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ESPN's John Hollinger: 'There are bad jump-shooters, and then there is John Wall'

ESPN's name online analyst says the Wizards guard has a lot of work to do on his jumper.

By Samuel Chamberlain
Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire

John Hollinger is probably the biggest name in ESPN's stable of online NBA analysts, so when he gets blunt, people listen, like him or not.

Last week, Hollinger broke down the Wizards roster. It's available here if you have an ESPN Insider account. We don't but luckily for us, CSN Washington's Ben Standig does. Here's Hollinger:

There are bad jump-shooters, and then there is John Wall. Last season he shot 3-for-42 on 3-pointers. That is not a typo. He also shot 29.7 percent on 2-pointers beyond 10 feet, which might not have been so bad if he hadn't taken THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY of them in an abbreviated season. Defending Wall merely required stopping his initial tornado burst upcourt after he got the ball, because once he ran a pick-and-roll, opponents just went under the screen and watched him miss ... Wall would be an All-Star if he was a remotely capable outside shooter ... he's about where Derrick Rose was after his second season ... except that Rose was a passable shooter and Wall is an awful one.

Strong words there from Mr. Hollinger. Everyone seems to agree that Year Three is a big one for Wall, which is why so many were disappointed/angry/frightened when it came out that he would miss the first part of the season with a stress injury. Here's what SBN DC's Wizards editor Thomas Pruitt wrote about Wall in his player preview. (Disclosure: this came out prior to the announcement of Wall's injury.

Wall's lack of a consistent jump shot affects more than his scoring. Despite his elite quickness and solid handle, he only finished 128th in the league in points per possession as a pick and roll ball handler. This was largely because defenders could go under the picks that were set for him without having to worry about him nailing an open jumper. This hurt his ability to create shots for his teammates, in particular the team's athletic big men and spot up three point shooters.

You can read more player previews from Thomas by visiting SBN DC's dedicated Wizards player previews section.