Will John Wall Miss The Entire Season?

[Built Ford Tough]

The Washington Wizards have been plodding along this season, opening up with a 3-18 record (worst in franchise history), as they wait for John Wall to eventually heal from his knee injury and return to save them. Wall has been out for months as the Wizards try to figure out how to get him back on the court with a knee injury that has been much worse than anticipated.

 

Worst-case scenario could be him missing the entire season, which is a scary thought.

 

Michael Lee of the Washington Post sat down with Wall to discuss the knee injury and the steps he's taking to get back on the court:

 

He mistakenly referred to the injury that has kept him sidelined since September as a “fracture” several times, but there would be much less mystery surrounding his condition had he simply suffered a clean break. In that case, he would be done for the season, no questions asked.

 

“I'm not thinking like that,” Wall said, when asked if it would be better for him to sit out the entire season. “Hopefully the time I've taken off and the shots I got and the treatment I've been getting is helping me get healthy so I can play basketball this season. You don't want to miss a whole season. If it comes to it, you have to, but I'm trying not to think that far ahead.”

 

Well, that's kind of terrifying. I'm sure he's just speaking from a precautionary manner here. It's also mentioned in the article that he feels less pain and can do much more than he was able to do a short time ago. The injections he's receiving are Synvisc injections to his knee to take away pain in his injured knee.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/21420239/john-wall-sort-of-worries-about-missing-the-entire-season

 

If Wall's condition doesn't become any clearer, when do the Wizards consider shutting him down for the season?

 

They've already dug themselves way too big of a hole to even think about the playoffs so it's not like they would have that to worry about.

[Nitro]

Eh...I'm weary of shutting down any player for an entire season. He's already in his 3rd season, and missing an entire season throws your ryhthm off sooooo much. He still has a lot of holes, primarily on-court decisions that he can only improve in live action games, so if he is 100% at any point this season, I feel he needs to play. Even if it's just for 15-20MPG.

[Real Deal]

I don't remember where, but I did read somewhere that he may consider season-ending surgery. Don't remember if it was even a credible source or not, just saw it on Twitter a while back, RT from one of the news guys I follow.

 

Leaves me guessing as to what surgery he would need, though...doesn't make sense.

[Check my Stats]

That's crazy. Like Nitro said, huge hit for his development for sure. I guess one silver lining is that they will be picking top 3 again this year, and should have a nice (on paper) 1-2-3 punch with Wall-Gordon and someone like Zeller. Oh yeah, Vesely too! (lol)

 

Beyond his development, what sort of affect could this have on his quickness/explosiveness, one of his biggest assets (or only) up to this point in his career? Scary, and sad news for a Washington organization that is finally in the process of turning things around in that locker room.

[Built Ford Tough]

Eh...I'm weary of shutting down any player for an entire season. He's already in his 3rd season, and missing an entire season throws your ryhthm off sooooo much. He still has a lot of holes, primarily on-court decisions that he can only improve in live action games, so if he is 100% at any point this season, I feel he needs to play. Even if it's just for 15-20MPG.

 

If he is 100% you play him, that is obvious.

 

However, what if he gets cleared to play but is only at 75-80%? Do you bring him back and play him?

 

So much of Wall's game is dependent on his explosiveness and athleticism so do you gamble with playing him and running the chance that he may tweak something and need to go under the knife or just does something that may have a long term effect on his knees. That would be way more damaging to his development than missing an entire season based on his strengths as a player.

[Nitro]

If he is 100% you play him, that is obvious.

 

However, what if he gets cleared to play but is only at 75-80%? Do you bring him back and play him?

 

So much of Wall's game is dependent on his explosiveness and athleticism so do you gamble with playing him and running the chance that he may tweak something and need to go under the knife or just does something that may have a long term effect on his knees. That would be way more damaging to his development than missing an entire season based on his strengths as a player.

 

Well, many times a player will NEVER reach 100% until they get on the court for awhile. Certain things with stamina and strength/agility can only be attained with in-game activity, as opposed to weight lifting/off-court drills.

 

I don't know...if he can play without strong chance of re-injurying himself (barring a freak accident/fall), I think he needs to get back on the court.

[Sħãlïq™]

Will John Wall Miss The Entire Season?

 

If Wall's condition doesn't become any clearer, when do the Wizards consider shutting him down for the season?

Naah, he's coming back: John Wall: Ready to play if pain-free

 

WASHINGTON -- Playing for the blue team in a Washington Wizards scrimmage, John Wall stripped the ball from a player on the white team, outran a defender down the right sideline and went high with his left hand for a dunk.

 

He also went behind the back, then drove down the middle and got fouled hard on a layup attempt. He hit the floor, but got up with no problem. If Wednesday's practice was any indication, Wall looks ready for his season debut.

 

"I'm tired of suits. I want to put on a jersey," he said.

 

The former No. 1 overall draft pick is aiming to play Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks, which would be his first game since he was diagnosed with a stress injury to his left kneecap in September. He said if he can make it through the next two days of practice pain-free, he'll be good to go.

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