Since the Rockets traded Westbrook, who averaged 27.2 points per game in the regular season last season, for Wall, fans have become hotly debated. Rockets fans don't seem to trust this point guard who hasn't played on the court in two years. Wall has been plagued by injuries in recent years. In February last year, Wall accidentally fell while recuperating at home, resulting in a torn Achilles tendon in his left foot. This may be the most serious injury he has suffered since entering the league.
However, according to previous reports, Wall recovered very well from his injury after undergoing repair surgery. As early as the first half of this year, Wall had already had the idea of ??returning to the game, but the Wizards at the time considered that the team had previously The record is not outstanding, and even if Wall returns, it may not be able to bring the team into the playoffs. In addition, due to the epidemic, the NBA has encountered a long shutdown period, and Wizards management decided to let Wall continue to rest. But who would have thought that they could send away Wall and welcome Westbrook in the offseason.
For the Rockets, this is obviously an unoptimistic deal. After all, Westbrook, who has averaged a triple-double per game for three consecutive seasons, is better than returning from injury in terms of personal ability. John Wall is strong, but the Rockets are probably helpless. The cooperation between Westbrook and Harden in the playoffs last season was unsatisfactory, and there were rumors of disagreements between the two stars. Westbrook insisted on leaving in the new season, and the Rockets were faced with the dilemma of both superstars leaving the team. Wall joining the Rockets, although the Rockets' paper strength has not improved, it can be regarded as stopping the bleeding of the Rockets in time, and can even increase the possibility of Harden staying on the team. So, from a personal ability level, John Wall's What can your arrival bring to the Rockets? A speedy breakthrough guard, what technical characteristics did Wall have in the early days?
As the top pick in the NBA draft, John Wall's talent is undoubted. In his rookie season, Wall established his starting position with the Wizards, averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 8.3 assists in 37.8 minutes per game.
He has the top physical talent among guards. He is 193cm tall but has a wingspan of 206cm. Before injury, Wall was one of the fastest players in the NBA. In addition, he also has excellent strength. and explosive power. Many people may not know that at that time, Wall was a player in the same category as explosive guards such as Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook. He also won the slam dunk contest in the 2013-2014 season. Wall has a good rebounding ability. In addition, he averages about 1.5 steals per game.
Wall is one of the few pure point guards of his generation. He is good at promoting counterattacks and organizing offenses. Although he is not as personal an offensive threat as Westbrook and Curry in positional battles, he is first-rate in sorting out the offense, controlling the rhythm, and reading the game to make targeted choices. These technical characteristics are all the styles that a pure point guard should have.
It is worth mentioning that when we watched Wall's early games, he was especially like the current LeBron James when organizing the offense. When organizing an offense, he first observes the situation on the court unhurriedly, looking around at his teammates. While seemingly relaxed, he suddenly drives to the basket with lightning speed and succeeds in a breakthrough. If you can't create a good impact opportunity for yourself, then Wall is likely to be able to do something unconstrained in a short period of time, transfer the ball to you in a wide range, or run to the wing to execute a tactic. In short, Wall's overall view is something that few players can possess. In addition to the above, there is one very important thing that we have not mentioned yet, and that is Wall's defensive ability. Speaking of point guards with top-notch defensive abilities in recent years, there seems to be no one other than Chris Paul. However, John Wall is also one of the organizational players with excellent defensive talent. This is largely due to his speed advantage and defensive enthusiasm. He can use his tight footsteps to follow the opponent, whether it is single defense or coordination. Whether defending or filling in, Wall can give attackers considerable pressure.
How has Wall changed after the peak of the 16-17 season?
As of now, there is no doubt that Wall has reached his peak moment in the 16-17 season, averaging 23.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game. , scored a career-high 52 points in a game against the Magic during the season. The average of 23.1 points per game ranked 17th in the league's scoring average at the time and 7th among point guards. This was 3.2 points more than he did in the 15-16 season.
Wall has never been a player known for his shooting ability. However, his shooting percentage in the 16-17 season reached 45.1%, the highest shooting percentage in his career. At the same time, in the 16-17 season, Wall took the technical characteristics he has always possessed to the extreme - that is, transition offense. Using the score per round in transition offense as an indicator for comparison, Westbrook has maintained around 0.9 points all year round. Fox, who is as fast as Wall, and Bledsoe, who is extremely explosive, this indicator was The data are all 1.04. Wall's average data reached 1.07, and even reached 1.12 in the 16-17 season, which fully illustrates the threat of Wall's transition offense.
It is said that he has just reached his peak, but the turning point in Wall's career has quietly arrived. Wall's self-discipline was not strong in the offseason. Whenever the new season came, he had to spend a certain amount of time adjusting his competitive state. Since then, injuries have also begun to hit Wall, coupled with his increasing age. , The decline of physical function, so in recent years, Wall has undergone a certain degree of transformation in certain technical characteristics.
In the more than 40 regular season games that Wall participated in in the 17-18 season, Wall's offensive method became more simplified, the proportion of transition attacks decreased, the proportion of face-to-face singles increased, and he basically rarely relied on Use pick-and-roll tactics to attack.
This season, his assists per game also fell below 10 for the first time in four years. To be honest, Wall's performance on the offensive end has declined. In the 18-19 season, Wall prefers fixed shots and sudden shots. Under the influence of small ball culture, Wall also dares to make shots that he was not good at in the past. Performed in the outside area. He has reduced the proportion of his shots in the mid-to-long range, and chooses to shoot more from outside the three-point line. Unfortunately, Wall's outside touch in the 18-19 season was not ideal, and his shooting rate was only over 30%, which was better than his. It was about 7 percentage points lower the previous season. It can be seen from the above that due to certain injuries, Wall has been declining in form in recent years. Will Wall join forces with Harden to have a miraculous effect?
What type of players does Harden need? In the eyes of fans, many people may not be compatible with Harden, including John Wall. After all, Wall is a pure point guard player, and both he and Harden need a certain amount of time holding the ball. Fortunately, Wall has also intentionally strengthened his fixed-point shooting in recent years, and no longer relies too much on himself to organize the offense. Therefore, he joins hands with Harden in the Rockets. I think whether the two can adapt to each other's offensive rhythm. It should be no problem.
On the one hand, because Harden's technical characteristics are too distinctive and he also has the top scoring ability among active players, if you want the team to win more easily, Harden must be allowed to play his best. Maximum potential, this also means that other players must play around a system with Harden as the core, which may squeeze Wall's ball time too much. Further, Wall needs to enhance his ability to run without the ball and Stability in outside shooting.
But on the other hand, Wall's arrival may also share some organizational pressure for Harden. From another perspective, Harden also needs a point guard who can revitalize the team. Wall is relatively Compared with Westbrook last season, although his personal ability is poorer, Wall can still basically satisfy what Westbrook can provide to the team, and Wall's performance outside the three-point line is relatively better than Westbrook. If the Rockets in the new season can develop tactics that are more suitable for the team, it may produce unexpected results. With his outstanding performance in the preseason, Wall gave the Rockets hope
As of December 16, the Rockets have ended their first two preseason games.
In the first game, they defeated the Bulls 125-104 on the road. In this game, Wall played 19 minutes and scored 13 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals on 6 of 10 shots. The efficiency was quite high. In the second game, the Rockets continued to face the Bulls but ultimately lost the game 91-104. Wall scored a team-high 21 points in the game. Judging from the performance in the preseason, Wall's performance is quite good. You must know that joining the Rockets was not Wall's original intention, but in such a brand-new team, he can adjust so quickly, which has to be surprising. commend.
In the preseason, we saw the Rockets' shooters explode under the leadership of Wall, and the pick-and-roll cooperation between Wall and Cousins ??was also pleasing to the eye, almost seamlessly connected. Although the reference value of the preseason is not high, and it is not yet possible to blindly draw any conclusions based on Wall's performance in the first two preseason games, in any case, Wall has given Rockets fans hope for the new season. He's telling us he still has gas left in the tank to burn. Looking ahead to the new season, what does Wall need to do?
In any case, Wall in the new season is no longer the league's fastest point guard. His lateral movement speed has slowed down, and the defensive end may not be able to easily press the opponent. For Wall now, he only needs to do not hold back on the defensive end and do a good job in team defense.
On the offensive end, although Wall has lowered the focus of transition offense in recent years, he still has the ability to run long distances to promote the offense, which is very helpful for the Rockets' fast break. After returning from injury, in order to make up for his shortcomings, Wall should not only continue to improve his shooting ability in various areas, but also try to reduce his turnover rate. Judging from the turnover data of previous seasons, Wall and Wei His turnover rate is slightly higher, so he still needs to improve his stability with the ball.
Finally, while the Rockets are cooperating with Harden, Wall also needs to recognize his position in the team. You must know that as long as Harden does not leave, the team's absolute influence in the game will be The control is still in Harden's hands, and Wall must adapt to this situation as soon as possible.