Teams managed to neutralize his speed in the half court by staying back and daring him to beat them with his jumper, which he had little confidence in and took reluctantly. Wall made 61.9 percent of his shots inside three feet (237 for 383), but he struggled to connect from everywhere else. He shot just 27.6 percent (141 for 511) from three feet and beyond and Thorpe said his three-point shot “fell off the face of the earth.” He missed 39 of his 42 attempts from long distance; his 7.1 percent accuracy ranks as worst among any player to make a three-pointer this season.
“For two years, he’s regarded league-wide as a talented player with a couple of exceptional physical attributes, his speed in particular. But he seems to be a little stubborn in adjusting to the NBA game,” said an Eastern Conference advance scout, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not at liberty to make comments on behalf of his team. “You get the sense on the whole, he’s not doing a lot of thinking the game yet. He’s kind of run into a little bit of roadblock as far as understanding why what he’s doing isn’t good enough yet. I do feel there is a lot more that’s still there.”