One of the reasons the Washington Wizards are off to such a poor start again this season has been the absence of John Wall. A team isn’t going to win many games without its best player, and Washington has won only four of its 29 with Wall having been sidelined with a knee injury for the entire season. To say that the Wizards are missing the former Kentucky star would be an epic understatement.
However, Stan Van Gundy does not feel that Wall is the answer to the Wizards’s problems — this season or in the future.
“You know, I don’t see it, to be honest,” Van Gundy told ESPN 980’s The Sports Reporters last week, via D.C. Sports Bog. “I’d love to tell you you’re two years away; I really don’t [see it]. That roster doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I know they’ll be better when John Wall comes back. He’s certainly got talent, but I don’t know that even John Wall is a great player to build your franchise around. I don’t know who you’re building around, so it’s tough to even think about what the construction of your team is. That’s just a bad basketball team.”
Wall has only played two full seasons in the NBA, but the Wizards have yet to even sniff the postseason since they drafted him. He still has a long career ahead of him, but the point Van Gundy is trying to make is that he doesn’t expect him to morph into a LeBron James or a Derrick Rose.
“I think maybe they thought it was gonna be John Wall – maybe they still think it is,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of people in the league – I’d certainly be one that would share this opinion – I don’t think John Wall’s good enough to be the guy that you build around. I think he’s got great speed and quickness, but point guard is a decision-making position. That’s what makes you great as a point guard, is your decision-making. I haven’t seen any indication that John Wall is a great decision-maker.”
At this point, it’s tough to argue with the former Orlando Magic coach. Wall is certainly a star player, but the Wizards are in need of much more help. He’s not capable of carrying a team the way LeBron used to carry the Cavs or Kobe Bryant has carried the Lakers. Washington has been rebuilding for years, and it will continue to rebuild well after Wall returns from injury.
