reason that G'Town has never participated in the BB&Q Classic at the Verizon Ctr. that Feinstein organizes.

I may be waaayyy off base, but I'm guessing that Feinstein has some petty issues with Wall as well.

[Dat2U]

At least John Feinstein is consistent. He said on The Junkies show today that the Wiz best players are Beal, Nene, and Gortat - making a point to not include Wall. Give him credit for not letting the fact that Wall has clearly been their best player in the first 5 games sway his position.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc- ... _blog.html

“If I was the Wizards, I swear if I could pull off a deal, I would trade down. I would take John Wall, trade down, get a player or two, and use the first pick on Kendall Marshall. I swear to God I would do that, I think that highly of Kendall Marshall.

“They’re not gonna do that,” he continued, “because that’s thinking out of the box. And they’ve made such a big deal out of John Wall they can’t afford to trade him. But I think that would be a good move. I think Kendall Marshall, in terms of running a team, potentially is a lot better than John Wall.”

If only we had Kendall Marshall instead... I think 2 fellow posters (one currently active) pretty much said the same thing at the time too. Where's jonathanjoseph at?

[Ruzious]

There must have been litrully a dozen times last season when I defended EG after posters acted like it was the end of the world that Marshall had a few real good offensive games for the Lakers. Meanwhile, the Lakers didn't even want him back. And he's played about 10 minutes in the first 5 games of the season for the Bucks - a team that starts a shooting guard at the point. He still may become a useful player, but and any team could probably get him right now for a 2nd round pick.

[mhd]

There must have been litrully a dozen times last season when I defended EG after posters acted like it was the end of the world that Marshall had a few real good offensive games for the Lakers. Meanwhile, the Lakers didn't even want him back. And he's played about 10 minutes in the first 5 games of the season for the Bucks - a team that starts a shooting guard at the point. He still may become a useful player, but and any team could probably get him right now for a 2nd round pick.

Marshall is 10x the player Fart was.

[Ruzious]

Speaking of which, Kobe should be passing more to Jordan Hill (and not to mention all his teammates) - who's looking good this SSS season - 14.8 PPG, 9.2 RPB, 1.6 BPG. He was nailing long jumpers against the Clippers the other day. In a year or 2, I could see him having 3 point range.

[Kanyewest]

At least John Feinstein is consistent. He said on The Junkies show today that the Wiz best players are Beal, Nene, and Gortat - making a point to not include Wall. Give him credit for not letting the fact that Wall has clearly been their best player in the first 5 games sway his position.

Maybe, just maybe, you can make the argument for Beal and Gortat being the Zards best players. But Nene better than Wall? That's just plain silly.

Feinstein must be just going off of how the Wizards played in the postseason where Wall struggled - only shooting 37% from the field and 22% from 3. Remember Beal put up James Harden like numbers against the Bulls (at least Beal was better than Harden was in the postseason) and Nene played better than he did in the regular season.

He obviously hasn't been watching the Wizards though (or he's letting those biases get in the way) because Wall gets guys open looks including Pierce, Porter, and Temple. And Wall's jumper has been better recently.

[SizzlinSimms]

One thing that has improved greatly since his rookie and 2nd year is his half-court game. It was pretty much non-existent his first two years. I'd attribute a lot of that due to coaching him to slow himself down. Before it was 100mph every possession, where in the NBA that isn't going to work, so he has learned and been coached to slow it down and let the possession and decision come to him by reacting to the defense. That was my main concern about Wall, however he's definitely improved vastly in that aspect. I don't think he'll ever be a good shooter and will remain average to possibly above average, but that isn't his game and it doesn't need to be with the way he facilitates so well.

[hands11]

One thing that has improved greatly since his rookie and 2nd year is his half-court game. It was pretty much non-existent his first two years. I'd attribute a lot of that due to coaching him to slow himself down. Before it was 100mph every possession, where in the NBA that isn't going to work, so he has learned and been coached to slow it down and let the possession and decision come to him by reacting to the defense. That was my main concern about Wall, however he's definitely improved vastly in that aspect. I don't think he'll ever be a good shooter and will remain average to possibly above average, but that isn't his game and it doesn't need to be with the way he facilitates so well.

He has definitely matured and added wrinkles to his game. His skills have vastly expanded since they drafted him. He really was a very very raw prospect at 20

He still seems to be a little stiff in what he does but I am seeing flashes of what I would call Smooth Moves. I think as time goes on from the initial time he added a skill and as their as less things to add, he is settling in to the fine art of the skill and trusting it which brings out his confident and smooth to this game.

He made a play yesterday .. I think to Nene '' where he drove and did this little baby interior dish for an assist and two pts.. Smooth Move

In another recent game he drove. When he got to about the area where Nene usually posts up he did a hesitation dribble, the defender dropped back then the trailing defender had to stop or they would have climbed his back, then Wall took one step forward and hit the floater. Kind a Tony Parker type move.. Smooth.

Maybe his least smooth move right now is when he is up top trying to set up his man and he is doing those high dribble cross overs. That is some ugly stuff. I would like to see him mix in and get better at low dribble cross overs and tighten up that action. Gil up top he is not but thats the kind of dribbling I'm talking about. Like Gil, Harden is a master at it. This is something Wall can greatly improve on that would make him super dangerous.