John Wall Shows Improvement In His 3rd Season

Quietly, John Wall has improved in his 3rd season with the Washington Wizards. After the long delay to begin his 3rd season, he has come on strong for the Wizards in only his second week back. Wall has averaged 16 points, eight assists, and four rebounds for his young career but needed to improve in a number of categories during the off season. Most noticeably, his jump shooting and decision making.

While Wall has been a little rusty as expected after the long delay he has shown more confidence in his jump shot. The confidence to take the jumper goes a long way in helping out the rest of his offense. Teams will continue to slack off until he shows he can hit the mid range jumper with consistency. Wall’s mechanics were always pretty decent, he just lacked the confidence to take the shot more often. So far this season he has come down the court and pulled up to take mid range jumper instead of forcing his way to the basket. Hitting jumpers with more regularity will force defenders to make a choice resulting into more open lanes to the basket as well as more open shots for teammates.

Wall has also improved his decision making. He used to go just one speed, fast. He seems to have learned that switching his pace often will allow teammates to catch up on the break as well as not allowing defenders to time his drives to the basket. He has also learned that every drive to the basket doesn’t mean he has to shoot, having capable offensive weapons around him has also helped. Wall still averages too many turnovers for the number of minutes he has spent on the floor so far this season but some of that has to be attributed to rust.

As Wall knocks the rust off of his game his improvement should become more noticeable for all to see. His shooting percentage should rise and his turnovers should decrease. With more competent teammates the game should also become easier for Wall just as much as he makes the game easier for them. The third year is an important year in the development of players especially point guards. Wall looks to have did the work this summer and now it is slowly showing on the floor.