Player of the Week – John Wall

Wall is our Player of the Week.

Despite still sitting a couple of games under .500 for the season at 5-8 the Wizards appear to have belatedly gotten going over the past seven days. In games against the Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Raptors and Knicks they emerged a more than respectable 3-1 and in doing so probably helped to ease a bit of the pressure on seemingly ever under-fire coach Randy Wittman. The improved play of point guard and franchise player John Wall over this period has been directly responsible for the upturn in fortunes and his averages of 24.3 points on 50 per cent shooting (36 of 72), and 8.8 assists are certainly testament to this.

Mired in something of an offensive slump heading into the week and shooting at a sub-par 35.8 per cent fans of the capital’s franchise may have found themselves contemplating whether owner Ted Leonsis was right in signing Wall to a 5 year $80million contract over the offseason and labelling him “the cornerstone of the team”. After all this year was the year they were supposed to make their long-awaited return to the playoffs and so a record of 2-7 over the opening nine games understandably had a few people scratching their heads. Wall himself opened the season looking an entirely different player to the guy that led a resurgent Wizards franchise to a 24-25 record last season when he was in the line-up; a quite remarkable number when you consider they were 5-28 without him.

Whilst his assist numbers have been as solid as ever and have hovered around the 8 mark the Wizards really needed something BIG from him and this came in last Tuesday’s home match-up with the Timberwolves. Heading into it the Wizards were in the midst of a four game slump and so Wall’s 16-assist night came at the perfect time (incidentally this tied his career high). They went onto win 104-100 and followed this up a day later with a morale boosting road win against a slumping Cavaliers team. In the second victory Wall totalled a nice double double with 15 points and 10 assists finishing with a +/- of +13. None of these performances really hinted at what was to come when the Wizards arrived in Toronto for Friday’s match-up with the Raptors though. By all accounts he showed up a couple of hours early to the Air Canada Centre along with Assistant Coach Sam Cassell and put up some extra jumpers – regaining that feeling of seeing the ball through the basket as opposed to bouncing off of the rim. This clearly helped him confidence wise and after the Wizards fell down by sixteen early Wall took over using his most lethal weapon; his speed. Seemingly intent on proving that fast, indeed, does not lie he torched the Raps for 37 points going a staggering 15 for 21 from the field. There was one particular fast break play that left opposing guard Kyle Lowry losing his footwear as he tried to keep up with the driving Wall. The Wizards however would end up losing 96-88 with Wall’s teammates appearing to settle for being spectators to the show he was putting on rather than getting involved themselves.

Going into Saturday’s matchup with the Knicks the odds were, as per The Washington Post, stacked against a repeat performance from Wall. Not only were they playing their fourth game in five days but statistically following a 30 point effort Wall’s average ppg was 20 at a 38.6 clip (53 for 137). Last season he failed to top 18 points after hitting 30 or more the game previous and so you can easily be forgiven for failing to predict he would open 7 for 7 from the field. Following the loss to the Raptors Wall commented that his personal performance meant nothing if HIS team didn’t come away with the W and at no point on Saturday did it look like he was going to see his team fall to another loss. Whilst he has always been admired for his speed and his willingness to attack the basket there have been notable shortcomings in his shooting from the perimeter with teams often tempting him to settle for a 15fter as opposed to driving towards the basket. There were no such shortcomings on Saturday and every time the Knicks offered him the jumper he rose without hesitation and hit nothing but net. He finished 10 of 18 from the floor, 10 of 11 from the stripe (31 points overall), and racked up 7 assists.

Currently, it doesn’t look like it’s going to even take a .500 record to make the playoff picture in the East and so there really are no excuses for the Wizards failing to make the post-season. Their hopes rest on Wall maintaining this level of play and that is a weight he is firmly aware of. “I just need my teammates to see that I’m putting in extra work in the gym and to have confidence that I’m going to make shots,” he said after the Knicks game. In order to help his team Wall does indeed need to continually hit his shots. He needs to assess what the D is doing early on in games and react accordingly. If they leave him the jumper, knock it down, if they close him out, drive past and either get to the line or kick out to either Beal or Webster who are more than capable shooters. It all comes down to his basketball intelligence and maturity as a player. Now is the time he justifies getting the big bucks.

This weeks schedule: Lakers, @Bucks, @Pacers, Hawks

Breaking News: John Wall named Eastern Conference Player of the Week