Washington Wizards picked point guard John Wall as first overall pick : 2010 NBA draft
The Washington Wizards picked point guard John Wall as their no.1 pick, and the first overall pick of the 2010 NBA draft. The move was widely expected as Wall turned all kinds of heads with his brilliant play in last year’s college basketball season.
Born 20 years ago in Raleigh, North Carolina, Wall enrolled at the University of Kentucky in 2009, and played just one season of collegiate basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. Led by Wall, the Wildcats won the SEC regular season championship with a 14-2 record and the SEC tournament championship as well. They did not however win the coveted NCAA tournament championship, losing in the East Regional division to West Virginia.
Wall described the thrill of being picked first in a conference call after the match.
"It was great, emotional. Talked to my sister, shook my mom's hand, gave my momma a hug. Shook my college coach's hand and greeted my two brothers and got on stage."
Wall’s style
Wall is known as much for his assist game as anything else. While he can score as well as most players on the court, including scoring 27 points in his first ever collegiate exhibition game, Wall frequently racks up solid numbers of assists. He set the University of Kentucky assist record with 16 assists in one night last Dec. 29, which was also the highest number recorded in the 2009-2010 season by any collegiate player.
At 6’4”, Wall, like many other point-guards, actually stands shorter than most of his team mates, but like other short passing oriented players such as Steve Nash, doesn’t let his height work as a disadvantage. His play was strong enough to earn him accolades from virtually every major media awards pool, including being named the Associated Press SEC 2009-2010 Player of the Year .
Wall was nearly picked in 2009 after many argued he would be eligible for that year’s draft. This was before he’d even played a single season of college basketball, but Wall held back and waited a year, in the meantime fulfilling the high expectations set on his shoulders before entering the 2010 draft.
One of the best players in the world, one of the worst teams
Soon to be playing for Washington, Wall will have his work cut out for him. While the Wizards weren’t the worst team in the NBA last year, they were close to being so, racking up only 26 wins compared to 56 losses over the season. The year before they’d done even worse, going 19-63 to set a franchise record for futility. But Wall told media he was prepared to take on the challenge.
“I can’t get frustrated if we are not winning that many games or go on an 0-10 losing streak — you just have to stay confident and trust in your team mates,” Wall said. “In that level, it’s different than high school or college. You might lose a couple of games in a row.”
Wall also brought up reference to the team’s difficulties off the court with current point guard Gilbert Arenas, who was punished for bringing unloaded firearms to Washington’s arena and storing them in his locker. Arenas also drew the ire of the NBA when he made light of the controversy by pretending to shoot his team mates with imaginary guns before a game with the Philadelphia 76ers. Arenas was suspended for most of the year following the incidents.
“They had a tough time on and off the court last year, so basically me going in to try to help as much as I can, help them win games and learn as much as I can from the staff and [assistant coach] Sam Cassell and the returning guys and the guys who are getting in, just try to become a better team next year on and off the court," Wall said.
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