Friday, March 2nd, 2012 at 3:24 pm  |  22 responses

Polladaday: Wall or Irving?

Here’s a pair of young, up-and-coming point guards. Who would you rather run point on your favorite squad long-term?

If you could pick one, who would you rather have on your team for the next 10 years?

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  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    This is the best poll question in years.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    I was just thinking the same thing nbk. I voted John Wall… Who knows though haha.

  • http://redoftoothandclaw.ca/ niQ

    Took me awhile just to choose an answer…

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    I voted both ways. Once on my computer, once on my phone.
    .imo, it seriously depends on the coach and teammates.
    .Could you imagine John Wall with Byron Scott though? That’s where I get confused.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Wall with Scott = Potential Tapped

  • tavoris

    if Wall had somebody intelligent to pass to, he’d lead the league in assists.

  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    I voted for Kyrie Irving and didn’t even think twice about it. Did you know? Lin has beat and outplayed both Wall and Irving. Imagine John Wall with Mike D’Antoni… Whoa. LOL!

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    He beat John Wall, didn’t really outplay him.

  • http://idunkonthem.blogspot.com albie1kenobi

    Orange, i think you forgot that Lin couldn’t handle kyrie in the 2nd half, then d’antoni put shumpert on kyrie for the rest of the game.

  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    nbk, Lin outplayed him. Go play with that ol’ boxscore some more and realize I’m right. And albie1kenobi, Shump is a great defender. He’s been huge for the Knicks at that end of the court. Shump locked down Calderon in the 2nd half against the Raptors, which allowed Lin to even have an opportunity to hit that game winner. Lin isn’t too bad of a defender either though…he’s pretty crafty getting those steals and keeping his man in front of him. Knowledgeable basketball minds must know this, right? Ha!

  • Shem

    Shocked to see Kyrie getting more vots here. Just seems like John Wall has that “it” factor. He’s as explosive as there. Don’t get me wrong Kyrie is great but he’s a poor mans Chris Paul .. which is pretty good.

  • Shem

    Votes*

  • ripslam

    Orange, nobody said anything about Jeremy Lin. Please calm the hell down.

  • http://guyism.com/sports/michael-jordan-selling-chicago-area-home-for-29-million-dollars.html Caboose

    I say Wall, I feel he has more potential to be realized. Yes, that’s VERY subjective, but once he masters a pull up mid-range, he’ll consistently get 22+ a game. Kyrie is the better shooter but I think Wall is a better passer and -slightly- better defender.

  • robb

    I like Kyrie. He’s smarter.

  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    John Wall won the head-to-head versus Kyrie Irving tonight.

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    I don’t quite know if John Wall can succeed in an environment like Washington. He needs talent around him. I watched him at Kentucky, the kid has always been an incredible talent but by nature he isn’t a 10 assist per night guy, and in some senses he isn’t a flat out scorer. He’s a guy who can make plays on the basketball court, he’s a one man fast break, he’s a good on ball defender, and, of course, he’s an absolutely explosive athlete….The Wiz are just asking him to be way too much way too soon. You surround him with talent and watch him flourish and watch the team flourish, because he can make guys around him play harder, definitely can get the team running hard after a defensive stop or turnover. However he simply has never been very comfortable in the half court(one of the reasons he’s splitting time with Jordan Crawford and may be for the rest of his career in Washington). Kyrie Irving on the other hand is the prototypical NBA point guard. Quickness, Leadership, IQ, incredible ball handler, hard worker, and right now I think he’s a more polished scorer than John Wall is. I’ve always compared Kyrie to Chris Paul, those comparisons will begin to become more evident as he matures as a player, learns the in and outs of the NBA game. He’s probably got a similar amount of talent around him as John Wall, but his guys are playing a little bit harder and with a little bit more confidence in him. If I had to start a team right now with no chips on the table I’m taking Kyrie….However if I’ve got a few pieces to build around (a good SCORING big, a few reliable shooters) I might have to go with Wall

  • Omar

    I would probably take Wall but it’s close, glad to see folks are being more realistic with dude. Slam board commenters were on his tip way too hard for a minute.

  • Reeld

    KYRIE NO QUESTION THE WHOLE SKILL SET IS ALREADY THERE, JOHN WALL HAS LOT TO WORK ON, specially that jump shot

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    I think SLAM owes me 15% in royalties for posing this question in the comments a week ago… =)

  • http://www.thedynastyboys.com lix

    Um Black Rick Kamla, you do realize Wall averaged like 9 assists as a ROOKIE with those same bums he has now right? His passing is more of an assest because his jumpshot sucks. Have you even watched more than 3 games?

  • Otis

    Wall’s more athletic, Irving’s more polished. Depends on exactly what sort of pieces you wanted to put around them, really. It’s like asking if you’d want to build around Russell Westbrook or Steph Curry – it really depends on who you’re planning on playing them with and what you’re gonna ask them to do from the PG position. I get the feeling that Irving’s a slightly more versatile player to build around, though, so I voted for him.

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