Magic Overwhelm Wizards and Wall

It was a perfect evening with a light sports’ schedule especially since I have boycotted the World Series with the Yankees being out and all.  The Wall debut on TNT was something I was excited about.  You had a tremendous high school and college talent who was to resurrect a franchise in Washington.

Two early warnings I ignored before the opening tip;

Point 1: Barkley was on the money in talking about with players as good as Wall on the floor, now we’ll see what he is made of.  I got the sense before the game had even started that Barkley was not impressed with Wall and knew he would struggle.  I am not a huge Barkley guy but the holes in your game are exposed in the NBA.  Wall’s lack of an outside shot or inclination to defer was evident.  I started dissecting his game from jump: Can he shoot?  Does he drive left?  Does he move to the open spot after he distributes the ball?  Does he defend?  These questions never came up last season at Kentucky, now all of the sudden I recognize this kid has to get a whole lot better.

Point 2: When they starters were flashed on the screen: McGhee, Wall, Hinrich, Blatche and Thornton, I wondered “who is going to score the basketball?”.  This can’t be a playoff calibre NBA team.  The personnel for the Magic was considerably better.  In fact, the Magic 2nd five could start for Washington.

For most of the summer, as people have discussed the teams to be reckoned with this season in the East with the Heat, Celtics and Bulls getting a lot of attention, I have been one to discuss the Magic being in the conversation.  Now seeing them play and their depth, they are for real.  Vince Carter is not ready to hang them up.  He still has game.

Washington must get Arenas back, they need offensive weapons so that Wall can be the point guard which is where he can excel and not option 1.  Blatche was disappointing last night.  I thought this season he could take a huge step up but he’s a long way away from the elite in this league.

This is a season for Wall to worry less about winning Rookie of the Year and more about gaining confidence in his offensive game and becoming a threat from the perimeter.  It’s critical for his long term success.

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