John Wall was arguably the NBA's breakout star during the time when no NBA games were played. No player, save for perhaps Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, was more of a presence in the many summer-league games that popped up during the NBA lockout. Instead of building on that success, though, Wall has struggled this year, as has his Washington Wizards team.
Wouldn't you know it, coach Flip Saunders has a theory about why. Via Ben Standig of CSN Washington:
"I've never been a proponent of all those things," Saunders said after Monday's practice. "I think you pick up too many bad habits and a lot of things you think are going to be very easy [are not]. I don't think I saw a charge all summer long."
#Shotsfired, huh?
Here's my issue with Saunders' critique: playing in summer-league games isn't why players pick up bad habits. Just look at Durant. He played in just as many of these exhibitions as Wall, and I don't see him carrying over any bad habits. There are plenty other players who didn't pick up bad habits from playing in exhibitions this summer.
If Wall himself picked up bad habits because he focused too much of his training on the exhibition games, that's an entirely different thing. But let's not blame the whole institution of summer basketball.
For more on the Wizards, visit Bullets Forever.