When I took a look at John Wall’s preseason debut, one of the negatives that I notice was that Wall wasn’t using screens properly. The problem essentially came down to Wall leaving way too much space between himself and the screener:
As I mentioned in my breakdown of the Wizard’s three guard lineup, Wall is going to be the primary ball handler. This means that Wall needs to use screens correctly. Going through some preseason game tape, you notice that John Wall does a much better job using screens, however there is still work to be done:
Notice all the space that Wall left in between himself and the screener in the summer league screen is practicality gone now. Why is this so important? Well, when John Wall was leaving too much space in between himself and the screener, defenses could easily get through screens and force turnovers:
Now, Wall is able to use the screen to create space:John Wall uses the screen well, and Derrick Rose tries to get through the screen. However, since there is not a ton of space in between Wall and the screener, Rose gets knocked over. This gives Wall a ton of space to create. He eventually turns it over (should have continued to the rim instead of trying to kick it out), but that isn’t the point here. The point is all of the space he has because he used a screen correctly.
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So now we know that John Wall knows how to properly use screens. In my opinion, John Wall now has to work on using the screen properly every single time. What I noticed when watching Wizards’ games this preseason is that Wall will use a screen properly a few times, then a few times he’ll leave way too much space in between the screener:
Compare this screen to the one he uses correctly, and you see what the problem is. Wall leaves too much space in between himself and the screener.
Derrick Rose again tries to fight through the screen. This time, since there is so much space there, he is able to do it easily. Javale McGee even tries to lean and create contact, but that doesn’t work. Here it is in real time:
Remember all that space Wall had when using the screen properly? Well, that all disappears because Rose is able to stick with Wall through the screen. Now Wall is forced to kick it to Gilbert (there is definitely no other options here) for a contested three pointer.
We have seen that John Wall knows how to use a screen properly, and when he does, he can be incredibly effective. However, the Wizards’ coaching staff needs to make sure that Wall uses the screens properly every single time, because if he doesn’t that will lead to some wasted possessions .
