Well, now that the return of John Wall is out of the way, the Wizards have the rest of this season (48 games left and currently 12 out of the playoffs) and beyond to look toward. If it seems like a lot, it is. But time is still short. Always is. Wall can sign an extension on his rookie contract this summer. When Derrick Rose signed his extension, he got five years, $95 million; Russell Westbrook got five years, $80 million. So the Wizards have a lot of evaluating to do over 48 games to determine if their proclaimed franchise player is worth franchise player money. (At this point, not sure Wall is worth a 5-year, $70 million contract, but we will see.) Wall has some of his own evaluating to do as well. He, like most supreme talents, clearly wants to play for a winner. The Washington Wizards are currently losers.
Decisions, decisions… But hey, John Wall is BACK! Might as well enjoy him while he’s around. Let’s go to the video…
[Friday night thoughts before John Wall's scheduled Saturday debut.]
Let’s be fair to John Wall. I haven’t seen him in practice. Haven’t seen him on Ted Leonsis’ AlterG “anti-gravity” treadmill from outer space. All the Internets talk about, however, is tubby Johnny Wall. Belly full ‘o junk food, y’all. It … would be … soWizards. Whatever the case, Wall is slated to return to action this evening. You might have heard.
So where does that put us as a team? I use “us” in the most ”It’s in the best interest of all involved if this franchise started winning” way—fans, employees, media, etc. You see, I’m no longer a ‘fan’ fan. No face painting, ra-ra, and all that crap. Never really was.I cover this team, but have been dedicated in my following since 1990. I don’t enjoy watching the Wizards lose, and sometimes I appreciate it when they win (I used to get genuinely excited about the local team coming out on top), but for the most part, I’m now just an interested observer. Yet, there’s this whole blog website that kind of goes beyond mere interest.
It’s ‘New Wizards Eve’ … if you will (again), 11 days into 2013 and 28 losses out of 33 played. At least the Mayans weren’t wizards.
On September 9th, the first Sunday of the 2012 NFL season, Robert Griffin III (RGIII) led the Washington Redskins to a 40-32 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome. The days of tepid offensive performances were gone, replaced by a skilled quarterback who seemingly could engineer scoring drives at will. The next day, via his local radio show on D.C.’s Sportstalk 980, Tony Kornheiser proclaimed that this new and improved RGIII-led Redskins team was ushering in an era of “unbridled optimism.” Read more »
It was the sight that all Washington Wizards fans had been waiting for since 2012 draft night: John Wall and Bradley Beal on the Verizon Center court together playing hoops. Granted, it was just Beal and Wall partaking in individual warm-ups before the Wizards tipped-off against the Oklahoma City Thunder. But after the doldrums this team has been through this season, it was a refreshing sight nonetheless.
Wall was in an jovial mood, joking with most everyone around him. Assistant Coach Sam Cassell joined the backcourt duo for a series of drills. Wall went full speed and showed no signs of being slowed by his knee injury. The real news broke when a young fan watching courtside asked Wall when he was going to be playing again. Wall responded to the youngster, “Saturday.”
We know a couple things about Wall’s return. During Comcast’s broadcast of last Friday’s game versus the Brooklyn Nets, Steve Buckhantz said that Wall indicated he wanted to come back in next “week or two.” The next day, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix also reported, via “sources,” that Wall would make his debut “within the next two weeks.” Today, A.J. Price returned from a fractured hand and the Wizards waived point guard Shelvin Mack. After facing the Thunder, Washington will have four days off before hosting the Atlanta Hawks… on Saturday.
For those still depressed over RG3 and the Redskins, Wall’s return to the basketball court could be a sliver of hope. We will see….
For three straight years, they drafted high in the lottery, nabbing a trio of coveted players: A sure-fire star who’d dazzled college basketball in his one season as a freshman. Next, a terrific athlete with great energy and defensive presence. Finally, a scorer who made the game look easy.
Of course, there was no guarantee that these lottery tickets would pay off.
But that team—the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder franchise—somehow hit the jackpot on all three.
The Washington Wizards, with their own collection of youngsters … haven’t. Read more »
Well, there is good news on the John Wall injury front. We think. After a visit to the doctor today, it has essentially been announced that John Wall can “do more stuff.”
Specifically, via team press release and New York City orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Altchek:
“John’s examination today showed improvement in his stress injury that will allow him to begin ramping up his activity level. There is still some irritation in the knee which we have treated over his last several visits with a series of three lubricating Synvisc injections, the last of which was given today. He will continue to be evaluated on an ongoing basis.”
After originally diagnosing John Wall’s “pre-stress fracture” as something which would cause him to miss “approximately eight weeks” in late-September, the team has now announced … well, nothing.
[A John Wall jumper, original picture via the Internets.]
“I never really had to use my jumper before,” John Wall told Kevin Van Valkenberg of ESPN The Magazine earlier this fall. ”I was so much better and faster than everyone, it didn’t matter.”
Welcome to the big leagues, Junior. Wall may have been the sixth-fastest player in NBA history to 2,000 points and 1,000 assists, but he’s not a top shelf NBA product. Not yet. ESPN’s NBA Rank project, which I participated in this season (here’s the full list of voters), ranked Wall as the 55th best player in the Association. He came in at No. 40 after after his rookie season.
Wall isn’t the fastest player, either. Not according to the 11th annual, and always entertaining, GM Survey on NBA.com. The survey asks every general manager (or team president) in the league to respond to 57 questions about the best teams, players, coaches, etc. GM’s are not allowed to vote for their own team or personnel.
The last time TAI reported on the respective health statuses of John Wall and Nene, it was cloudy. After missing Monday’s game against the Spurs, Nene played on Wednesday against the Blazers. He saw 19 minutes of action, almost nine minutes coming in the fourth quarter. Trevor Booker missed this fourth straight game with a knee strain and John Wall, well, he was bowtie coolin’, as evidenced above.
In terms of the injury status for all, it remains cloudy. Coach Randy Wittman pixelated on Wall before the game (via Bullets Forever):
“His rehab and the things he’s able to do on the floor have increased, but it’s not to the point where he’s done everything with the team. It’s hard to say what the timetable is. Everybody focuses in on the 8-12 weeks or whatever it is, but you’ve got to do the things that are right for the individual.”
Cloudy? Or simply the coach being relatively mum? (As mum as uncertain can be.) In any case, Wall was shootin’ the roundball before the game with assistant coach Sam Cassell, and he didn’t look all that bad. More on that to come…Read more »
[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 1, Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers; contributors: Adam McGinnnis, Rashad Mobley, andKyle Weidie.]
He still has two legs. Here, on Monday afternoon, he performs a dribbling drill with assistant coach Ryan Saunders. This is a John Wall update, in GIF form.
UPDATE on Kevin Seraphin…
He didn’t practice on Monday with that strained right calf muscle of his. A return is indeterminate according to head coach Randy Wittman.
“That’s one of those things that can continue to make great strides in a day or two, but then it could be a week, it could be two,” said the coach. “It’s one of those things — calf, hamstring, any kind of muscle injury — you just don’t know until it runs it course.”
