A number one overall draft pick will win the NBA Rookie of the Year award this year. That is one thing we can be sure of. Although Blake Griffin’s preseason knee injury last year was no doubt unfortunate and perpetuated everyone’s belief in the Clippers curse, it also provided the league, and the fans, with one of the most exciting one-on-one rookie chases ever between him and John Wall.
One is the definition of power. The other is the definition of speed. One has put together a career’s worth of highlight reel dunks in just over a month’s worth of games. The other can grab a rebound and take the ball the length of the court in less than four seconds. One put up 44 points and 15 boards against $100 million dollar Amare Stoudemire. The other recorded a triple-double with six steals and one turnover in just his sixth NBA game. Both are giving hope to their fractured franchises and will be perennial All-Stars for the next couple of decades. So who’s better?
After becoming one of the few high school All-Americans to attend more than one year of college these days, Griffin was selected first overall by the Clippers in 2009. Shortly thereafter, while throwing down a thunderous jam in one of his first preseason games Griffin landed awkwardly and suffered a stress fracture in his left knee that would later require surgery and sideline him for the entire season. Clipper fans groaned in agony as memories of Danny Manning and Michael Olowokandi came flooding back.
Griffin has done more than enough to calm those fears and, along with a few sidekicks, bring optimism back to the “other” L.A. team. Griffin is averaging 20.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and, unofficially, 1.5 posterizations per game for the season. He only seems to be getting better as he realizes the team is going to depend on him for a very long time, averaging 29.6 points, 14.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists over his past five games.
With Baron Davis and Chris Kaman injured (although some might contend the team is better without them), the Clippers have struggled through the first part of the season, in large part due to a brutal opening schedule. Their youthful talent is undeniable however. Eric Gordon has vaulted himself into the upper echelon of scorers in the league, and this year’s draft picks Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe seem to be growing into their positions as very solid role players. Their 3-15 record is underwhelming to say the least, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
For Griffin and the Clips numbers are only part of the equation, at least for the time being. He is arguably the most athletic player in the league already. His daily throwdowns are reminiscent of a young Shawn Kemp, but his jump shot and ability to score in the post are already miles ahead of what Kemp’s were at the same age. While the Clippers might not be relevant in championship talks for a few years, Griffin is bound to develop into one of the best big men in the league and could easily take home a few dunk contest titles along the way.
While the Clippers have suffered through turmoil for what seems like their entire existence, the Washington Wizards are a slightly different story. The locker room gun incident between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton last season cast a dark shadow over the franchise. Pair that with underachievement on the court and something needed to change in the nation’s capital.
Then came that magical June day when the ping pong balls felt the Wizards’ way and all but ensured that a certain University of Kentucky point guard would soon be moving to Washington. Never mind that John Wall plays the same position as Arenas or that Arenas has an immense contract that makes him virtually untradeable. The Wizards thought Wall was too good to pass up. They were right.
Wall tore through the NBA Summer League like a high school senior playing for the junior varsity team, and has hardly slowed down in his ten regular season games. He has been suffering through a couple nagging injuries, but when able to make it on the court Wall has easily been a top ten point guard in this league. He is averaging 18 points, 9.1 points and 2.8 steals per game so far, including a couple of outstanding performances. In addition to the aforementioned triple-double Wall recorded 29 points, 13 assists and nine steals in the third game of the season, a win against the Philadelphia 76ers. It was his second game against Philly though that may have been his most impressive as a pro.
After coming off the bench and not scoring a point in the first half, Wall poured in 25 points in the second half and made one play that some 15-year veterans wouldn’t be savvy enough to pull off. Trailing by three and dribbling the ball up some 40 feet from the hoop with less than five seconds left, Wall was fouled by the 76ers’ Jrue Holiday. Anticipating such a foul, Wall began into a shooting motion, forcing the referee to award him three free throws. Wall coolly knocked down all three and sent the game to overtime where the Wizards pulled off the unlikely win.
As with any young, exciting, chance-taking point guard Wall’s turnover numbers are higher than he would like at 3.9 per game, but it comes with the territory. While Griffin might be the most fun person to watch running the lane in transition, Wall is one of the most fun to watch in control of the ball on a fast break, that is if your eyes can keep up. As they say, you can’t teach speed, and Wall is as fast as, if not faster than, the Rondos, Roses and Pauls of the world.
Due to Wall’s injuries and the utter beast-like intensity Griffin has been playing with, the Clippers forward is barely nudging out the Wizards point man for Rookie of the Year. Here’s hoping Wall can get back to full health soon and this rookie race can start again because word has it he doesn’t lose too many races.