Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:Wall is murder in uptempo but he's not necessarily a true PG. I think in halfcourt this will show in the NBA.
Here's the thing. I stated this in another thread, but can re-emphasize it here. We have no idea what the capacity of this 19 year old kid can be, in the half court or otherwise, given good tutelage.
But what we do know is in this system we have a coach who likes to put the ball in the hands of a ball-dominant player who can break down opponents off the dribble when all else fails. We have a coach with a pretty good track record of converting attack minded PGs into team players, increasing assist totals etc. Granted we lack two players to really improve his game: a catch-and-shoot gunner with range & efficiency, and a low-post power player who can finish after contact. But aside from that we have a pretty good synch between Player, Coach, and System. Theory.
Then as an assistant coach in Sammy we have an attack-minded PG who knows how to teach the pick and roll, midrange, and low-post game -- as well as all the nasty little tricks and inside wrinkles that maximize your advantage over the opponent and use the refs as your allies. A guy who knows the minutia of things like footwork and will drill that with the young pup to exhaustion. A guy who is young enough to be able to consistently demonstrate techniques in a halfcourt game. Watch and repeat.
Then in Gil we have a notoriously fanatical worker, who carefully drills proper technique to increase range and accuracy, who has the advantage ( I call it) of being desperate to prove himself. Dedicated to prove he's a team player, not a disruptive influence, a role-model and mentor perhaps, but who knows that the only way his reputation is redeemed is if his team wins. We've guy who can challenge his Teammate to raise his game, and a guy who has shown he can run in a twin guard system with remarkable success, coasting and drafting behind the other guy until it's time to take over, and vie versa. Who relished the role whereby he and Larry could act as Bench for each other, impossible to load up to guard one or the other since at any moment either could go off. Reference Larry's success next to Gil, vs post-Gil.
And with all that we have a guy in John Wall who is a student of the game. Check the recent quotes where he was admiring Kobe's footwork, making a mental note to incorporate that aspect of his game.
This is a kid who has been able to survive on superior talent, but who admits there is no way he would have been ready for the league if he tried to jump from high school. Who takes pride in disproving naysayers by earning a 3.5 GPA. Who by accounts of Coach Cal is a hard worker and dedicated student -- this same Coach Cal who held the hands of Rose and Evans for a minute before they were unleashed on the league.
I submit we have no idea what the ultimate upside is of a kid this talented and this young. But at least we have a template, a framework -- seems to me in John Wall we have a guy who can incorporate any lesson that this crew can teach him. And then some.
He has two flaws: he's young, he doesn't shoot all that well from long range, yet. Fortunately those are the two easiest flaws to fix in the NBA.
