#1 Pick

[Targus]

Did Wall perform as expected?

I watched some highlights. The kid is a lot faster than I had originally gave him credit for. I understand it's premature, but his instincts and genuine PG play seem to make him worthy of a #1 pick (so far).

His stats last night:

21 points in 6/14 fg 9/11 ft 9 ast 4 stls

Not too shabby... Good for Washington.

 

[BGrantFan]

He's no Ricky Rubio...

 

[THE HCP]

1 game! Just like Wes last night for us.

 

[Targus]

Reportedly, Rubio has backed out of his name "Ricky" because he feels he needs to mature into the name "Ricky" and he is now demanding he be called Ricardo Rubio.

"Basketball isn't one-on-Ricky. It's five-on-Ricardo, plus the bench."[12] He then switched to English, commenting on his competitive nature — "If Ricardo losing, Ricardo going to do everything possible to win. I do the same thing on the court"

 

[Sex Panther]

It's preseason.

 

[hasoos]

He looked good on the highlights. Wall will be a star for years.

 

[THE HCP]

I was blown away by how fast he is with the rock!

 

[hasoos]

I was blown away by how fast he is with the rock!

What I think is funny is that when he interviews, he even interviews fast. He talks really fast, like his thought patterns are so fast that he has a hard time talking to keep up. Speed is no good unless you can think at that speed. I think he has that covered.

 

[THE HCP]

Somebody posted comparisons to D Rose. He looks small and lanky to me compared to Rose.

 

[MickZagger]

Wait until he starts getting scouted and players stop the ball. You can draw a charge on him often. I think he'll come out of the gates on fire, but once teams start realizing his tendencies his game will slow down a bit. Kinda like Brandon Jennings last year.

 

[BrianFromWA]

But imho he can't shoot like Jennings. Maybe that will come, but I don't think it will this year. Look at how Durant and Beasley (offensively-polished players coming out of college) fared when they joined the NBA and got scouted.

I think he'll come out hot, hit the rookie wall, and start to figure it out by the end of the year. I think Cousins has a shot to be better this year, and Evan Turner. Depends on who can help their team get close to a playoff run. I still like Turner.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Somebody posted comparisons to D Rose. He looks small and lanky to me compared to Rose.

He's actually taller and longer than Rose. Right now nobody has a quicker first-step than John Wall. It's unbelievably quick.

 

[MadeFromDust]

He's gonna be a helluva player. You can already tell he's gonna get Wade-like calls too.

 

[Sex Panther]

He's actually taller and longer than Rose. Right now nobody has a quicker first-step than John Wall. It's unbelievably quick.

Yup, he's an inch taller and slightly longer. But his first step is nowhere near Rose's. There's a reason why people have called Rose's athleticism "once in a lifetime". And he's not as strong.

But he is faster with the ball than Rose by a little bit.

 

[THE HCP]

Man, he blew by Kidd again and again. Pumped to watch this kid play!

 

[tlongII]

Man, he blew by Kidd again and again. Pumped to watch this kid play!

Blowing by the current version of Kidd ain't no thang.

 

[BGrantFan]

Look at how Durant and Beasley (offensively-polished players coming out of college) fared when they joined the NBA and got scouted.

Durant put up 20 ppg and a 15.8 PER as a 19 year-old. Beasley put up 14 ppg and a 17 PER at age 19. I'd say their relative ineffectiveness (which is actually above the NBA norm for any player) was more a factor of age than it was scouting. If it was scouting, then why has Durant developed into a Top 5 player?