The Washington Wizards Continue to Do Well Since the Return of John Wall

By Craig Ballard
Chris Humphreys-US PRESSWIRE

On Wednesday night, the Washington Wizards defeated the New York Knicks and it gave them a 8-7 record since the return of John Wall. Eight wins in 15 games is pedestrian for some teams, but for a team with a putrid .261 winning percentage in the last 3+ seasons (three seasons plus 5-28 start to this season before Wall made his 2012-13 debut), it is noteworthy.

The stud-in-the-making is dealing with knee issues and shoulder issues, but he is shooting better than he ever has, except, of course from downtown where he may be the worst 3-ball shooting guard in the NBA. This season Wall has chucked up a dozen 3-balls, and just one went in. Yikes! The Wizards’ already strong team defense has gotten even better as they have allowed just 92 points per game since Wall has been in there.

Wall has played seven games in front of the home crowd, and the Wiz are an impressive 6-1 at the Verizon Center (including wins over playoff teams like the Atlanta Hawks, Knicks, Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Clippers). Wall is averaging just 27 minutes per game, but he is getting more and more playing time (30+ minutes in five of his last six games) and he will build to the 37ish minutes per game he usually gets.

The third year player likes to play with his foot on the gas and he is contributing to winning better than ever at the NBA level. At 22 years young, we can see that Wall’s future is massive, and coach Randy Wittman will want to make him his BFF as he is a guy that can lift this franchise. Many thought that Wall would be special and in the last month, he has me very excited about what he can accomplish.

Craig Ballard is a NFL/NBA/MLB writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow  him on Twitter @craigballard77, and you can find all of his articles HERE

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