Ish Smith Shows Signs Of John Wall In His Play Style

The Philadelphia 76ers take on the Washington Wizards on Friday, and their point guard, Ish Smith, has some similar qualities with John Wall.

If anyone deserves the term “savior” attached to their name on the Philadelphia 76ers this season–and arguably last season as well–it’s nomad point guard Ish Smith. Smith was on the team last year, but the Sixers opted to try out other guards (that didn’t work well) instead of Smith. That decision ended up biting them in the butt, as they pursued Smith in a trade near Christmas. Now, Smith is leading the team to moderate success, which feels like complete winning to fans that endured a 1-30 start to the season.

Smith is a real point guard, which can’t exactly be said for a lot of the other guards on the team. Most of them excel in one area but not another. Passing or scoring is the strong suit, but rarely ever both of them. Smith, along with a quick step, accomplishes both.

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Smith has gotten a lot done, and his master passing has helped his teammates out immensely, allowing them to score more and allowing the team to be competitive in more games.

As the Sixers head down to the nation’s Capitol to play the Washington Wizards, we can draw some similarities between Smith and the Wizards’ star point guard, John Wall. Are they on the same page? Absolutely not. Wall is making himself a key component in a competitive field, and Smith hasn’t been more than a good point guard on bad teams so far.

Before we get to statistical comparisons, they look very similar as far as their style of play is concerned. John Wall is credited with being the fastest, or at least one of the fastest, point guards in the NBA, and if he gets the ball on a fast break and gets even a slight head start, it’s tough to stop him. His ability to change direction quickly makes him unpredictable as well.

After looking at how fast Wall can be on the break, let’s look at an example of Smith’s speed.

Smith plays the same way. He’s helped the Sixers kick up the pace since joining the team because he can push fast breaks and help the team score in transition, something they really struggled with before. Previously, fast breaks–when they even happened–resulted in turnovers. Now they end up with points scored.

Wall is carrying the Wizards on his back this year. He’s scoring 19.9 points per game, and dishing out 9.8 assists per game. That makes Wall responsible for nearly 40 points per game, and that’s underestimating him, since some of those assists should be 3-point shots as well. Per 100 possessions, he has an offensive rating of 101 so far this year.

So far, on the Sixers this season, Smith is averaging 15.4 points and 8.1 assists. Per 100 possessions, his offensive rating (as a Sixer this season) is 94.

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Smith is clearly no John Wall, but it’s clear that his impact on the Sixers this season can be drawn to likeness with Wall and how he plays and gets his team to score. Pushing the pace, and looking for his teammates (quite simple, yet complex at the same time) are the two key aspects that help these two point guards push their teams to more success.

The two guards will battle on Friday night. If this season has told us anything, it’s that both of these guards are key parts of their team’s success, so keep an eye on both of them.