3-Pointers: Calipari has a chat with John Wall

3-Pointers: Calipari has a chat with John Wall

Mike DeCourcy
http://www.sportingnews.com/college-basketball/article/2010-01-19/3-pointers-calipari-has-chat-john-wall
A conversation with John Wall

The standards Kentucky freshman PG John Wall has established for himself are high enough that even though he's averaged 16.5 points and 4.8 assists over the past four games, coach John Calipari thought it helpful to bring in Wall for a private chat.

Calipari stressed that Wall was trying too hard to make spectacular plays and that was leading to unnecessary mistakes. He also reminded Wall he attracted as much attention for his 16-assist game against Hartford as for any other statistical achievement.

Wall has played a lot of minutes since the start of the New Year. That's a plus on the one hand, because it indicates he's resolving the cramping problems that hindered him particularly in the North Carolina game in early December. But he has been asked to handle a heavy load for a freshman.

It's possible the minor issues he is working through involve the increased demands of playing more minutes, more games under more pressure than any freshman is accustomed to handling. There's a term for that. We call it—forgive me—"hitting the wall." It won't slow him down long.