How do you feel about John Wall?

[jivelikenice]

I'm still high on wall. He had a solid rookie season. I would break his rookie season down by three parts:
1. Out the gate- At the start of the season he was playing like a stud. Two of his best games were the 2nd game of the season versus Atlanta and the home opener versus the Sixers. He was a one man wrecking crew those games and was truely playing like a game changer. That's what makes what I see now all the more frsutrating

2. Post-injury- He really struggled after the injury. I'm referring to the stretch where he was having a difficult time on D and on offense. His play was very similar to what we're seeing now, the only difference is now he's attacking even less and looks more disinterested. Similar though in it looks like he lost all confidence

3. End of season- Mid february through the end of the season he really turned it back up and played at a high level. Threr were subtle lineup changes (ie Mo Evans, Rashard being out for the season) and he just played more confidently and the lineup was more balanced.

For 2/3 of last season he was what we expected. That's why after 93 games I'm not prepared to dump him for the likes of Augustin or anther pick who we'll be impatient with. The goal is to build a consistent contender. You're not going to do that w/o Wall.

Right now Wall looks lost. He's lost confidence in himself, his teammates , and probably in the staff. Flip has him thinking too much on the court and its taken away from what made him special at the start of last season. The most important thing for this team at this point is to get Flip away from him. The more time this staff has to break Wall down, the harder it will be to build him back up.

[closg00]

I know that Wall watches the other top PG's. I hope Sam is sitting John down and they are reviewing tape of Nash & Rubio racking-up dimes. If they can get John to slow-down and work on adding some variety to his game, he might develop a respectable shot like Rondo.

It won't happen. The problem is John Wall's teammates. If he has teammates that are good offensively like Nash's or Rondo's I can see J-Wall averaging 10apg.

I think the problem right now with Wall is that he's forcing too much on himself. That explains his low FG% and TOs.

I think you're right. Because the Wizards had been so-bad defensively, post Haywood/Butler/Stevenson blow-up, the rebuild focused too-much on stock-piling defensive/tough players - to the exclusion of ANY offense via the draft or FA. The plan back-fired horribly setting-back the young teams development. Throw Flip into the mix and you've got a real disaster.

[pancakes3]

i feel a bit cheated. wall is nowhere as good as advertised. he was touted as a can't-miss prospect who was openly said to be a taller, faster derrick rose with better passing instincts. however he's not flat out awful enough to label him a bust, so fans are stuck in a limbo with him. the optimists are making excuses for him, the pessimists are tearing him to shreds. sometimes the two sides take a position that's an extreme in either direction and really casts wall in an unfair light.

he's not broken. he's doesn't have "zero" passing instincts. he sees and makes good passes. he's very good at drawing defenders and making interior dump-offs. he's very good at making entry passes. he's struggled with kickout passes (cite game-losing TO vs NJ) and pick and rolls (cite absence of pnr's). he's just not the pass-first pg that we were promised - someone in the CP3, Nash mold who make passes that the fan at home can't see coming. a pass that makes you think - wow, how on earth did he see/make that? the type of pass that makes the game seem so supremely easy.

he's very flawed though. i'm not entirely sure what "he's just in a sophomore slump" means other than - he stinks and there's not real reason why - oh coincidentally he's in his 2nd season. his slump is comprised a of a majority of him playing schoolyard basketball offensively. a lack of offensive sets, inspired playmaking, or any semblance of basketball moves other than being a "bowling ball of butcher knives" careening towards the basket. granted he's very good at blindly taking it to the rim compared to other players. however it doesn't mean it's a good play.

and, no. it does not appear that he's added any meaningful moves to his game in the extended off-season. yes. it does look like he's regressed a little. maybe his teammates are holding his development back. no, bad teammates does not excuse his anemic shooting %.

[jdbraver]

Would you trade John Wall for Tyreke Evans?

[fishercob]

Nope.

[tontoz]

Wall is shooting 22% or worse from 3-9 feet, 10-15 feet and 16-23 feet. That is just horrible.

[WizarDynasty]

What made wall special wasa that if he had the correcty mentor to teach him how to think like a point guard.. To teach him the drills to make his nall handling skills chris paul elite...

Wall has attributes thatu can't teach like conpetitve drive, leadership and passion, toughness... He has a hunger to learn, he loves basketball its not just a sport that he chose second and he wants to be great. Its just sad that the nba has provided wall access to the treasure of knowledge and instruction that he needs to be elite.
Has wall ever had a one one session going against chris paul steve nash or jason kidd.
Why hasn't the nba made it much easier for young superstars to interact with hall of famers....right now wall can only go as far as the best point guard mind of thw wizards which is probably sam cassell a shoot first point guard who wasn't known for defense passing... Sam was basically a cradfty shooting guard with no vision.
U would think that once the competitive seasonis over the nba would have a program that encourages interactio n of young players and established vets. Without sloan, wall's only point guard guidance is from shoot first cassell.
Until ted figures out a way to get wall acess to grat point guard minds like jason kidd chris paul.. Stockton or coaches with experience developing hall of fmae point guards... Wall will be stuck in frozen status mentally while the years go by.
Wall has the hunger but he's doesn't have access to great point guard pass first minds. Until he gets access to these minds..and the wizards don't have it...he will waste his years and the wizards hopes of having a franchise point guard.

How will ted get wall acess to hall of fame pass first point guards? If not a point guard...then decond best thing is to have access to a coach who has developed a young hall of fame point guard and there aren't many.
Jason kidd,Andre miller, stevenash ..we almost got mike bibby who ditched us.
Having wall play behind steve nash actually would be ideal but convincing a great pass first point guard mind..be it old veteran player or coach to come to wizards is the challenge of the great leonsis.


In ted we trust. We need an aol miracle..when no one knew its potential but ted.

[miller31time]

Wall is shooting 22% or worse from 3-9 feet, 10-15 feet and 16-23 feet. That is just horrible.

The problem is that, not only is his jumper broken, he has absolutely zero confidence in it. And that's not to say he ever had a lot of confidence in it, but right now, it's at an all-time low.

Confidence is such a determinant of shooting and right now, he's running on empty.

[Black Eyed Sooz]

John Wall in the 3rd game of his NBA career dropped 29, 13 assists, and 9 steals on the Sixers.

In his 6th game of his career he got his first career triple double.

The kid's talent to me is beyond question. It's just a matter of getting his confidence back, and getting rid of all the poisonous malignant crap around him.

Right now I see him like Luke Skywalker caught in the trash compactor in Star Wars- with one of the worst teams in NBA history around him, his game is not going to be smelling April fresh. He just has to get out of there before his confidence gets flattened permanently. Hopefully management will do that by building the team he deserves around him rather than having him leave for free agency.

[Wone]

i think they should consider trading blatche, jordan crawford and maybe nick young. i think john wall can still be really good, i just think they need to surround him with players that fit better.

it's still way too early in the season to consider trading him imo.

[montestewart]

Betrayed, bitter, conflicted, confused, sympathetic. Sometimes, I think he just needs a big hug.

I love me a feelings thread.

[Illuminaire]

i feel a bit cheated. wall is nowhere as good as advertised. he was touted as a can't-miss prospect who was openly said to be a taller, faster derrick rose with better passing instincts. however he's not flat out awful enough to label him a bust, so fans are stuck in a limbo with him. the optimists are making excuses for him, the pessimists are tearing him to shreds.

Well said, Pancakes. I think you got right to the heart of it; we've been sucking for so long, with so little hope, that we wanted Wall to be our invincible basketball savior. We were willing to be patient with everyone else, we could wait to win games, but we needed our #1 overall pick to be an ass-kicking basketball messiah. We desperately want someone who IS a hall-of-fame bound baller, shining in defiance of the suck pit that is the Wizards.

Wall is... pretty good. Potentially great, but there are just enough flaws that we can't put that down as a certainty.

So, like every other (&@^! thing in this !*@& franchise, we have to hope he becomes more than another tragic failure waiting to breaking our hearts.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

1. Wall is a guy who could turn great the instant the Wizards trade him.

2. OTOH if traded, Wall could return enough pieces to turn the Wizards franchise around in 2 or 3 years.

3. Or perhaps, if the Wizards patiently place the right pieces around Wall and he's developed as a player much better than the Wizards have done so far; Wall could be the franchise player for Washington.

4. Perhaps, he's just not as good as advertised and the Wizards need to sell high.

5. Perhaps Wall is physically less than 100%.

So, I'm very conflicted about John Wall. My gut reaction is that the Wizards need to make a couple internal changes around Wall ASAP. Try to stop the bleeding and get the player a new voice and a new perspective. Hero ball isn't working. After evaluating Wall over another 25 or so games, I'd pull the trigger and deal him if he's not playing better for the Wizards.

Just my gut, but if he were great the Wizards would already know.

You cannot expect maturity beyond his years and skills that are not developed in AAU or in one season at Ky and one year with the Wizards.

[dandridge 10]

i feel a bit cheated. wall is nowhere as good as advertised. he was touted as a can't-miss prospect who was openly said to be a taller, faster derrick rose with better passing instincts. however he's not flat out awful enough to label him a bust, so fans are stuck in a limbo with him. the optimists are making excuses for him, the pessimists are tearing him to shreds.

Well said, Pancakes. I think you got right to the heart of it; we've been sucking for so long, with so little hope, that we wanted Wall to be our invincible basketball savior. We were willing to be patient with everyone else, we could wait to win games, but we needed our #1 overall pick to be an ass-kicking basketball messiah. We desperately want someone who IS a hall-of-fame bound baller, shining in defiance of the suck pit that is the Wizards.

Wall is... pretty good. Potentially great, but there are just enough flaws that we can't put that down as a certainty.

So, like every other (&@^! thing in this !*@& franchise, we have to hope he becomes more than another tragic failure waiting to breaking our hearts.

As I told my wife tonight, if Wall does indeed turn out to be a bust, I will definitely believe this francise is cursed. How else would you be able to explain to number 1 picks in the same decade being busts.

[Jajwanda]

Trade value-wise what is he worth?

[Illuminaire]

Wall is a #1 overall pick coming off a historically great year for a rookie PG. He's playing badly, but he's playing with bad teammates and it's clearly affecting his success.

I think Wall's trade value is exceptionally high, as he's still a potential franchise player. I don't think we'd move him for less than, say, Eric Gordon, New Orlean's unprotected lotto pick, and the ability to dump Andray Blatche.

That may seem high - and it is - but that's the price for someone with Wall's potential and draft status. He'd need to supremely suck all year for that to go down, I'd think.

[Jajwanda]

Hmm a little higher than I thought but the Blatche part isn't all that incredibly bad. We'll see on this one, but I do know L.A. wants to bring back Showtime as Kobe retires so there's some interest in him.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

How do I feel about John Wall today?

A whole lot better!

[sfam]

Wall's gonna be just fine. Every time you all get ready to dump him prematurely, just put on Guns and Roses' Patience.

Little patience, mmm yeah, mm yeah
Need a little patience, yeah
Just a little patience, yeah
Some more patience, yeah
Could use some patience, yeah
Gotta have some patience, yeah
All it takes is patience
Just a little patience
Is all you need

[The Fax]

This describes how I've felt about Wall this season...

.... .... ....... ....... ...