VIDEO: John Wall Tears Up Julius Hodge In North Carolina Pro-Am Game
by Mike Prada on Jul 13, 2011 11:02 AM EDT
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Remember when clips of John Wall playing in the Goodman League surfaced, and some of us got worried because he looked kind of slow and unable to jump very high? I think we can now safely say he just wasn't trying hard. Wall played in a Greater N.C. Pro-Am Summer League game near his hometown of Raleigh last night against a team captained by former N.C. State star Julius Hodge, and as you can see, he kind of tore him up in that video.
The stats may not have reflected it -- Hodge scored 20, while Wall only had 12 -- but some of these moves are insane. Also, Wall made the big play, drawing a foul with 0.9 seconds left to give his team a two-point win. Here's a report from the Charlotte Observer:
But Wall got the best of Hodge in the end, drawing a foul in a tied game with 0.9 seconds left and making his free throws to give Triangle Gastroenterology a 73-71 win over 751 South in a Greater NC Pro-Am summer league game on Tuesday night at N.C. Central.
"This is the type of game I like when the crowd gets into it, packed house, you put on a show," Wall said. "It's different than running plays. It's kind of like street ball, but it's inside so I enjoy playing in it."
Obviously, the video only included Wall's good plays and not his bad plays, but it's safe to say he looks just fine.
(Hat tip to Chris Littmann, as well as lovebookershustle for having this first)
UPDATE: Better video below the jump.
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Yep, looks fine. Now, his defense oth.....
just kidding ;-)
"My logic fails all the time...especially when talking to females" Rook6980
"I'll be lounging on the couch, just chillin in my snuggie, klick to MTV so they can teach my how to dougie" (Buno Mars, The lazy song)
yes. He was really skinny at UK and early last season.
Dude’s definitely been hitting the gym and getting bigeger/stronger. YOU HEAR THAT JAVALE – LETS SEE A TWITPIC OF YOU PLANKING AT A GYM. Just kidding. Sort of.
by Ron Carlos Jeines on Jul 13, 2011 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions
He's a bit of a "tweener"
listed at 6’7"
He was drafted in the first round by Denver in 2005… but only played a couple years in the NBA. He played a few years in the Australian basketball league.
I used to have super powers until my psychiatrist took them away.
20th overall according to his wiki page
20th pick by the Denver Nuggets. He appeared in 14 games for the Nuggets in the 2005-06 season while averaging only 0.9 points in 2.4 minutes.
On January 5, 2007, Hodge started in his first career NBA game, against the Los Angeles Lakers. Six days later he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks along with Earl Boykins for Steve Blake. On February 7 of that year, Hodge was waived by the Bucks. Later that year he played for the 2007 Seattle SuperSonics summer league team
"My logic fails all the time...especially when talking to females" Rook6980
"I'll be lounging on the couch, just chillin in my snuggie, klick to MTV so they can teach my how to dougie" (Buno Mars, The lazy song)
by Dutch Hoopfan on Jul 13, 2011 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Didn't Hodge get shot a few years ago?
Maybe that contributed to his declining play. He game and frame didn’t really fit into the NBA but he was one of the best players in college basketball for a couple years there.
"Blake Griffin is the American Jan Vesely" - Jan Vesely
by PhenomenalSwag on Jul 13, 2011 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions
Yup
his rookie year, he got shot in the legs three times while diving. Minor injuries though…a few weeks recovery time I believe. If it derailed his career, it would have been a mental thing.
Hodge was a really good player on a really bad State team in college. He was a SF in college that I thought was undersized for the pros, and his game never looked like he could transfer to the 2 in the pros.
John "Skip to my Lou" Wall
Some of those between the legs thingies and palming things would never fly in a game, but that windmill was nasty!
You know what he got away with that little skip before his crossover
all season long last year, hope it stays that way
by KurisuDevil on Jul 13, 2011 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions
is that really against the rules?
doesn’t look like a real travel to me. I’m actually surprised he doesn’t get called for palming/carry more
by Marine4Life51 on Jul 13, 2011 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
That lil skip that he does at 2:40-41 has always looked a lil like a carry to me
It seems like its more than a hesitation, but he does it so fluidly and quick i think it gets looked past
by KurisuDevil on Jul 13, 2011 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
footwork doesn't matter
as long as you’ve already initiated your dribble and haven’t yet stopped and established a pivot. But I agree, it sometimes does kinda look as if he’s carrying.
by Marine4Life51 on Jul 13, 2011 1:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Triangle Gastroenterology?
is that a joke?
Better start embracing it
Triangle Gastroenterology might be the only squad John Wall plays for in the coming year.
by Jim America on Jul 13, 2011 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Triangle Gastroenterology Forever!
by Bullet Nation in Exile on Jul 13, 2011 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I'm with that
Especially with this guy at player/coach!
There are worse -ologies he could play for
Not many mind you.
by GoForthAndDie on Jul 13, 2011 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Has he picked up Nick's fade on his J?
I still think his J looks unorthodox..but as long as it goes in who cares
I wonder how many shots he missed...
Of course he hits every jumper in this highlight reel. But he only had 12pts and we saw em’ all here. Dude coulda gone 4-21 and we would never know.
His form does look better though. And he looks confident with this release. Those are good signs.
AverageBro.com - @AverageBro
by averagebro on Jul 13, 2011 5:24 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Looked more like DeShawn's.
That’s not a good thing.
Getting buckets since 2003.
by Icantfeelmyface on Jul 13, 2011 9:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Deshawn isn't a bad shooter.
One bad year where he was injured doesn’t take that away from him.
His FG percentages are skewed because all he did in dallas was shoot 3’s, but his TS% is .550 which is pretty normal, 60% and you’re entering steve nash / ray allen territory.
Geting it done.
I'm talking about DS's leaning fade away, not his percentages
I’m also talking about him with the Wiz, not the Mavs. DS has horrible form. Fortunately, he can replicate it, which is why he’s a fine spot up shooter, but he still can’t shoot off the dribble. OTOH, Wall HAS to be able to shoot off the dribble since he’s the guy with the ball in his hands.
Getting buckets since 2003.
by Icantfeelmyface on Jul 14, 2011 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Well Wall may be playing a lot harder because it's in Raleigh
where Troop 41 cheers him on. I’m glad to see him play well in these leagues nevertheless.
Too bad every FG is followed by two minutes of hand signs...
It’s worse than Deshawn, because at least we knew what D Steve’s meant.
Like I’ve said before, it is really hard for someone to argue the kid is in a gang, but I really would like to know the signs mean to him. Because they are kind of obnoxious.
Ohhh my God.
Where is my FACE? I CANT FEEL MY FACE!!!
by returnofswagger on Jul 13, 2011 4:16 PM EDT reply actions
Its not a Raleigh thing.
Wall and Hodge are just being really obnoxious.
AverageBro.com - @AverageBro
by averagebro on Jul 13, 2011 5:18 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I think this is a really good question
The hand signs obviously mean something, even if they aren’t gang-related.
I really wish he'd quit it with the hand signs.
They could me absolutely nothing (ie: hometown reference) but since most people associate those gestures with gangs, it doesn’t matter. Wall’s too smart and too good a player for such juvenile antics.
I wish his handlers would tell him to cut it out already.
AverageBro.com - @AverageBro
by averagebro on Jul 13, 2011 5:34 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yeah those are my sentiments pretty much.
He will probably grow out of it: meaning somebody will tell him to stop, either from his camp, or the team’s. or the league’s. Because he is going to be really good and one of the face’s of the league at some point.
Ohhh my God.
Where is my FACE? I CANT FEEL MY FACE!!!
by returnofswagger on Jul 13, 2011 8:35 PM EDT up reply actions
I think it might be gang associated but I just care about what he does on the court...gang signs haven't affected Paul Pierce that much in the league.
Here is something to look at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b76W_zP7GSA
Around 4:37 you hear Wall say, “B’s up n***as”….which may be in reference to the Bloods gang.
TNT should've treated Lebron's return to Cleveland game like 2k11 and cut the game off after the Cavs were down by 30. lol
by Krobify on Jul 13, 2011 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This says that that is a common reference to the Blood’s.
I just spent two hours looking up this crap on the web. It’s hard for me to argue Paul Pierce wasn’t throwing a Blood sign. What he threw is obviously a blood sign. But he could easily argue that it means something totally different to him. I would say a guy from Inglewood, a guy that grew up surrounded by the culture, knew exactly what he was doing.
Same goes for Wall, here. If the stuff he threw up is proven gang signs, he could just as quickly say those same signs represent something totally different to him.
I really still don’t know what to think about all of this. And I just spent a few hours researching it. I know I grew up in the DMV, Northern VA/Southern MD specifically, and saw my share of gang related crap through highschool. Part of me says these guys know exactly what they are doing/saying.
Ohhh my God.
Where is my FACE? I CANT FEEL MY FACE!!!
by returnofswagger on Jul 14, 2011 10:45 PM EDT up reply actions
It's a streetball game.
Julius Hodge was doing the same thing, they were having fun. None of the stuff they both pulled would have flyed in a real nba game. John Wall knows that, he’s not stupid.
Geting it done.
Mike, could you ask him what the signs mean if you get to speak to him?
He’ll probably awnsers it’s just a thing with friends or something but I would like to know the exact meaning, not who it is for.
Also, since the general public associates signs with gangs, could you ask him if he understands that? He doesn’t have tattoo’s because he want’s to protect his brand and be a good example to kids so he must care I would think
"My logic fails all the time...especially when talking to females" Rook6980
"I'll be lounging on the couch, just chillin in my snuggie, klick to MTV so they can teach my how to dougie" (Buno Mars, The lazy song)
by Dutch Hoopfan on Jul 14, 2011 8:45 AM EDT up reply actions
Oh my frickin gosh
Is this a joke? Gang signs? I truly apologize if I’m missing the sarcasm, but that has to be the most not-cool comment I’ve read in a long time. They aren’t gang signs; they are playing-basketball in that environment, having-fun signs. I do that, and I’m hardly in a gang, and I’m sure I’d do it a lot more if I ever played in front of 1000 fans.
If he just high-fived, would that make you feel better? I mean, I know there’s a lockout, but we can’t just make up crazy, non-based in reality stuff, just to stir the pot. I mean, to be honest, I think the question is almost offensive. Gang signs??? How can you be serious?
So, when Kirk Hinrich does it, it’s just local 4-H club signs, or when Yi does it, it’s foreign guy signs, but when John Wall does it it’s gang signs? You sound like Colin Cowherd. And it’s certainly not obnoxious. It’s a local free-for-all game. If those guys didn’t do that stuff, the crowd would be disappointed, they’d be considered out of touch and snobby, etc. It’s playing to the community. I mean, it’s a hell of a lot better than Pierre’s marching off to war symbol everytime he dunks in real games, and even that’s not too bad. Why is showing personality suddenly a gang thing? Way too many stereotypes in that assertion.
by Kenny Sky Walker on Jul 14, 2011 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Really?
People don’t think gang signs because they see a black man making hand gestures. They see something that looks like gang signs, and think gang signs. How often have Hinrich or Yi done something resembling gang signs; and is it a recurring thing?
You acting like this is clearly not the case is to one extreme, like me saying lock John Wall up now is to the other extreme. Don’t ignore all of the evidence, even the video of the guy making very clear, deliberate hand signs. Its not like he is doing random crap. It’s obviously choreographed.
Last thing:
They aren’t gang signs; they are playing-basketball in that environment, having-fun signs.
What is ‘that’ environment? Like a gang influenced environment? I don’t get how the environment determines whether or not he is making gang signs. And could you elaborate on what you think the signs are..?
Ohhh my God.
Where is my FACE? I CANT FEEL MY FACE!!!
by returnofswagger on Jul 14, 2011 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Listen, I argued John Wall is obviously not in a gang when this originally came up.
I’m just saying, it is clear what this looks like. It looks like gang signs. If they are not, then I would like to hear an explanation as to what they mean to him(because he has done them on an NBA court as well). If there’s a good explanation, like they represent his crew of friends that he ran with as a kid(non-criminally related of course), then who am I to tell him to stop. But if he doesn’t have a good explanation, then they need to go. Because they look obnoxious and the first thing people think is the guy is throwing gang signs.
Ohhh my God.
Where is my FACE? I CANT FEEL MY FACE!!!
by returnofswagger on Jul 14, 2011 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't think I'm extreme at all
That environment = a charity/summer game with a small, close, interactive crowd. Like seeing, say, for your sake, “Bruce Springsteen” in a small bar with 100 people versus seeing him at a concert at FedEx Field with 45,000.
I don’t REMOTELY mean a “gang induced environment” – whatever that could mean. I actually didn’t say anything like that at all. An informal, small, tight-knit, heavy-on-interaction-with-the-fans, casual environment. One in which fooling around is not a big deal, where you can hear the fans easily. Not sure where you got “gang induced” from that.
The environment means he’s playing to the fans because it’s smaller and more interactive than a normal NBA game. It means the hand signals and showboating are HARMLESS. I guess if it was a prison charity game, your argument might make sense, but it wasn’t. The environment shows he was clowning around, maybe even representing, or some inside joke. The environment is a strong argument in favor of my point of view. I don’t think he does that stuff when he’s practicing alone in the gym.
I also don’t think it’s obnoxious at all. And I think it’s kinda random, kinda choreographed. Not as choreographed as Pierre’s schtick, more freelancing. I don’t see it as any different than Tiger Wood’s little pull-the-lever fist thing or the Antoine Walker shimmy, or Mark Jackson’s thing, or DeShawn’s face thing.
Remember when Webber did the slit-his-throat symbol while with the Bullets? Everybody cried gang, gang, gang like you are. It was just as silly then.
by Kenny Sky Walker on Jul 15, 2011 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions
That play where he behind the back and then between the legs for the pass was sick!
TNT should've treated Lebron's return to Cleveland game like 2k11 and cut the game off after the Cavs were down by 30. lol
Not exactly gangsta country on Tobacco Road...
And thx to averagebro for the Triangle geography lesson.
I always associate NC Central with I-85 more than I-40 (but that just shows my age, as there was no I-40 when I went down to Chapel Hill for grad school in 1966, the year that Charlie Scott broke the color barrier in Tar Heel hoops). There were also some treacherous “missing links” (and notable speed traps) on I-85 around Creedmoor and Buttner as well.
If youre a college student...
…there is no better place in the world than the state of NC.
AverageBro.com - @AverageBro
by averagebro on Jul 13, 2011 5:20 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
there are problems
with gangs in Durham, some parts of Raleigh. It ain’t ’66 anymore. The people who killed the UNC student president a few years ago were gang members IIRC.
For sure it is not 1966 anymore...
I am aware of it every time I haul these 68-year old bones around the tennis court against much younger opponents.
The Triangle was and is a great place for college students though. I was teaching freshman comp at Chapel Hill and wound up marrying a Carolina girl, who sadly passed on 10 years ago.
The Charlie Scott thing was interesting. He was a Freshman that year and under the old rules had to wait until the following year to play with the varsity (o tempore, o mores). So the 66-7 Heels were led by two swing men, Larry Miller and Bob Lewis. Miller put in some good years for the Utah Stars in the ABA.
*Butner
you can easily get shot in many parts of Durham that aren’t surrounded by limestone walls. Few Gardens comes to mind. It wasn’t too long ago that Durham was the per capital national homicide leader. I went to Central for summer school once. The surroundings are not great.
But the gang sign talk is silly. If there is any connection, then it is the same as kids wearing baggy pants coming from prison styles. Wall’s a good kid.
I’ll never forget Hodge punching Steve Blake in the back of the head after Blake and the rest of the Terps were schooling Hodge and the Wolf Pack. Glad Wall schooled this old fool again.
Flacco's first 3 years vs. Brady's, Manning's and Brees' first 3 years
Flacco threw for just 21 fewer passing yards than Brady and tossed four fewer interceptions. Flacco threw for 1,655 more yards than Brees, two more touchdowns and four fewer picks. Manning, who averaged 88 more passes per season, threw for way more yards and touchdowns than Flacco, but also tossed 24 more interceptions.
by Mr MaLoR on Jul 13, 2011 5:12 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Yeah. Who is this guy?
Nice to see Wall not back down. Need your best player to be like that.
by gilsix on Jul 14, 2011 10:21 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Hodge sign with Partizan and go all MVP a la James Gist.
Wall looks like he’s in superb shape, that’s great to see
Gist does look great over there
But in fairness, it isn’t just that the Euro league is comparatively weak… Josh Childress couldn’t especially hack it in Greece. The style of play overseas just favors certain players. Maybe it could favor Mr. Hodge.
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