John Wall is the best PG in the East right now

[nate33]

Here is how the all-star team likely heads to:

Starters: (voted in)
PG: Irving
SG: Wade
SF: Lebron
PF: Bosh
C: Hibbert

Bench:
PG: Wall
SG: Afflalo
SF: George
PF: Horford
C: Hawes
Wildcard #1: Melo
Wildcard #2: Derozen

I agree with 10 of them. I think Lopez makes it over Hawes if he is healthy.

I think Derozan is a long shot. As of now, that spot of 5th guard is looking pretty wide open. Derozan is probably in the mix, but he's got to beat out Teague, Jimmy Butler, Beal, MCW, and Turner. I have no idea which one is going to emerge on top.

[stevemcqueen1]

Here is how the all-star team likely heads to:

Starters: (voted in)
PG: Irving
SG: Wade
SF: Lebron
PF: Bosh
C: Hibbert

Bench:
PG: Wall
SG: Afflalo
SF: George
PF: Horford
C: Hawes
Wildcard #1: Melo
Wildcard #2: Derozen

I agree with 10 of them. I think Lopez makes it over Hawes if he is healthy.

I think Derozan is a long shot. As of now, that spot of 5th guard is looking pretty wide open. Derozan is probably in the mix, but he's got to beat out Teague, Jimmy Butler, Beal, MCW, and Turner. I have no idea which one is going to emerge on top.

Carmelo is going to be a starter too. Bosh will start at C or come off the bench.

The only East teams likely to get multiple AS are Indy and Miami. Toronto might not have any all stars. Atlanta will need to have a really good record to get Teague and Horford in. Chicago probably won't get an All Star. If we get one in, it'll probably be Wall. He'll get the start over Kyrie if our record is significantly better than Cleveland's. If not, Kyrie will probably start based on the fact he was an AS last year and everyone knows his name well.

Turner has a decent shot at AS game. Better than MCW. He's listed as a SF but doesn't really matter, he could get in as a swingman/guard type.

If the goal is to build the best line ups to try and actually win the game, then John and Kyrie both need to start and play with LeBron and probably Hibbert and George. John + Kyrie would be an absolutely lethal back court. And that front court would actually play defense. Three of the best defensive players in the game.

John can guard the SG, it's the AS game. And Kyrie could kill it playing off the ball. So many open threes and one on one perimeter drives. Wade can run some point if he plays with Afflalo.

[rl25g]

George will start over Bosh

[pancakes3]

Here is how the all-star team likely heads to:

Starters: (voted in)
PG: Irving
SG: Wade
SF: Lebron
PF: Bosh
C: Hibbert

Bench:
PG: Wall
SG: Afflalo
SF: George
PF: Horford
C: Hawes
Wildcard #1: Melo
Wildcard #2: Derozen

Looks about right to me except I agree with Nate that Lopez is the C. Vucevic/Drummond/Monroe are all probably ahead of Hawes too. Turner/DeRozan/Gay/Beal share the wildcard 2 equally in my opinion.

Funny thing is, the bench looks to me to be better than the starters if Lopez/Vucevic/Drummond/Monroe plays at C.

[B-easy]

Wall's PER since his rookie season,
rookie - 15.8
2nd - 17.7
3rd - 20.8
and so far this season - 19.9 (trending up).

[Dat2U]

At this point with Wall it's all about consistency. I've seen enough of these flashes to know if Wall has his jumper he's like a mini-LeBron. Even if he's just aggressive (and healthy), he's going to wreck havoc. I think he'll continue to have up and down stretches this season but eventually the flicker will turn into a strong bright light. The big time performances will eventually outweigh the mediocre ones.

[dobrojim]

As to Wall being the best PG in the East, let's be honest, it's not a strong claim right now. Kyrie is his only true competition now. And Kyrie is in a similar situation with his team struggling. They're going to be the East's All Stars at PG and the only competition is which one gets the start.

Most of the good PGs are in the West now.

Agree that Wall currently has little comp in the east for best PGs but don't agree on the best PGs being in the west. I'd rank these five EC point guards in the top 10 (when healthy): D. Williams, Rose, Rondo, Wall, Irving

And Jeff Teague may be on the verge of breaking into the top 10.

Teague is coming back down to Earth after a hot start. He has made just 22 of his last 59 shots (37%) and his PER has dipped down to 19.6. On the season Wall now has a higher PER and ORtg than Teague.

Wall now leads all East PG's in PER.

that's all well and good but we know there is a bias in favor of whoever
has the highest combined ppg+asst/gm unless they play for an atrocious team (CLE?).

Agree with everyone who has been saying Deron Williams has fallen off a cliff.

Should it eventually come to that, I wonder if we could get Jerry Sloan as a coach.
DWill was outstanding until he decided he couldn't get along with Sloan.

The Wall that can avg 22/8/5/2/2 is the guy I thought could lead us to 48 wins.
It still could happen. Well, he may not score 22. Call it 20...with Beal avg'g 22.

[verbal8]

Should it eventually come to that, I wonder if we could get Jerry Sloan as a coach.
DWill was outstanding until he decided he couldn't get along with Sloan.

If the Wizards decide to do an instant re-build - like the Celtics did - I could see getting Sloan as the coach. However he is 71 years old, so he doesn't seem like the right guy for a long-term hire.

[nate33]

Wall now leads all East PG's in PER.

that's all well and good but we know there is a bias in favor of whoever
has the highest combined ppg+asst/gm unless they play for an atrocious team (CLE?).

Wall actually leads Teague in both points and assists on a per game basis (though not on a per minute basis).

[Higga]

At this point with Wall it's all about consistency. I've seen enough of these flashes to know if Wall has his jumper he's like a mini-LeBron. Even if he's just aggressive (and healthy), he's going to wreck havoc. I think he'll continue to have up and down stretches this season but eventually the flicker will turn into a strong bright light. The big time performances will eventually outweigh the mediocre ones.

I don't know about mini-Lebron, but you're right when his J is down he's basically unstoppable.

[pancakes3]

I think mini-lebron is apt. It's just a testament to just how much of LBJ's dominance comes as a direct result of his scaled athleticism rather than any real basketball skill. He's an all-time great but if he was just 4 inches shorter and 40-60 lbs lighter, he'd be merely good.

Not really a knock, but it should make you gain an appreciation for guys like Barkely, Iverson, and other... "unconventional" body types.

[dobrojim]

In March Wall played like a mini LBJ for sure. IIRC, Nivek had him in the lofty
neighborhood of LBJ and CP3 as far as his PPA went. It was off the charts great.
Top 5 player in the league stuff.

[Nivek]

Even in March, Wall wasn't in the territory of Lebron. He was damn good, though. Wall's PPA in March was 201. The top 5 in PPA last season were: Lebron (284 -- best single-season mark in my database, which goes back to 1977-78 so far), Chris Paul (244), Durant (236), Duncan (220), Parker (191).

Of course, the elite players perform at that level over a full season.

[dobrojim]

thanks for that clarification

I think what I was remembering was Wall's play in march relative
to those others also in March only.

In any case, a PPA of > 200 ....I'll take that.

[Nivek]

Agreed. North of 200 is 1st team All-NBA stuff. Borderline league MVP. If Wall plays at that level over the course of the season, the Wizards will do a lot of winning.

[DCZards]

Wall has been named NBA Player of the Week. Great to see him getting some love. Wall is clearly the kind of person whose play rises and falls on his mental state. He needs to feel confident and appreciated to thrive. So this can only help. Kudos to JW.

[DCsOwn]

Wall has been named NBA Player of the Week. Great to see him getting some love. Wall is clearly the kind of person whose play rises and falls on his mental state. He needs to feel confident and appreciated to thrive. So this can only help. Kudos to JW.

Yep yep.

[JonathanJoseph]

At this point with Wall it's all about consistency. I've seen enough of these flashes to know if Wall has his jumper he's like a mini-LeBron. Even if he's just aggressive (and healthy), he's going to wreck havoc. I think he'll continue to have up and down stretches this season but eventually the flicker will turn into a strong bright light. The big time performances will eventually outweigh the mediocre ones.

I don't know about mini-Lebron, but you're right when his J is down he's basically unstoppable.

Unstoppable is relative. Unstoppable has nothing to do with team basketball, and without team basketball unstoppable isn't very useful. As I've said, Wall would be the greatest AND1 circuit player in history, but the jury is still out on whether he can make players around him better and run an NBA offense.

[JonathanJoseph]

If the rumors of Beal being out are true, it will be very interesting to see how the Wizards do without him. The reality is that if Wall is close to as good as you all think he is, the Wizards should be able to play .500 against a very watered down NBA. I suspect the Wizards won't win much without Beal, and that if Wall tries to score >30 every game it will look ugly.

[Ruzious]

At this point with Wall it's all about consistency. I've seen enough of these flashes to know if Wall has his jumper he's like a mini-LeBron. Even if he's just aggressive (and healthy), he's going to wreck havoc. I think he'll continue to have up and down stretches this season but eventually the flicker will turn into a strong bright light. The big time performances will eventually outweigh the mediocre ones.

I don't know about mini-Lebron, but you're right when his J is down he's basically unstoppable.

Unstoppable is relative. Unstoppable has nothing to do with team basketball, and without team basketball unstoppable isn't very useful. As I've said, Wall would be the greatest AND1 circuit player in history, but the jury is still out on whether he can make players around him better and run an NBA offense.

But the jury is not out on you labeling him a bust and declaring the Wiz will never win a playoff series with him?

Btw, I give you credit for posting while he's on a good run - rather than just waiting till he has a bad game - as many would do.