John Wall to sit out for the first time in his NBA career
The 2010 first-overall pick John Wall will be sidelined with a sprained left foot for the first time this season when the struggling Washington Wizards host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday
16 November at the Verizon Center.
Wall, who averaged 18.1 points and 9.8 rebounds in the Wizards’ first eight games this season, missed the team’s practice on Monday 15 November and was seen walking on crutches around the
practice facility after he received treatments from their team doctor.
The 20-year-old guard sprained his left foot after a bad fall when he tried to block Derrick Rose’s shot in the third period of their game against the Chicago Bulls on 13 November. Although
he was hurt, Wall managed to return to the game, but head coach Flip Saunders said that their decision of playing Wall in the final period might have made the injury worse.
Without Wall, Gilbert Arenas will likely start for the first time this season along with Kirk Hinrich in backcourt, and Saunders believes that they will provide a lot of scoring prowess for
the Wizards, who will try to end their two-game slump.
Arenas struggled to find his usual form earlier in the season, but he bounced when he erupted for 30 points on 11-22 shooting to go with six rebounds against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday
13 November. Although Arenas is slowly getting into his old form, Saunders is still hoping that he could give the all-star guard some rest to avoid another setback this season.
“Hopefully, he'll keep going and you hope he'll get some rest,” Saunders said. “Gil is such a compulsive player. It's like, if one aspirin is good, five is great. So when he goes out and
shoots, instead of shooting 200 shots, he'll shoot 2,000 shots. And I think, when he was struggling a little bit, he was almost working too hard.”
The nine-year veteran and former Arizona standout, Arenas, is averaging 14.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in his first five games this season.
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