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Wall 'excited and happy' for Carter-Williams

    by Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer
    Published 

WASHINGTON – John Wall was asked to give his impressions of 76ers rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams after Friday morning's Washington Wizards' shootaround.

Wall, the Wizards quick and electrify point guard, will face Carter-Williams in Friday night's contest at the Verizon Center. The Sixers rookie has been the talk of the league after posting 22 points, 12 assists, nine steals and seven rebounds in Wednesday's season-opening upset over the Miami Heat.

"I don't really know. I mean, he had one good game," Wall said of Carter-Williams. "I mean the first game the opening night, very enthused. He was ready, excited. It was his first time playing in front of the Sixers fans. So he had a big game.

"I had a couple of big games my rookie year. So I'm excited and happy for him. You always want to see a young player come in and do something good. So I'm very happy for him for what he did."

Wall was the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft.  He finished the 2010-11 season as the rookie-of-the-year runnerup.

One of Wall's big rookie performance came against the Sixers. The 6-foot-4, 195-pounder had 29 points, 13 assists, nine steals and eight turnover in his debut against Philadelphia.  The Wizards won 115-114 in overtime.

He had some advice for Carter-Williams in regards to being a rookie point guard.

"It's going to be tough," said Wall, now in his fourth season. "I think he got the hardest position in the league. I'm going against top point guards. It's very tough in our position and nobody is a slump. Maybe in college you might have a couple of game where guys aren't that good. So you may not play up to your potential, because you know it's easy. Here it's not one game is going to be easy.

"They are going to make sure you know your weaknesses. What you are not good at, they are going to make sure they are going to get you to do that in the game. As long as you improve and try to get better at it, you'll improve and keep getting better."

Contact or follow Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers.