John Wall is the best PG in the East right now

[dobrojim]

Does wall not understand what his strength is? One game he takes 10 jumpers the next he takes like 2 or 3 and performs much better . Why doesn't he understand this on a consistent basis? I bet next game he will go back to shooting 22 foot jumpers.

The tenor of your post would suggest that you believe Wall is so good that he can always dictate
the style with which he plays, that it doesn't matter what strategy the opp defense
choose in their approach.

I would suggest that there is virtually no player in the league that is so
dominant that they can do this. Or that normal fluctuations in how well
they are shooting in a given game wouldn't also affect their style of play.

[Dat2U]

Does wall not understand what his strength is? One game he takes 10 jumpers the next he takes like 2 or 3 and performs much better . Why doesn't he understand this on a consistent basis? I bet next game he will go back to shooting 22 foot jumpers.

Ding, ding, ding.... you have to be mentally tough to consistently go inside.

Keep in mind... the coaching staff has repeatedly encouraged Wall to not be afraid to take that shot, so it's not all on Wall.

[Kanyewest]

Does wall not understand what his strength is? One game he takes 10 jumpers the next he takes like 2 or 3 and performs much better . Why doesn't he understand this on a consistent basis? I bet next game he will go back to shooting 22 foot jumpers.

I think it had more to do with the fact that you can take it to the paint against Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Plus Seraphin knocking down some shots may have opened up the game a bit for Wall. Let's see if good defense allow Wall to get into the paint like the Clippers did or if big men can step up with Nene out.

[dckingsfan]

Does wall not understand what his strength is? One game he takes 10 jumpers the next he takes like 2 or 3 and performs much better . Why doesn't he understand this on a consistent basis? I bet next game he will go back to shooting 22 foot jumpers.

Ding, ding, ding.... you have to be mentally tough to consistently go inside.

Keep in mind... the coaching staff has repeatedly encouraged Wall to not be afraid to take that shot, so it's not all on Wall.

That's a good point, if they are repeatedly in his ear saying, take the shot - not much is going to change.

[Zonkerbl]

Well, there's gotta be some happy medium between "don't be afraid of that shot" and ten such shots per game.

"Don't be afraid to take that shot about once per quarter." That's what I'd say.

[Brenice]

Not taking that shot should have cost LeBron the repeat. You don't want Wall afraid like LeBron was afraid to take that shot this past Finals. If taking that shot is the best basketball play available, you got to take it. You don't always have better options in 24 seconds.

[tontoz]

Not taking that shot should have cost LeBron the repeat. You don't want Wall afraid like LeBron was afraid to take that shot this past Finals. If taking that shot is the best basketball play available, you got to take it. You don't always have better options in 24 seconds.

The problem is that he is frequently taking that shot before anyone else touches the ball. If he takes that shot in the last 8 seconds of the clock then it doesn't bother me.

[Brenice]

Not taking that shot should have cost LeBron the repeat. You don't want Wall afraid like LeBron was afraid to take that shot this past Finals. If taking that shot is the best basketball play available, you got to take it. You don't always have better options in 24 seconds.

The problem is that he is frequently taking that shot before anyone else touches the ball. If he takes that shot in the last 8 seconds of the clock then it doesn't bother me.

Agreed.

[Illmatic21]

Wall was nominated for Eastern Conference POTW, didn't get it though (Wade):

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta's Al Horford, Charlotte's Kemba Walker, Golden State's Stephen Curry, Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Portland's Damian Lillard, Toronto's Kyle Lowry and Washington's John Wall.

[hands11]

Not taking that shot should have cost LeBron the repeat. You don't want Wall afraid like LeBron was afraid to take that shot this past Finals. If taking that shot is the best basketball play available, you got to take it. You don't always have better options in 24 seconds.

The problem is that he is frequently taking that shot before anyone else touches the ball. If he takes that shot in the last 8 seconds of the clock then it doesn't bother me.

Exactly. Vs him trying to be all Westbrook, Gil, etc.

For now, its all about his defense. If he can bring it like he did in the 2nd half of last game on a regular basis, that's going to start to really separate him for other good PGs. He has the ability to be an elite defender more so any any other PG I can think of.

If he keep adding pieces to his game and maturing, in two years he should be a down right beast.

[Rafael122]

So Wall trails Irving by about 300K votes: http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/12/2 ... rie-irving

This is interesting, the fans vote for the starters so one would hope the coaches are smart enough to vote Wall in. With Rose's injury, they could ideally play Wall at the point and Irving at the 2.

[dlts20]

Wade will be at the 2

[hands11]

Wall
Afflalo
George
Lebron
Hibbert


Paul
Westbrook
Durant
Aldridge
Howard/DMC

This is what the starters should look like.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Agreed on the East. But I think it should definitely be Curry over Westbrook in the West. Curry has been better than him and you'd rather have him next to Paul than Westbrook anyway. And I would even consider starting Aldridge at C and Love at PF. Can you imagine how awesome the shooting of that team would be? Scary.

When you look at that East line up, it's defensive ability is amazing. George, LeBron, and Hibbert are the best defensive players at their positions in the game. And Afflalo and Wall aren't slouches. Too bad defense isn't really part of the AS game. That would be an enormous advantage for the East.

But given that it isn't, Kyrie makes a lot of sense at SG next to Wall in the AS lineups. I wouldn't have a problem with Kyrie starting beside Wall over Afflalo even though Afflalo is more deserving this year.

Wall and his buddies George and Irving are going to be the Pillars of the Eastern conference moving forward. It's going to be fun watching them play together this year.

I thought positions weren't clean anymore. Seems like it is more defined when you talk about a teams defense. There have always been hybrid offensive players and player that can guard multiple positions. Specially with good players. Magic could play any position on the court but he was a PG. Bird could also but he was a PF. What was MJ ? He was a SG/SF. Positions are still there if you are talking defense and who is running the offense.

Interesting. List of players to score .3 or better in WS/48 for a season when playing more then 60 games.

http://bkref.com/tiny/Vxps8

Drop it to just .29 and you get a few more names.
http://bkref.com/tiny/mB89c

[dlts20]

checking out the Cavs forum and alot of them are turning on Kyrie. At 1st he was playing horrible and they all hated him for it. Now he's playing way better for the most part but they think he's a ball hog. Whenever I watch them he either stinks or he is unstoppable but it just looks like him vs the other team. I would hate to be a teammate or even a fan. They are also ripping him for his D.One Cavs fan made a great point and said that he is just another Carmelo.

Like Melo, Kyrie is getting to the point where he could score 40 every game, maybe even on a solid shooting percentage and the fans would rip him for it because he looks selfish in doing it. Its funny how even his own fans perception is changing. Its just not winning basketball. Give me a pass 1st guy who can also score and play great D like Wall all day. Again, I still think this is the worst version of Wall because of the system. Its a jump shooting system. Everyone blames Wall and its partly has fault but its a flat out jump shooting system. He would dominate with Brooks or even SVG

[Brenice]

checking out the Cavs forum and alot of them are turning on Kyrie. At 1st he was playing horrible and they all hated him for it. Now he's playing way better for the most part but they think he's a ball hog. Whenever I watch them he either stinks or he is unstoppable but it just looks like him vs the other team. I would hate to be a teammate or even a fan. One Cavs fan made a great point and said that he is just another Carmelo. Its funny how even his own fans percept

ion is changing. Give me a pass 1st guy who can also score and play great D like Wall all day. Again, I still think this is the worst version of Wall because of the system. Its a jump shooting system. Everyone blames Wall and its partly has fault but its a flat out jump shooting system. He would dominate with Brooks or even SVG

That's because he is not a PG. He is a small shooting guard. If he ain't in score-mode, he stands around watching. When he is in score-mode, he runs around screens trying to get free.

Cleveland needs a big PG like MCW in Philly. Kyrie gets his assists off of his scoring ability, not from running an offense. He either can't or does not want to run an offense. He wants to score.

[Illmatic21]

checking out the Cavs forum and alot of them are turning on Kyrie. At 1st he was playing horrible and they all hated him for it. Now he's playing way better for the most part but they think he's a ball hog. Whenever I watch them he either stinks or he is unstoppable but it just looks like him vs the other team. I would hate to be a teammate or even a fan. One Cavs fan made a great point and said that he is just another Carmelo. Its funny how even his own fans percept

ion is changing. Give me a pass 1st guy who can also score and play great D like Wall all day. Again, I still think this is the worst version of Wall because of the system. Its a jump shooting system. Everyone blames Wall and its partly has fault but its a flat out jump shooting system. He would dominate with Brooks or even SVG

I've watched a lot Cavs games this year, most recently the Hawks game last night.

Irving is an incredible scorer. He has that Kobe-type attitude of "I'm gonna score on you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me".. the problem is he isn't a 6'6 shooting guard like Kobe, he's a point guard who's primary responsibility is to run the offense. He'll come down on 3-4 consecutive possessions and take shots early in the clock without passing the ball. This is the point guard of the team doing this. He gets tunnel vision when facing double teams, and will try to dribble/cross guys up instead of making the right play and finding his teammates. It's kind of a red flag when your point guard is more interested in 'getting buckets' for himself than running the offense. And just like with Lebron, you get the sense that Mike Brown so in 'awe' of his abilities that he doesn't want to reign him in, or make him commit to a team-oriented system.

There's no doubt in my mind that if Kyrie Irving were 3-4 inches taller, he would have been a legendary, HOF-caliber swingman. He has the perfect mentality, just not the size.

I believe that if he were in the right situation, he could get away with playing like he does.. i.e. Damian Lillard in Portland, who is that same type of scoring point guard but has more talent + more structured offensive system around him. Cleveland doesn't have that at all, and the on-court product looks more like streetball than any sort of winning philosophy.

[Rafael122]

checking out the Cavs forum and alot of them are turning on Kyrie. At 1st he was playing horrible and they all hated him for it. Now he's playing way better for the most part but they think he's a ball hog. Whenever I watch them he either stinks or he is unstoppable but it just looks like him vs the other team. I would hate to be a teammate or even a fan. One Cavs fan made a great point and said that he is just another Carmelo. Its funny how even his own fans percept

ion is changing. Give me a pass 1st guy who can also score and play great D like Wall all day. Again, I still think this is the worst version of Wall because of the system. Its a jump shooting system. Everyone blames Wall and its partly has fault but its a flat out jump shooting system. He would dominate with Brooks or even SVG

I've watched a lot Cavs games this year, most recently the Hawks game last night.

Irving is an incredible scorer. He has that Kobe-type attitude of "I'm gonna score on you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me".. the problem is he isn't a 6'6 shooting guard like Kobe, he's a point guard who's primary responsibility is to run the offense. He'll come down on 3-4 consecutive possessions and take shots early in the clock without passing the ball. This is the point guard of the team doing this. He gets tunnel vision when facing double teams, and will try to dribble/cross guys up instead of making the right play and finding his teammates. It's kind of a red flag when your point guard is more interested in 'getting buckets' for himself than running the offense. And just like with Lebron, you get the sense that Mike Brown so in 'awe' of his abilities that he doesn't want to reign him in, or make him commit to a team-oriented system.

There's no doubt in my mind that if Kyrie Irving were 3-4 inches taller, he would have been a legendary, HOF-caliber swingman. He has the perfect mentality, just not the size.

I believe that if he were in the right situation, he could get away with playing like he does.. i.e. Damian Lillard in Portland, who is that same type of scoring point guard but has more talent + more structured offensive system around him. Cleveland doesn't have that at all, and the on-court product looks more like streetball than any sort of winning philosophy.

The kid can score 40 but give up 30 as he did against Teague. Kinda makes his offensive impact negligible if he can't guard the chair I'm sitting on.

[pancakes3]

I actually see a lot of Arenas in Irving. Arenas was just about 15% better across the board though but more or less they're the same player imo.

[nate33]

I actually see a lot of Arenas in Irving. Arenas was just about 15% better across the board though but more or less they're the same player imo.

Yeah, I'm not sure if it was the system implemented by Eddie Jordan, or just the subtle differences in Arenas' game, but Arenas managed to be a shoot first point guard who still made the players around him better.

Maybe it's just that Arenas didn't play with the ball much. Players didn't find themselves standing around and watching.

[pancakes3]

I think it's just that Jamison/Butler complements a star player offensively much better than Tristan Thomas and Alonzo Gee. Irving really does have a dud of a roster to work with offensively. Very Lebron-esque.