With the NBA season slowly but surely approaching, it’s that time of the year where various well-known sites like ESPN and Sports Illustrated start ranking the players in different ways.
While ESPN does a countdown of every player in the league, Sports Illustrated narrows it down and ranks the top 100 players. Thus far, Sports Illustrated has revealed up to the 31st best player in the league, and the player named at the top of that list was Washington Wizards point guard John Wall, who wasn’t thrilled with where he was placed:
#31 !!
— John Wall (@John_Wall) September 16, 2014
More Motivation, Love it…#wizsquad !!
— John Wall (@John_Wall) September 16, 2014
@si_nba no need to be sorry, u made ur decision…Thanks
— John Wall (@John_Wall) September 16, 2014
Wall is just starting to get more recognition from around the league after helping his team reach the second round of the playoffs last season, but is still plenty overlooked primarily due to his still-developing perimeter game. It’s probably why he was left off the roster for Team USA this summer despite being the best defensive point guard available, and why he wasn’t ranked higher than 31 by Sports Illustrated.
To his credit, Wall drastically improved his 3-point shooting last season, jumping from 26.7 percent from the 2012-2013 season to a more respectable 35.1 percent. However, things got really ugly in the playoffs, when he managed to convert on just 36.6 percent of his field goals and a paltry 21.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Wall’s reaction to the ranking means he believes he should be ranked higher. Whether the motivation helps catapult him into a more elite group of players remains to be seen, but most would probably agree that he’s not quite there just yet.
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James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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The Sports Illustrated listing is specifically forward looking for the 2014-2015 season and is a prediction on how each player will do. It only uses the past as a guideline for this coming season.
Wall may be a little high at #31, since he was an All Star and the Wiz are expected to do well this season, but its not outrageous. Others have more to complain about. Also, for every person who is underrated, someone is overrated.
I believe Paul Pierce at #46 is well overrated, and that will become apparent when he can’t defend at the SF position (too slow), yet SF’s can defend him. He played PF last season, which helped his offense, at the expense of being pushed around on D. There are 150 starters, so you should be around #80 if you are an average starter (some bench players could be at the level of average starters)
Some players like Deron Williams didn’t get the benefit of the doubt for finally “fixing” his ankles. He was ranked #45, but I’m sure he feels he’s every bit as good as John Wall, if healthy. They couldn’t give a reason, other than his ankles, for why he didn’t deserve a better ranking, but they tried to make up an intangible reason.