Ruzious wrote:I'm glad we have Wall - and even at the JuniorMax <copyrite> contract he'll have starting next season. The problem with him remains consistency - with his performance and judgment. When consistency meets talent, you have something special, and we haven't gotten there yet. I'm in the camp that would like to see how he does under a different quality coach. I think it was Dat who pointed out - he's coached to play like a game manager rather than a creator, even though he's at his best when he's creating.
Eddie Jordan was much maligned here, but I think what he did really well was let Gilbert do what he was best at on the court. I think that's not the case at all with both Wittman and Cassell. Sam is probably the worst guy you could have coaching Wall - assuming he's coaching in his image as a player - as Sam's strengths and weaknesses are almost polar opposites to Wall's. My impression is Sam is hell-bent on forcing a round peg into a small hole, and Wittman is perfectly fine with that.
Finally!!! Someone that sees the same thing I'm seeing. I thought I was the only one noticing that Wall is becoming too much of a game manager and much less of an attacker... and trying to use that mid-range shot to set up everything, especially over this past season. I want the Wall I saw over the second half of last season + the 3 pt shot he added this year. Put those two aspects together and you have a legit star and top 5-10ish type player.
I'm definitely not an Eddie Jordan fan but I'd agree, from an offensive standpoint, he empowers his guys, puts them in their ideal spots and gives them the freedom to do what they do best. Wall might already have been a star under Eddie.
tontoz wrote:Wall's passiveness on offense, relative to the regular season, has been a pretty big surprise. Even against the Bulls it seems like he was dialing it back and it has only gotten worse against Indy. As others have pointed out his reluctance to attack is neutralizing his greatest strength as a player.
I think this coaching staff really needs to hit the road.
Yep, I don't know if Wall's aggressiveness is being coached out of him, or if he's over-thinking things and lacks confidence but the passiveness has only gotten worse as the playoffs have gone on. But to be honest, it's been slowly trending this way all year. Fewer drives to the rim (20th PG in the league in total drives??? Unexceptable!), more unnecessary kickouts, too much walking the ball up the court. Wall already plays like Cassell did at the end of his career! As much praise as Cassell has been getting, I'd say he might be hurting Wall's development more than he's helped it. And Wall's development curve is really nothing to be proud of considering how slow it's been. A new coaching staff and having a different set of eyes on Wall's game could really be beneficial.