John Wall: Washington Wizards PG's Impressive Stats Don't Mask Flawed Leadership

You look at a guy like Washington Wizards point guard John Wall and you get a mixed bag of feelings about where his career stands almost halfway through his second NBA season.

Wall has been on a scoring tear as of late to get his average up to 16.5 points per game, right at the 16.4 he averaged as a rookie.

Although he's putting the ball in the bucket, Wall hasn't exactly improved from his rookie campaign.

Most of his other numbers are down as well, including assists (down nearly one per game) and steals (down .5 per game). Those two numbers represent a disturbing trend, but not nearly as disturbing as the fact that Wall has become a poor overall shooter.

Over his latest hot streak, Wall has got his field-goal percentage up to .410, which is right where he finished last season. It's decent, nothing great, but compared to his miserable .067 three-point percentage, it's outstanding.

However, ignore all of the numbers for now. Wall's numbers are good, but even if they were outstanding, they don't mask his flaws as an NBA point guard, mostly being a leader on the floor.

Whether he likes it or not and whether he's ready for it on not, the Wizards are his team. But he doesn't act like it.

New York's Jeremy Lin showed much more what a point guard should be like in the Knicks' 107-93 victory Wednesday night.

Lin was more of a coach on the floor than Wall has ever been. At every opportunity, you saw Lin talking to and directing the guys on the floor. That's something Wall doesn't have in him.

The problem with that though is that Lin has started three NBA games while Wall has started 90.

It's a shame that a guy who's started three total games is more of a leader and a true point guard than the No. 1 overall pick.

Wall will not be successful until he learns how to lead.

Often that means leading by example.

He needs to start grabbing teammates' attention when things go wrong. Wall has to become both a vocal leader and a guy who leads on the court. He has to become a guy that does the little things necessary to be a winner in the NBA.

I understand he's not blessed with the best talent around him, but right now Wall has none of the qualities that make a great NBA point guard.

Until he's committed to doing what it takes and becoming a real leader, Wall is just going to be a guy who gets his points and that's it.

It would be a shame to waste that talent.