Last night is the best example of how much better John Wall’s shot is.  He’s shooting with his swagger  at an all-time high.

Everyone is talking about how much of a threat John Wall has become. The man has blazing speed. He may be one of, if not, the fastest player in the league. Scouts and Agents (see David Falk) have been hard on John Wall, as there was one grave aspect that was lacking in his game.

It WAS his jump shot.

Yes, WAS and not IS. Amazing isn’t it?

Jimmy has dedicated this past summer to the jump shot and it’s showing so far.  Hard work does pay off:  

“Just getting back into the gym and getting back into shape and getting my legs back under me.  Doing everything that I worked on this summer….doing it right now.  It sucks that it had to be the last month or two of the season to final find my rhythm, but it’s just showing my hard work pays off and I’ve just got to keep working hard and staying humble and hungry. “

Recently, Wall has been shooting extremely better. Since the month of January, Jimmy is shooting 51% from the field in March (not including the Grizzlies game last night). That’s a huge jump from 38% in February. If I did the math correctly and carried the one, that comes out to be a 13% improvement. WHOA! (Joey from Blossom reference)

Question is, how is Wall making his jump shots now?

It’s simple actually. Take a closer look when John Wall shoots his jumpers (refer to pictures below). He elevates. Now, I may not be a shooting coach or expert, but I have been playing for over 20 years and my bread and butter is my jump shot. Wall used to shoot his jumper as if he was shooting a free throw. He barely jumped. Wall relied more on his upper body when shooting.

But improving his form isn’t the only reason why John Wall’s jump shot has been successful recently. Behind every great shooter is great confidence, and since returning, Wall is playing with a ton of it and you can see it in his play night in and night out.

The threat of being able to shoot simply makes John Wall that much more dangerous. It took someone like Rajan Rando close to 6 years to develop his jump shot, but even now, it’s still not great enough to rely on.

During halftime of last night's game, CSN's Chris Miller asked Wall about his improved jump shot and how it helps. Wall responded with, “You see it? The lanes are wide open.”

Every Wizards fan always said that he would be great if he had a jump shot. Well, he’s on his way possibly, and I tip my hat to the Wizards shooting coaches and staff for helping him get there.

wizards 107 grizzlies 94
3/25/2013 - Verizon Center, Washington, DC
ESPN Boxscore
NBA.com Game Highlights

Stephen Gosling

                                                       AT                                       

Monday, March 25th, 2013
7:00 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 FM/1500 AM
Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor

1978 BULLETS CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM TO REUNITE AT WIZARDS GAME
April 6, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Wizards and the Bullets & Wizards Alumni Association will celebrate the 35^th anniversary of the 1978 Washington Bullets championship when the Wizards host the Indiana Pacers on April 6 at 7 p.m. at Verizon Center.  Legends Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes as well as numerous members of the team will be honored.

“We are thrilled that we can commemorate the proudest moment in our franchise’s history by reuniting the members of the championship team and re-living those memories with our fans,” said Monumental Sports & Entertainment Founder Ted Leonsis. 

All fans in attendance will receive a replica 1978 NBA Championship ring (see attached photo).  The team will also participate in a special question-and-answer and autograph session for Wizards season ticketholders prior to the game.

The 1977-78 Bullets team defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in the seventh game of the NBA Finals on June 6, 1978, bringing a championship to the metropolitan area for the first time in 35 years.

Mrs. Irene Pollin and the following members of the 1978 team are scheduled to be in attendance: Greg Ballard, Phil Chenier, Bob Dandridge, Kevin Grevey, Elvin Hayes, Tom Henderson, Joe Pace, Wes Unseld, Phil Walker, Larry Wright, vice president Jerry Sachs, general manager Bob Ferry, head coach Dick Motta, athletic trainer John Lally and radio analyst Frank Herzog.

Mitch Kupchak and Bernie Bickerstaff, who served as an assistant coach for the 1978 team, are tentative due to their commitments with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In this week's 3-on-3 segment, Charles Lamar, Trevor Jackon and Mike Andrews give us their take on the Wizards' recent road-trip performance, John Wall's development as a leader, and their thoughts on the team's "built" core going into next season.

1. The Wizards went 2-2 on their recent road trip, losing their first and last games to Charlotte and Golden State respectively. How do you assess their overall performance?

TREVOR: I give them a slightly above satisfactory grade for their road trip. Ever since they've started playing good basketball after the break, I have said expectations should be set at about .500. This is a very small sample size, but more of what I personally expected. Throwing out the Golden State game as it was the last game on a four-game road trip, I feel like they could/should have beaten Charlotte. Handling the Suns again was great, and beating the Lakers in LA is always a good feeling. Even more so for me since I won $10 off of a Laker fan with a straight up bet.

CHARLES: The Wizards performance on the road trip was indicative of the Wizards performance of late. They start the road trip off losing a very winnable game against the putrid Bobcats, who have beaten the Wizards three times this season. They followed the ugly loss with an ugly win over a bad Suns team. Next up was the Lakers, and while the lame stream media wants to blame the Lakers for blowing an 18 point lead, I'd rather praise the Wiz for not giving up and stealing the game away. The Warriors loss was the result of fatigue, frustration and injuries. So this road trip was sooo #Wizards.

MIKE: I'll take .500 record on a road trip any day of the week considering the way this team has been playing away from home all season. What's even more impressive is the way the other players have been stepping up with the flu bug taking out Okafor and Ariza.

The win that really stood out to me was obviously beating L.A. at Staples Center. The atmosphere there is different and more intense than probably any other arena the Wizards have played in this season. To go in that house and be able to hang with the Lakers (although they are having struggles of their own), was exciting to me as a fan. Dwight Howard's play has been steadily improving after much criticism so far, and the Wizards were able to still make noise in the post and get the defensive stops necessary to pull out a gritty game.

warriors 101 wizards 92
3/23/2013 - Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
ESPN Boxscore
NBA.com Game Highlights

Rocky Widner

                                         AT                                             

Saturday, March 23rd, 2013
10:30 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 FM/1500 AM
Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor

wizards 103 lakers 100 

3/22/2013 - Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
ESPN Boxscore
NBA.com Game Highlights

Andrew D. Bernstein

                                        AT                                         

Friday, March 22nd, 2013
10:30 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 FM/1500 AM
Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor

Earlier today, we received an email from a reader inquiring about our thoughts on the possibility of Sixers center Andrew Bynum in a Wizards uniform next season.

As we all know, Bynum was dealt to Philly last summer as part of a 4-team swap that landed Dwight Howard in L.A., Andre Iguodala in Denver, and future draft picks for Orlando. Bynum has not played a single game for the 76ers this season due to multiple knee injuries, and just a few days ago he was officially shelved for the rest of the season. The decision has more or less numbered his days in Philly, as talks regarding his potential new destinations have already surfaced.

I would like to know your thoughts on the potential of adding Andrew Bynum this off season? Now I know there's his attitude, his health, etc., but all things considered, if he were to be sat down and given clear direction on what his role is, what an impact he could have in that city and franchise to compliment Beal and all along with the pieces we have now. Wouldn't it be worth exploring? There could certainly be outs written into any contract should the experiment or health go south. The upside could be incredible for the Wizards in the East. Just wanted to ask, and thanks for listening -- Bob

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