Celtics coach Doc Rivers, always quick with a wisecracking answer, was armed and ready when asked Tuesday if he'd seen any of Washington Wizards phenom John Wall yet.
"It's tough to see him," the coach replied. "He's just going so fast."
The Wizards' No. 1 overall draft pick has already emerged as one of the NBA's best athletes — so good, in fact, that if you blink you might miss a coast-to-coast drive.
Maybe Rivers just has really good eyesight, then. He admitted that he has in fact seen the flashy rookie in action, and he's been scouting Wall since before he began his career in the NBA.
"I've watched him closely," the Celtics coach said. "I've seen him a lot. I saw him a bunch because of my son [Jeremiah], because he played at Indiana. I saw him this summer playing against my younger son [Austin]. So I've just seen him a lot, and he's fantastic.
"That speed, from end to end, we haven't seen that before. The quickness, I think a lot of guards are that quick, but from one end of the floor to the other, with the live dribble, I don't think we've seen that before. It's pretty fantastic to watch."
The Celtics may have a roster jam-packed with savvy veterans and future Hall of Famers, but they're still very much aware of the oft-hyped rookie in the nation's capital. Especially because they might see him on Wednesday night.
Wall is questionable to appear in Boston for the first time Wednesday. He's currently day to day with an injury — he came out of the Wizards' loss to the Bulls on Saturday night with a sprained foot, and he's still working to get back on the floor. He was seen on crutches at the team's shootaround Tuesday; he won't play on Tuesday night when the Wizards take on Toronto, but he may return Wednesday.
The Celtics are certainly preparing for Wall in case he plays.
"What I've seen of him so far is just highlights," Paul Pierce said. "I saw him in college. But I'm going to look at him [Tuesday night] and see how we're going to play him. He has great speed, I know, but he's still learning the game. He's a talented rookie. But in the next couple of days, I'll learn a lot more."
If Wall is able to play, his speed and athleticism will be deadly weapons against an older, slower Celtics squad. But if he can't go, the Wizards will hand over the reins to their other star guard, Gilbert Arenas.
"I'd expect Gilbert to have the ball in his hands more, and that would change what they're actually doing," Rivers said of the Wizards without Wall. "But I don't think it's a hard change. Wall went out in the Chicago game, and Gilbert came in and lit it up."
If Wall doesn't play, the Wizards still have a solid one-two punch of guards with Arenas and Kirk Hinrich. But with Wall, they truly transform into a dangerous offensive team.
"The combination of Wall and Arenas, you haven't seen it a lot, but when it's on the floor, that's a lot of speed to guard," Rivers said. "And they have length and bigs who can shoot, so they pose problems for you. You've really got to have great focus against this team defensively. They'll throw 110 or 120 on you in a heartbeat."
The Celtics did OK against the Wizards last season without Wall, winning three games out of four, but the numbers can be deceiving. Look closer — they won one game by just two points thanks to an unpredictable late dunk from Rajon Rondo, they won another by three at home after trailing the entire game and they lost on April 9 by double digits on their home floor.
And now you could potentially be throwing Wall into the mix. Needless to say, the Celtics will have their guard up.
"Teams like this are scary," Pierce said. "These are teams that we had problems with a year ago — they've got young talent and a lot of guys trying to prove themselves as professionals and make a name for themselves. And of course John Wall is a great rookie. These are games where guys can look at this type of game and see it as a way to make their year, or turn their year around. We've really got to be mentally prepared and physically prepared for this team to come out there with their best performance."
