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John Wall's Improving Jump Shot

By Mike Prada
Presswire

There have been a lot of references to John Wall's improved jump shot recently, with Wall himself saying several times that he feels more confident. I just wanted to put those numbers into some perspective, because I think the sample size is large enough to be meaningful.

In Wall's first 22 games this year, he took 96 jump shots from 16-23 feet, per HoopData. He hit just 21 of those shots, good for a ghastly 21.9 percent. Considering that Wall took nearly 4.4 shots per game during that time, you can see why his offensive numbers, particularly his efficiency ones, were really underwhelming.

Since then, though, it's been a completely different story. In Wall's last 21 games, he has also taken 96 jump shots from 16-23 feet. However, over this stretch, he's hit 41 of those, good for 42.7 percent. That may not sound like much, but here's a list of point guard who take at least three 16-23-foot jumpers that shoot a better percentage.

(Note: minimum 20 games, 20 minutes per game).

  1. Stephen Curry (59 percent)
  2. Steve Nash (59 percent)
  3. Luke Ridnour (45 percent)
  4. Chris Paul (44 percent)
  5. Mo Williams (43 percent)
That's it. Notable names not on that list include Russell Westbrook (41 percent), Brandon Jennings (41 percent), Rajon Rondo (40 percent), Derrick Rose (39 percent), Tony Parker (38 percent) and Kyrie Irving (36 percent). Granted, all of those guys except Rondo have some three-point range, and all of those guys are seen as "threats," meaning their shots are a little more contested. Still, that's a striking stat.

Which 96-shot sample is the most meaningful? That's the big question going forward.