Bradley Beal

[Jay81]

lets just take the award. geez...even if he dosent deserve it...it something positive:)

[Zonkerbl]

Yay... our rookie sucks less than all the other rookies!

[Nivek]

lets just take the award. geez...even if he dosent deserve it...it something positive:)

No, it's not. Undeserved honors aren't actual honors. They're BS.

[montestewart]

Nate, is it at all possible that he won ROTM because he played better than the other rookies and not because the people who give out the award don't know what FG% means?

Let's go to Ted's Take and let him decide.

As if on cue:

"Being named Rookie of the month for the Eastern Conference is a nice positive sign regarding his development."

http://www.tedstake.com

PS: I don't really mind one way or the other, since the last few games seem to show he might be progressing a little.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

In addition to Drummond, another 19-year old east rookie had a better December: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

[pancakes3]

Well, he sure as hell didn't perform his role very well. The team went 3-11 in December.

3 wins is huge for our squad. We should be so lucky to average 3 wins/month.

[DCZards]

In addition to Drummond, another 19-year old east rookie had a better December: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

Yeah, but Kidd-Gilchrist's team was 1-15 during December. ...with its best players healthy.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

In addition to Drummond, another 19-year old east rookie had a better December: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

Yeah, but Kidd-Gilchrist's team was 1-15 during December. ...with its best players healthy.

Just when I knew they were better than the Wizards the Bobcats lost 18 straight. Charlotte decided one game to stop playing defense forever.

[nate33]

Nate, I won't argue the merits of a meaningless ROTM award. But as a Zards fan I'm very happy with Beal's progress and development thus far...especially for a 19 year old rook playing alongside D league PGs like Mack and Temple. I think Beal's going to be a very good NBA player (maybe even a star) by the time he's 22-23 years old.

Fair enough. I didn't intend to repeatedly bash Beal. My one point was that he didn't deserve ROTM. People kept trying to come up with justifications why he did and I just couldn't let it go. He absolutely did not deserve the award.

I'm happy that Beal has put together 2 solid games in a row, but I wouldn't say that I'm happy with his progress on the season. Beal has been a terrible basketball player so far this year. I don't see how anyone could say otherwise. The only good thing you can say about Beal is that he's extremely young and he appears to try hard. Those things alone could certainly be enough to propel him to a solid NBA career, but there is very little indication from his play so far that it's going to happen.

I'm not exactly sure why you are happy about his progress, but you are certainly entitled to your opinion.

[Halcyon]

Nice little video of Beal's 22 point game.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP_Qpi2zw-Y[/youtube]

[Nivek]

I largely agree with nate. Beal has played poorly this season. He was below replacement level in December. Just preposterous that he gets ROTM for that kind of performance.

And I'm far from a Beal "basher." I think he's going to be a good player and have a good NBA career. I think he's going to turn out to be worthy of #3 pick. He has lots of work to do, but indications are that he'll do the work.

It's not "bashing" to say that Beal has played bad this season -- it's a fact. There are reasons why he's played poorly. There are reasons to think he'll play better in the future. But, it's reality that he's played poorly so far.

[hands11]

In the last five games of December Beal played in (CHI, ORL, CLE, DET, ATL ), Beal was 0-16 from 3 and wins the ROTM award.

Wait, what?

Maybe it is a sign that the Stern wants to help the Wizards in some way. Specially with Wall set to return soon.

[DCZards]

I'm happy that Beal has put together 2 solid games in a row, but I wouldn't say that I'm happy with his progress on the season. Beal has been a terrible basketball player so far this year. I don't see how anyone could say otherwise. The only good thing you can say about Beal is that he's extremely young and he appears to try hard. Those things alone could certainly be enough to propel him to a solid NBA career, but there is very little indication from his play so far that it's going to happen.

I'm not exactly sure why you are happy about his progress, but you are certainly entitled to your opinion.

I don't disagree that Beal has played pretty poorly to this point, especially his shooting which was supposed to be his callling card. But I'm not surprised by his play as a young kid in his first couple of months of pro ball. In fact, I don't know why anyone would be surprised that he's struggled, given his age and the crappy situation he's been put in.

Over a month ago I wrote that we needed to give Beal at least 20-25 games before even starting to label him a "bust," which some posters were doing after the kid had played less than 10 NBA games. That's crazy.

I've seen enough of Bradley to be convinced that he's got a ton of potential. I particularly like his all around play (passing, rebounding, defending) and on-court instincts. And now it looks like his shot may be coming around.

Still a lot for Beal to work on (ballhandling for example) but I like what I'm seeing.

[miller31time]

I'll say this - while completely undeserved, there are two big positives that come with this news...

1) Beal's confidence and aggressiveness will experience a boost
2) The Wizards get some meaningful exposure before the trade deadline and may be seen as a place where young players can go and not....you know...suck the life out of them

[keynote]

I'll say this - while completely undeserved, there are two big positives that come with this news...

1) Beal's confidence and aggressiveness will experience a boost
2) The Wizards get some meaningful exposure before the trade deadline and may be seen as a place where young players can go and not....you know...suck the life out of them

3) it'll boost Beal's trade value in the eyes of the Kings, thereby greasing the skids for the inevitable Cousins trade.

(ducks)

[Nivek]

My hope is that Beal won't take the award as a "you're doing well, kid." I don't want him thinking his play is acceptable. I want him thinking about how much work he has to do, and then I want him doing that work.

I don't think there's much reason to worry about him taking it as an "I've arrived so I don't have to work as hard on my game as I thought." Just saying that the possibility does worry me a little.

[Halcyon]

I'm not really concerned at all about his work ethic getting affected by this award. He seems pretty self aware of his play every time I hear him talk after a game.

[Nivek]

I'm not all that worried either. But, I do think that un-earned awards are far more likely to cause damage than to do anything positive. Hopefully, Beal will basically ignore it.

[AFM]

Mods, please change title of thread to "Nate Says Beal Is Not Franchise Caliber"

[nate33]

Mods, please change title of thread to "Nate Says Beal Is Not Franchise Caliber"