WASHINGTON | John Wall wore an NBA jersey for the first time in competition on Thursday night and didn’t disappoint. The Washington Wizards’ overall No. 1 draft pick looked sharp in leading his team to victories in two intrasquad scrimmages that were open to the media. “It was tough at the beginning, then I found my rhythm after talking to (assistant) coach Sam Cassell and coach (Flip) Saunders,” Wall said. “That speed is totally different than high school speed and college speed. It’s boom, boom, boom, back and forth.” Wall, 19, left Kentucky after just one season. If the 6-foot-4, 195-pound point guard wasn’t driving to the hoop or dishing to a teammate for an open jumper, he was knocking the ball free and racing coast to coast for a layup. “He can really make plays in the open floor,” Saunders said. “He can make something out of nothing. He’s got great instincts. There’s things that you can’t teach that he does. And there are things that we can teach him that can make him even better. He has a chance to be a very outstanding defensive player. He’s really coachable and he’s got a burning desire to play and compete. When you have a point guard as vocal and as energetic as he is, it becomes contagious.”
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