Bradley Beal

[tontoz]

Beal shot 73% from the field in HS, not sure what he shot from 3.

http://highschoolhoop.com/high-school-s ... -the-year/

Right now Beal's TS% of 48.1% is the same as Barnes and better than Waiters 45.5%. It isn't exactly unusual to see guys struggle from the perimeter early in the rookie seasons.

[Dark Faze]

The issue is how can you feel good about a guy that you labeled almost purely as a guy that can stretch the floor and hit shots when dude didn't have a history of that in college and doesn't have a history of it in the NBA right now.

I don't think his numbers are as bad as they seem, but I'm not sure we didn't just draft Randy Foye either.

[tontoz]

The issue is how can you feel good about a guy that you labeled almost purely as a guy that can stretch the floor and hit shots when dude didn't have a history of that in college and doesn't have a history of it in the NBA right now.

I don't think his numbers are as bad as they seem, but I'm not sure we didn't just draft Randy Foye either.

First of all anyone who has watched the games knows that there is a lot more to Beal's game than stretching the floor. He does everything else well. The only notable problem area has been long range shooting.

Secondly comparing Foye to Beal you have to go to Foye's junior year in college to get comparable shooting numbers to Beals freshman season.

Lastly we are still talking about a small sample size of a teenager's games early in his rookie season.

[DCZards]

The issue is how can you feel good about a guy that you labeled almost purely as a guy that can stretch the floor and hit shots when dude didn't have a history of that in college and doesn't have a history of it in the NBA right now.

I don't think his numbers are as bad as they seem, but I'm not sure we didn't just draft Randy Foye either.

I certainly understand the concern people have about Beal's shooting, especially given the hype about him being the next Ray Allen. The biggest problem is that the rook is being asked to play too many minutes and to carry too big of a load. That has to be a little overwhelming for a 19 year old.

Beal's shooting and aggressiveness will improve...just as they did in the latter part of his one-year of college ball. Right now,I'm enjoying his impressive all-around game. And his positive attitude and body language despite the team's terrible play and what has to be a frustrating start to his NBA career.

There are only two players drafted after Beal that I'd take over him---Drummond and Lilliard. Like many of you, I questioned Drummond's maturity and passion for the game, and Lilliard plays the same position as the Zards best player.

[pancakes3]

I think the 3p% will rise solely by virtue of his FT shooting. It's at a darn good 84% right now, which is better than his collegiate 77% suggested. The problem now is working in the muscle memory of shooting from the NBA 3, and getting over a mental block of sorts.

As with many other things, I think this will get better once Wall is back.

[hands11]

He is 19 and he started on a team with AJ Price as the starting PG

Rest of the starting line up.

Trevor A
Booker
Okafor

His next PG was Pargo then he got to play with

Trevor A
Singleton
Okafor

Give the kid a little more then 23 games for him to find his way. Sure the outside shooting on wide open shots is a concern. But I think that will get better with him. Hell, Rondo even improved his shot from the outside.

Right now Beal needs to play the complete game of a SG. He needs to drive which he has been doing more. That will get him FTAs. That will raise his TS%. A complete player a SG is a valuable thing to have on a team. If he ends up being more of a Wade type than a Ray Allen type, would anyone really be that upset ?

He is a smart kid. I think he will figure out what to do. In Dec he had several games with nice FTA numbers.
In 8 games leading up to his bad fall, he posted 4 games with 6 FTAs. In the 14 games before that he only post 2 games with more 6 or more FTAs

They throw Beal into the deep end of the pool with no floaty thing. I didn't agree with that approach but it is what they did. Having Crawford and Mack 2.0 at PG with Nene at PF and soon to return Trevor A to go with Webster at SF is going to help the kid.

Hopefully the days off gave him a chance to fully recover from hitting the floor so hard. Last game he said his back was still stiff. But if he is going to be more of a Wade type, he better get used to it. Wade has taken a beating over the years. Next summer he should get to put in a lot of work on his outside shot. That should save his body some. Look how long Ray Allen has been able to play. If he ends up being able to play both styles, he is going to be really good.

But 6-3 per EPSN NBA is a little short for a SG in todays NBA. But at 19. Do we even know if he as stopped growing ? He just turned 19 on draft day. He is kind of baby faced. i.e. No facial hair. That may just be the way he is but it still puts him in the running for having not completed growing all the way into full manhood.

Draft X had him 6' 3.25" w/o shoes.

[Dark Faze]

That's helpful Pancakes. FT percentage does tend to show at least some evidence of overall shooting ability. That's the sort of example I was looking for to lend at least some hope that the kid can shoot it.

[Nivek]

College FT shooting is a better indicator of overall shooting ability than shooting from the field -- 2pt or 3pt range. Haven't done the research, but my guess is that FT percentage early in a player's career would also be a better indicator than his shooting from the field. The hardest number to predict from year to year throughout a player's NBA career is shooting percentage from the field.

[AFM]

I love how some stations have him at 6'3 and some at 6'5". I think some places are reporting him w/o shoes when the convention is w/ shoes.

[nate33]

College FT shooting is a better indicator of overall shooting ability than shooting from the field -- 2pt or 3pt range. Haven't done the research, but my guess is that FT percentage early in a player's career would also be a better indicator than his shooting from the field. The hardest number to predict from year to year throughout a player's NBA career is shooting percentage from the field.

Interesting. When you say, "is a better indicator of overall shooting ability", what exactly do you mean? Are you saying college FT shooting is a better indicator than college 3-point shooting of a player's ability to hit a high percentage of pro 3-pointers?

[TGW]

Painful that we passed up Harden. No offense to Beal, but he's not in the same stratosphere as JH.

[jivelikenice]

Agreed....He's just a guy IMO. No elite potential here..

[DMVleGeND]

Painful that we passed up Harden. No offense to Beal, but he's not in the same stratosphere as JH.

Or Drummond for that matter. Another great game last night for him: 16 pts, 12 rebs, 2 stls, 1 blk. People said he was a huge project that would take yrs to start contributing, yet he's contributing now.

[Dark Faze]

2 point night

dude plays 40 minutes one night and like 15 the next

wtf is coach doin and why can't Beal shoot

[DCZards]

Or Drummond for that matter. Another great game last night for him: 16 pts, 12 rebs, 2 stls, 1 blk. People said he was a huge project that would take yrs to start contributing, yet he's contributing now.

Drummond has the potential to be scary good. He is already an awesome physical specimen/presence and he's only a kid. I would not be surprised if Drummond turns out to be the best player in his draft class...even better than Anthony Davis.

(Drummond does need to learn how to make free throws, however.)

[Nivek]

College FT shooting is a better indicator of overall shooting ability than shooting from the field -- 2pt or 3pt range. Haven't done the research, but my guess is that FT percentage early in a player's career would also be a better indicator than his shooting from the field. The hardest number to predict from year to year throughout a player's NBA career is shooting percentage from the field.

Interesting. When you say, "is a better indicator of overall shooting ability", what exactly do you mean? Are you saying college FT shooting is a better indicator than college 3-point shooting of a player's ability to hit a high percentage of pro 3-pointers?

This research was done by Ed Weiland (I think -- it might've been Pelton). Anyway, the basic conclusion was that free throw shooting in college was a better indicator of a player's jump shooting ability (3pt%) in the NBA than his college 3pt percentage. Kinda weird finding, but it makes some sense. Free throw shooting is probably the best measure we have of "foundation" shooting ability. It's what a guy can do without defensive interference.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I have a theory that if for shooting practice, all that player did was shoot hundreds of FTs, that player would automatically improve their 3pt shooting and their midrange shooting. The jump shooting motion is just a variant of the same form one uses in free throw shooting. The arc's a bit different, the knee bend deeper, and the jump thrusts a person upward; but despite that release point on a jump shot is the same as on a free throw.

I believe players who are already good to great collegiate FT shooters probably should project to become among he good to great NBA 3 point shooters. It makes sense to me. The shot comes from the soles of your feet to your release point. Good FT shooters know that. They have their elbow up. They keep the palm off the ball and use fingertips on the release. They use their guide hand properly and their wrists doesn't recoil or snap back in a way to throw the shot off.

I think the great FT shooters are almost automatically pretty good three point shooters.

[Dat2U]

I'd be open to trading Beal. It's never too early to try to correct a mistake. I think he'll be okay in time. But that's just it. He'll be okay, but will he be an elite perimeter player? I just don't see it. Unless his shooting becomes an elite level skill.

And he hasn't shot well since HS. It's become obvious that having a pretty looking stroke doesn't guarantee consistent shot making.

Not saying lets give him away, but at this point, we'd be fools to make anyone untouchable.

Too bad we didn't make that Harden deal.

[TheBigThree]

Beal takes his guide hand off the ball way too early on his shot, leading to inaccuracy. Should be a fairly easy issue to correct, but based on the fact that Wall's form hasn't improved one iota, I'd say they don't have anyone working with him on it.

[jivelikenice]

2 point night

dude plays 40 minutes one night and like 15 the next

wtf is coach doin and why can't Beal shoot

I don't have an issue with what Wittman did yesterday. Beal was a total non-factor and looked indifferent on offense.