Washington Wizards: John Wall’s Breakout Game and Huge Month of March
When John Wall entered the 2010 NBA Draft, he had displayed a rare combination of size, elite athleticism and skills that made him the unquestioned No. 1 overall pick. As a freshman at Kentucky, Wall became must-see television with an endless supply of fast breaks, thunderous slams and highlight-reel passes. The Washington Wizards were ecstatic to bring in what appeared to be a sure-fire superstar to a team in desperate need of a franchise player.
Through his first two seasons, Wall had shown flashes of the player he had been at Kentucky, but also struggled with his turnovers and shooting efficiency. Still an extremely young player, he had to adjust to the speed of the NBA game while running the team from arguably the hardest position in basketball. The Wizards had also been the subject of a lot of negative attention when it came to the attitude and chemistry of their young prospects. The likes of Nick Young, Andray Blatche and Javale McGee, who were supposedly cornerstone pieces, had produced more negatives than positives and were affecting the development of Wall in the process.
Wall’s professional career again stalled when he was forced to miss the start of the 2012-13 NBA season with a knee injury. He was unable to make his season debut until Jan. 12 against the Atlanta Hawks and spent weeks easing himself back into regular minutes and game fitness. Through January and February, it appeared that this season was going to be much of the same disappointment from the former No. 1 pick, but after a spectacular month of March and a career night against the Memphis Grizzlies, it appears that Wall may be back on the course to stardom in the NBA.
John Wall exploded for a career-high 47 points against the Memphis Grizzlies. Photo Credit: Geoff Livingston, Flickr.com
Wall’s impressive performance over the past few weeks came to a head Monday, March 25, in a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Wall exploded for a career-high 47 points to go along with seven rebounds and eight assists in what was one of the best individual performances of the season. Wall completely took over the game against one of the best defenses in the league. He shot 13-for-22, including two from 3-point range and got to the free-throw line on 24 occasions. He displayed the full arsenal offensively, creating for teammates, shooting from deep–but primarily creating for himself off the dribble. He had numerous pull-up jump shots after creating space with step-back dribble moves and used his blistering speed to get into the lane and either finish or draw contact from the Memphis bigs.
The 22-year-old Wall displayed a fire and intensity as he took over the game that we had rarely seen since he did so with regularity in the NCAA. He single-handedly willed his team to victory over a Western Conference playoff team and embarrassed some of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. His career night against the Grizzlies capped off what has been a superb month of March thus far for Wall as he has continued to completely turn around the performance of the Wizards.
John Wall is finishing the season strong after injury delayed his debut. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
In the 14 games he has played in March thus far, Wall is averaging 21.8 points, eight assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while leading the Wizards to an 8-6 record. Even more impressive are his shooting percentages; Wall is shooting 50 percent from 3-point range and 52.3 percent overall from the field. He has been looking more and more confident in his jump shot and is not hesitating to shoot when defenders give him any space. Wall has had a number of big games in March, including a 24-point, 16-assist effort in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers on March 22.
Prior to Wall’s January debut, the Wizards sat at the bottom of the NBA standings with a meager 5-28 record. Since Wall re-entered the lineup, Washington has gone 21-16, including victories over the likes of the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, Grizzlies and two wins over the Denver Nuggets. Wall has made a team that started the season with 12 straight losses look like a playoff squad and instead of tanking away the rest of the season like some franchises would, Wall and the Wizards are quietly turning themselves into a consistent, competitive team that will be much better next season.
There aren’t many ways to back up a career night and it’s unlikely that we will see Wall explode like we did against the Grizzlies again for quite some time, but the young point guard is slowly developing into the player scouts saw when he was at Kentucky and we hope that his performance in March can last the rest of the season. With his recent team success, his individual numbers skyrocketing and his phenomenal performance against Memphis behind him, Wall’s confidence must be at an all-time high. He has always had the natural athletic ability, he has the skills, now if he can ride this momentum and show this kind of production consistently he will be well on his way to becoming the superstar he has the potential to be and the franchise changer Washington needs.