As the Washington Wizards close out their home season tonight against the Celtics, one can’t help but checking the work on last year’s No. 1 overall pick, and Wizards rookie guard John Wall has one big obstacle in his campaign for the NBA’s Rookie Of The Year–Blake Griffin. What’s odd is that Griffin, last year’s No.1 overall pick, sat out all of 2009-2010 with an injured kneecap. So this comes down to Which Guy Played Better For His Awful Team?
The former Kentucky Wildcat [Wall] is averaging 16.3 points and 8.5 assists per game this year. Perhaps the league’s most exciting young player, Blake Griffin, leads all rookies with 22.5 points per game. –NESN.
Wall is in the conversation for Rookie of the Year, although the consensus pick appears to be Griffin, whose Clippers (31-50) are languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference and will be a lottery team just like Wall’s Wizards. –Washinton Times.
But not everyone is down on the Great Wall Of Chinatown. Yeah, I’m still calling him that.
From NBC Washington:
Among the stats highlights… Ranked No. 1 in assists among rookies, Leads all rookies in steals per game, Second in scoring among rookies (behind Griffin), One of only three rookies to record a triple-double this season (Griffin and Jordan Crawford join him), First Washington rookie to record 1,000 points, 500 assists, and 100 steals in a season
I’ll actually be at the Wizards game tonight as a guest of CÎROC Ultra Premium Vodka, who is handing out passes for free rides home as part of their Safe Rides initiative with the NBA and the Verizon Center. That’s a relief to a lot of social drinkers at the game, and probably a lot cheaper than assembling a funeral procession for the Wizards’ season.
