A quick disclaimer: I really hadn’t seen John Wall play before tonight. Well, in person, that is. I’d seen Kentucky games, high school mix tapes, even Las Vegas Summer League on television and the Wizards’ ragged midnight tip-off scrimmage two nights ago.
None of that matters after tonight, and reporters didn’t even get a chance to see the entire practice. In two five-minute scrimmage periods, Wall was quite simply the most dominating player on the floor, and it wasn’t close.
He led a scrimmage squad with teammates Trevor Booker, JaVale McGee, Lester Hudson and Cartier Martin to an overwhelming 23-13 victory over Gilbert Arenas, Kevin Palmer, Hamady N’Diaye, Adam Morrison and Hilton Armstrong in which his team fell behind 6-0 to start.
Wall with two free throws after a hard foul sent him to the deck. Wall with the pull-up jumper over 6-11 Armstrong. Martin free for the jump shot in transition off the drive and feed from Wall in the lane. Another drive that ended with Wall slammed hard to the floor – this time an and-1. The Wall jumper from the elbow. The lengthy bounce-pass on the break to Booker.
His only moment of frustration may have been when Arenas freed himself for a 3-pointer with a little push-off of the rookie. Wall tried to do the same thing at the other end and got whistled for a foul.
In the next game, a 16-7 victory against Booker, Armstrong, Morrison, Hudson and Al Thornton, Wall hit McGee twice for alley oops, splitting defenders on the pick and roll on the first one and then making the defensive play to get the ball out in transition on the next one. He also had two ridiculous blocks, denying Thorton’s surefire dunk and swatting Hudson from behind.
“He can do a lot of different things,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders. “He can do things in a game that can have an outcome on how the game’s played both offensively and defensively. I’ve been impressed with his ability to play hard, his leadership ability, and there’s no question that he’s a gamer. He loves to get involved in game-type situations. “
And it didn’t stop when the scrimmages ended. The Wizards concluded practice with a drill that required players to gather a lay-up at one end, push the ball out and get it back at each foul line before finishing with a lay-up at the other end – at full speed. Wall was the fastest player throughout the entire drill and slammed home his final attempt after the second 2-minute set.
This, of course, is the starting point. Two days is hardly enough to leap to conclusions, and the moment Wall faces someone who isn’t a teammate things are going to get much tougher. But he has set the bar incredibly high, and it will be up to the rest of the Wizards to keep up. With what Washington already has alongside him, Saunders couldn’t stay away from the superlatives.
“I think our backcourt could be as good as anybody’s in the league, with the versatility, the speed, quickness, defensive ability,” said Saunders, who was later asked about the small forward position. “[Kirk] Hinrich’s a great defender. Wall has the ability to be a good defender. It might be those three little guys [including Arenas] together.”
Hudson on fire
Other practice notes First, Hudson was on fire from long range; the best of an endless string of 3-pointers may have been when he crossed over Palmer before knocking one down.
“He’s been playing well,” said Saunders. “He had a great camp this summer, and played very well in the summer league, and he’s kind of carried it through. One, I think with some of the guys that we have, a guy like John, a guy like Hinrich, and Gilbert has the ability to draw coverage, if you have another guy out there that can make shots, it can be beneficial. He’s having a good camp so far.”
“I definitely gotta go out there and make plays,” said Hudson, who was a second-round pick last year for Boston and also spent time with Memphis before ending the season in Washington. “I got a lot of guys in front of me, so I just want to go out and play as hard as I can. The guys root for me. Everybody’s with me, saying I can have a great season so it’s great.”
Arena tweaks ankle, Marks picks up a hamstring
Arenas tweaked his left ankle in a collision during a scrimmage, a slight injury that sent him to the trainer and got him out of the final drill. But he was well enough to launch 35-footers after practice with Hudson, challenging him to a 20-shot contest. Arenas hit 8 of his first 10 before taking his foot off the gas, which allowed Hudson to win by going 12-for-20.
“He’s a great shooter,” said Hudson. “He challenged me to a game so I couldn’t turn it down.”
Sean Marks also suffered a hamstring injury and was pulled earlier in the practice.
