Nivek wrote:deneem4 wrote:
but hes hitting them and he can get the shot easily...I would love for him to drive more but hes shooting almost 15% better from there...eventually defenses will start to respect it
He's hitting from one specific range on a small sample size, and the good shooting from there may or may not continue. We're talking roughly 60 attempts from that range so far this year. And his percentages from 3-9 feet is significantly worse, as his percentage from 16 feet to the 3pt line. The defense still wants him shooting from the midrange instead of getting to the rim. And, at 50%, that 10-16 foot shot is about as efficient for him as shooting a three.
Sometimes 2pt jumpers are necessary. But there's a reason he can get them easily: the defense wants him shooting them.
This hasn't really been a major problem imo, because Wall is taking less shot attempts in general. He was always unselfish, but this season his game has shifted to being even more of a playmaker and he's far more judicious with his attempts - at least from the eye test it's quite noticeable.
If the stat breakdown was available, I'd be willing to bet that the majority of Wall's long two attempts come late in games when we were losing, or when he's trying to bring us back from a deficit (because the offense went into one of it's slumps, Nene/Beal/Gortat etc can't hit an open mid jumper to save their lives etc). But when things are clicking offensively and guys are making the shots they're supposed to make, Wall will rarely break the flow of the offense by taking a bad shot-- he'll ALWAYS look to pass and get someone else going. Whether it's reflected in the stats or not, it's a noticeable difference from how he played last year. He's becoming one of those Kidd/Nash type point guards who set the table for everyone - whether you're a star or a role player you love playing with those types of guys.
If JW had better shotmakers around him he would be leading a juggernaut offense right now. The only reason there's room to knock him is because he has to take bad shots a little more often than he'd want - which isn't necessarily his fault, it's because his supposed 'shotmakers' don't always make the basic wide open shots he sets them up for, and thus he has to try to force the issue when our offense dies. This will probably be an issue for as long as our PF/C positions are so inconsistent (we all know who the ringleader of that 'inconsistent' group is, just two seasons left on that deal..), but eventually when Beal, Porter etc progress into more consistent options offensively you'll really start to see the offense take another step.
Wall right now, is really good at basketball. And he's getting better continuously in all the areas we need him to. He's impressed me a lot this season.
