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Are the Wizards Better Without John Wall?

That's the question on everyone's lips.

By J.S. MellanbyPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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NBA.com

This is a question that has been asked recently by fans, professional basketball commentators and personalities and even the players themselves. There is a simple answer to the question, no.

The Wizards were riding a five-game winning streak, pushing them to level in the loss column with the Cavaliers until Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers brought them back down to Earth in a noisy Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night.

The simple fact of the game was that they couldn’t score as many threes as the 76ers. They shot the ball well from the field at 44.1 percent, however, they shot an abysmal 7-27, 25.9 percent from the three-point line. Philadelphia, on the other hand, shot 14-28 from the three-point line. That’s 50 percent for the maths whizzes out there. It’s also noteworthy to mention is that the Wizards never lead in the game. They cut it close a few times but as soon as the lead was down to 12, 10, 8, the 76ers would score in bunches and push it back up to 14, 16. It was a game that saw Bradley Beal score 30 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds, shot 54.4 percent from the field and post -14, yes -14. The Wizards just couldn’t contain first-time All-Star Joel Embiid, who finished the night with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Even J.J. Reddick, who thought he wouldn’t be able to play due to an injury, put up 18 points on 4-5 shooting from three. The 76ers came out all with all cylinders firing and the Wizards couldn’t keep up with them.

Despite the loss, the Wiz have been playing, as Bradley Beal put it, ‘everybody eats’ basketball since Wall shut it down for the next six to eight weeks with right knee surgery. They have been moving the ball over the last six games. So well in fact, that they have been averaging 30.7 assists in those last six games. The Wizards have a record of 5-1 in those games and only two of those games were against teams below .500. So the Wizards have been playing better, yes. Against top teams in the league, yes. So that makes them a better team without John Wall? No.

The Wizards have adapted to playing without their five-time All-Star in a way which allows them to move the ball, play less iso and get everybody involved. This is just what Scott Brooks and the coaching staff wanted, keep the team hot and play their brand of basketball ready for Wall to be inserted into the lineup like nothing had changed. A stat that really stood out was that Wall had the team high in assists for 11 games in a row before getting injured. If you play like they have been playing recently, then slide Wall back into the lineup, this team could be unstoppable.

The biggest fear they should have right now is consistency. The Wizards have been inconsistent all, year, long. Just one example, they beat number one ranked Boston on Christmas Day, and then lose to the 15th placed Atlanta Hawks two days later. This is the type of play, which so far, the Wizards have been able to eradicate over the past six games. The Wizards will play Boston at the Capital One area on Thursday night and face the sub .500 Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

The sooner John Wall comes back, the better. This team has gotten to where they are this year with John Wall in the lineup. He is the franchise star and he certainly pushed the Washington Wizards into relevancy in the Eastern Conference over the past eight years.

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J.S. Mellanby

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