Leonsis wants championships, calls playoff season "modest"

[ptptpt]

I am glad Ted is not satisfied with just making the playoffs but this press release is not encouraging to me. What is the plan in trying to get a championship? I see it as either two ways. You can either build it through the draft (ala Spurs, OKC) or through free agency (Miami, Boston).

If you build through the draft, you are gonna have to assess you player development and that is pretty dern poor. You cannot keep having draft classes that bomb like the 2011 draft class. If you need good role players down the road, developing them in-house is a good idea. Ernie is notoriously poor in this regard to his job. No reason to keep him if you are going this route.

If you are building through free agency, then clearly Ted, you aren't spending enough money. To build a championship team in that regard most times, teams are gonna be over or near over the Luxury Tax in paying their stars and role players. Ernie has shown to be competent enough to build a good team through free agency but isn't the best when it comes to building contenders. I would give Ernie a chance if he goes this route because Ernie has an idea what is needed for championship contenders.

Randy should definitely get a real hard look right now. If his planning and strategies aren't paying off and he gets out coached then he definitely should get the boot.

[gtn130]

I've been harsh on Beal myself, but come on. You aren't considering that he is in a pretty unfavorable situation for a young player just coming into the league. He's been thrust into duty as a #1/2 option on an offensively challenged team with no weapons, and a clueless head coach.

Put him on say, Portland in place of Wesley Matthews and he would clearly be a quality starter who everyone would be raving about as a perfect complementary piece. That's not to say present day Beal is definitely better than Wesley Matthews, but if he was in that role playing off of Lillard, Aldridge, Batum in that offense he would look a lot more valuable than he does now.

Just look at how defenses blitz him and deny him the ball, because they know he's the only perimeter threat other than Wall. Your Wesley Matthews, Sefoloshas, JJ Redicks, Courtney Lees etc don't see that kind of defensive attention on a regular basis.

He might not be in a good situation -- Wittman is clearly a horrible coach and our roster is mediocre at absolute best, but the fact remains that he's a below average basketball player right now. The big thing he has going for him is that he's 20 years old and has a ton of potential. If he were 10 years older and playing like this, he would be on his 5th NBA team logging 15mpg. Disassociate his potential from his current output, and it's pretty clear that he isn't very good right now.

Also, Wes Matthews is a great player. I really don't think Beal would be as good as him playing for Portland this year.

So yeah, if we ignore everything import, he is a train wreck.

The issue at hand is whether Beal is a legitimate starter THIS season. He clearly is not. People give him the benefit of the doubt because he's super young and has potential. That doesn't change the fact that he isn't very good right now.

[FAH1223]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Truth_About_It/status/454268234100113408[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ConorDDirks/status/454267884932694017[/tweet]

[jeffsays]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Truth_About_It/status/454268234100113408[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ConorDDirks/status/454267884932694017[/tweet]

Thank god, now lets see if he actually does anything about it.

[tontoz]

How was last nights game hard to understand? If you have been watching this team all season it is quite easy to understand. They just aren't that good.

[verbal8]

I wonder if the woes of the Caps help lead to a complete house cleaning of both franchises. He stayed the course when it looked like the front-office was a weakness there, may be he tries not to keep repeating that with the Wizards.

[MikeTheKid]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Truth_About_It/status/454268234100113408[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ConorDDirks/status/454267884932694017[/tweet]

Thank god, now lets see if he actually does anything about it.

As much as Ted's "State of the Zards" interview doesn't really move me and just seems to be a marketing ploy to get off my back for now hardcore fans were in the playoffs, these tweets do move me. Hopefully Witt really gets looked at hard now, I think if EG hasn't been fired by now its not happening unless Ted lowballs him in contract negotiations.

[Ruzious]

I've been harsh on Beal myself, but come on. You aren't considering that he is in a pretty unfavorable situation for a young player just coming into the league. He's been thrust into duty as a #1/2 option on an offensively challenged team with no weapons, and a clueless head coach.

Put him on say, Portland in place of Wesley Matthews and he would clearly be a quality starter who everyone would be raving about as a perfect complementary piece. That's not to say present day Beal is definitely better than Wesley Matthews, but if he was in that role playing off of Lillard, Aldridge, Batum in that offense he would look a lot more valuable than he does now.

Just look at how defenses blitz him and deny him the ball, because they know he's the only perimeter threat other than Wall. Your Wesley Matthews, Sefoloshas, JJ Redicks, Courtney Lees etc don't see that kind of defensive attention on a regular basis.

He might not be in a good situation -- Wittman is clearly a horrible coach and our roster is mediocre at absolute best, but the fact remains that he's a below average basketball player right now. The big thing he has going for him is that he's 20 years old and has a ton of potential. If he were 10 years older and playing like this, he would be on his 5th NBA team logging 15mpg. Disassociate his potential from his current output, and it's pretty clear that he isn't very good right now.

Also, Wes Matthews is a great player. I really don't think Beal would be as good as him playing for Portland this year.

So yeah, if we ignore everything import, he is a train wreck.

Wait, is that hands or a hands impersonator?

I liked what Ted said - particularly about the fans wanting to see continued improvement and contending for a championship.

[gtn130]

Hopefully Witt really gets looked at hard now, I think if EG hasn't been fired by now its not happening unless Ted lowballs him in contract negotiations.

Ted lowballed him last time. If the options for EG are a lowball offer or no offer from anyone in the NBA, he'll take the lowball offer.

[Benjammin]

What's the going rate for a proven loser?

Sent from my XT1080 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Illmatic21]

If all we're expecting out of Beal is "Wesley Matthews, Sefoloshas, JJ Redicks, Courtney Lees " then we need to lower the ceiling for this team. I think many have higher expectations for Beal. He might be much better in a different situation, he may become much better at some point in the future. Right now, he has quite a way to go.

What I see on court doesn't look good most of the time. Looking at the numbers, they do a nice job of confirming what I think I am seeing. "Mediocre at best," and "barely a legitimate starter" are certainly debatable, but they aren't insupportable characterizations. His PER is below average. Not below average for a starter, just below average, period. And that number leans more on his scoring, the area that ostensibly would be his strength, the reason he was projected as a cornerstone for the franchise. His WS/48 and W/40 look much, much worse, well below average.

I'm not giving up. He's young, he will (hopefully) learn and get better. But right now, he looks below average.

That first sentence is a straw man. Where did I say that's all we're expecting out of Beal?

Beal is 20 years old. Do you even fathom how young that is, for someone to be playing professional basketball in such a significant role? None of those players I named (Matthews, etc) were even in the NBA at age 20.

Just because Beal is doing poorly in the role that he's in doesn't mean he is a below average player. Is he below average as a first/second option? Yes, that is to be expected for a young player. But is he a below average player? No. He can shoot the three well, is a solid rebounder for his size/position, and has exhibited a good ability to move the ball and find teammates when necessary.

His head coach has essentially tasked him with trying to jumpshoot the team to victory every night. If he was in a complementary role where his shot attempts were limited and he could just focus on playing off of others, his fg%, PER, WS/48, etc would all be higher. If he was shooting poorly, a 3-7 FG game would stay at 3-7. In Washington, those 3-7 games turn into 3-10, 4-14 because Wittman wants him to keep shooting. If Beal simply took less shots, his stats would look fine for a second year guard. Every other aspect of his game is coming along. He's just taking too many shots in this offense.. and potential explanations for that have been discussed ad nauseum on this board.


It's funny, Klay Thompson in his sophomore year last year had a PER of 12.7 (worse than Beal this year). I bet none of you knew that without looking it up. And he was 22 years old at the time, and playing on a very talented offensive team next to a PG who draws a tremendous amount of defensive attention. This year Thompson is at 14.2, which is barely higher than Beal. And Thompson is a solid defender, but doesn't provide much rebounding for his size and is a black hole when it comes to playmaking. Is Klay Thompson a below average player also?

[Illmatic21]

Am I? Right now, Bradley Beal is pretty awful as a basketball player. Maybe in the next couple of years, he becomes average-to-above average but right now he's mediocre at best.

I've been harsh on Beal myself, but come on. You aren't considering that he is in a pretty unfavorable situation for a young player just coming into the league. He's been thrust into duty as a #1/2 option on an offensively challenged team with no weapons, and a clueless head coach.

Put him on say, Portland in place of Wesley Matthews and he would clearly be a quality starter who everyone would be raving about as a perfect complementary piece. That's not to say present day Beal is definitely better than Wesley Matthews, but if he was in that role playing off of Lillard, Aldridge, Batum in that offense he would look a lot more valuable than he does now.

Just look at how defenses blitz him and deny him the ball, because they know he's the only perimeter threat other than Wall. Your Wesley Matthews, Sefoloshas, JJ Redicks, Courtney Lees etc don't see that kind of defensive attention on a regular basis.

He might not be in a good situation -- Wittman is clearly a horrible coach and our roster is mediocre at absolute best, but the fact remains that he's a below average basketball player right now. The big thing he has going for him is that he's 20 years old and has a ton of potential. If he were 10 years older and playing like this, he would be on his 5th NBA team logging 15mpg. Disassociate his potential from his current output, and it's pretty clear that he isn't very good right now.

Also, Wes Matthews is a great player. I really don't think Beal would be as good as him playing for Portland this year.

If only NBA players could improve after age 20.. we should just get rid of Beal, no way he gets any better than this. Career journeyman at best.

[montestewart]

I think you're the one with the strawman illmatic. All those qualifiers aside, I thought we were talking about Beal, this year, on the court, playing for the Wizards, with Witt as the coach, judged by Beal's actual production. My comments are appropriate, other than perhaps I don't understand why you even mentioned those other players. Maybe we just don't see Beal the same.

[TGW]

I think you're the one with the strawman illmatic. All those qualifiers aside, I thought we were talking about Beal, this year, on the court, playing for the Wizards, with Witt as the coach, judged by Beal's actual production. My comments are appropriate, other than perhaps I don't understand why you even mentioned those other players. Maybe we just don't see Beal the same.

Exactly. You can blame the system, the coach, and the other players all you want, but at the end of the day Beal is responsible/judged on his play on this team with the current coach. We have absolutely no idea what Beal would do on another team, but on this team he's mediocre. The built in excuses for Beal is not doing anyone favors.

[Dat2U]

It's funny, Klay Thompson in his sophomore year last year had a PER of 12.7 (worse than Beal this year). I bet none of you knew that without looking it up. And he was 22 years old at the time, and playing on a very talented offensive team next to a PG who draws a tremendous amount of defensive attention. This year Thompson is at 14.2, which is barely higher than Beal. And Thompson is a solid defender, but doesn't provide much rebounding for his size and is a black hole when it comes to playmaking. Is Klay Thompson a below average player also?

Yes. Klay is better at the one thing Beal is supposed to be really good at, but other than that, Klay offers very little value in terms of defense, passing or rebounding. Klay leans more towards specialist because of his limitations on the ball. I'm optimistic as Beal potential could be more well rounded, but obviously he's not there yet. Personally I'm disappointed with his development curve thus far but Wall's slow progression has been frustrating as well.

I've always thought Beal's true breakout would come in his 3rd season and that may still happen but some of the comments, bad body language & unchanging shot selection discourages me. The lack of chemistry with Wall also concerns me. They don't appear to be overly supportive or friendly with one another (speculative on my part). Also, I'm still waiting to see the evidence he's a pure shooter. I see a nice looking stroke but frankly it gets pretty sloppy when challenged or tired. I'm certainly not looking to give up on him, but I would keep an open mind on trades that could help bring back a big time talent (Love, maybe Cousins).

[The Consiglieri]

Blah, blah, blah, blah, please consider a Wizards season ticket.

Exactly - don't listen to the words, watch the actions.

Trading away a first overall pick, likely a top 5-10 pick, in the best draft in eleven years, for a sweep at the hands of the Heat. Well, well, well, worth the investment, particularly after the genius GM 10+ years into his reign had already butchered top 3 and top 6 picks in two of the past three drafts.

Blah Blah Blah I haven no idea what I'm doing, but we made the playoffs so we must be doing something right.

[ptptpt]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Truth_About_It/status/454268234100113408[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ConorDDirks/status/454267884932694017[/tweet]

I'll take those tweets with a grain of salt. Until there is some action behind Ted's frustration, his blog and all his press releases mean nothing to me.

[gtn130]

If only NBA players could improve after age 20.. we should just get rid of Beal, no way he gets any better than this. Career journeyman at best.

lol what you're doing is the actual definition of a straw man argument.

I don't think anyone on the planet would argue that Beal doesn't have a ton of potential. No matter how much potential he has, he still isn't very good right now, and accepting that fact does not preclude anyone from believing that he can and will improve. They're two completely different subjects.

[hands11]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Truth_About_It/status/454268234100113408[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ConorDDirks/status/454267884932694017[/tweet]

Thank god, now lets see if he actually does anything about it.

That doesn't sound good for Randy.

[verbal8]

If only NBA players could improve after age 20.. we should just get rid of Beal, no way he gets any better than this. Career journeyman at best.

lol what you're doing is the actual definition of a straw man argument.

I don't think anyone on the planet would argue that Beal doesn't have a ton of potential. No matter how much potential he has, he still isn't very good right now, and accepting that fact does not preclude anyone from believing that he can and will improve. They're two completely different subjects.

Looking at the stats, it looks like Webster and Miller should be taking some of Beal's minutes. Earlier in the season, I could see the argument for giving Beal playing time to help with his development. However with battling for the play-off seeding and the play-offs the line-ups should be based on "win-now" criteria rather than potential.