I have to agree with MLS-12D - steering wheels do encourage people to "drive" aeroplanes rather than fly them. And you're right about sticks encouraging better control rudder co-ordination.
I'll make things a little more contentious with another observation: you tend to find steering wheels in aircraft (mostly American types) where the marketing team have had more design input than the aerodynamisists. These aircraft tend to have rather blander handling characteristics, and are very forgiving if you can't be bothered to use the rudder properly. The same aircraft also seem to have instrument panels like airliners that, whilst making the pilot feel like one of the "big boys", also restrict his field of view. Mind you, he probably doesn't care about that because he's too busy fiddling with his moving map GPS to worry about looking out of the window...
... Gosh - dreadfully sorry about that. Did I get a bit carried away there? I'll go and sit quitely in a darkened Chipmunk and inhale deeply!