Thoughts on Wall and last nights draft

Like many of us I was shocked, frustrated, mad, sad and disappointed. I think everybody felt Wall was disrespected. Part of it, I think, is Wizards bias as ilustrated by the 'Washington Generals' remark by Kenny. Another part of it is that Shaq and Chuck had to draft a team, not just go by BPA. Whatever the case, 4 Point Guards were taken over Wall last night. In order: Irving, Lin, Rubio, Walker and Wall. I decided to take a closer look at all of them to see how Wall stacks up.

Simple stats vary heavily with minutes played per game and don’t really tell you much. Per 36minutes stats aren’t ideal either imho since they assume that production increases linear with minutes played. So, I decided to look at the advanced stats because they tell you something about a players value when he’s on the court.

STAT.............Lin..............Irving............Wall..........Rubio...........Walker

TS%.......... ..58%............ 58%...............50%...........49%..............47.4%

eFG%..........51.4%..........54.2%............41.9%.........41.2%...........41.9%

PER……......24.2.............21.8...............17.6............16.1 ............15.0

AST%..........51.5%..........34.2%............35.8%.........40%..............22.6%

TOV%..........20.4%..........16.5%............19.9%........22.8%...........11.8%

WS………....1.2...............2.1.................1.2..............2.5.................0.3

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As you can see, Lin has truelly been rediculous. He shoots it at a very high clip, has a near MVP level PER and although he has a slightly higher turnover % than Wall, he has an insanely high assist% as well. There has never been a player this productive in his first 7 starts in the NBA. Many have reserves about him, since the samplesize is rather small, but what we have seen out him doesn't look fluky. His understanding of the P&R, his courtvision and feel for the game are just too impressive. Will he maintain these insane levels? Ofcourse not. Right now, though, even without considering the hype around him, he was rightly chosen over Wall imho.

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Irving has really impressed my, as I touched on in my last fanpost. He is exciting to watch and incredibly effecient as well. He is a threat from anywhere on the court to either pull up or drive by you. He get's in the paint at will and has incredible balance to finish consistantly at the rim. His PER shows he is playing at an all star level in the first half of his first (!!) season. This kid is going to be very special.

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Rubio's numbers don't stack up to John's. However, if you have watched a live game of the Timberwolves this yr, you know what I mean when I say that you can feel his presence when he's on the court. When he get's subbed (back) in, everybody in the arena and at home, feels something awesome is bound to hapen. His very high winshare of 2.5 is the only advanced stat that backs this up but man does Rubio have command. He is a true orchestrator. The stats can't capture his pressence I guess. This is is a kid you have to see play to know how good he is and what kind of impact he has on a game.

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Kemba's stats are not all that great in comparison to the others but for a rookie they are pretty damn solid. He's right at the level of Wall's rookie season stats. He isn't a great passer but he does have much better turnover numbers than Wall. All in all I don't see Kemba as a true point but more of a undersized, ball dominant 2 guard. That's a different discussion though.

To conclude

We were all baffled he got picked 12th but should we really? Irving for example has been head and shoulders above John. Lin and Rubio have tremendous value to their teams as true floor generals and they clearly make their teammates better. Also remember, these are rookies we are comparing to Wall's sophomore year.

Meanwhile, Wall has had a terrible season the first 20 games....oeff was it hard to watch. The last 10 have been better but I would argue that he is just now aproaching the level of his rookie year. He litterally lost a year's worth of developing. I hope he will now continue to get better and that he can make up for the lost time the second half of this season.