Official Thread - Wizards at Heat (12/19/14)

[sashae]

I think Randy really does lack game feel. He's bad at subs, bad at timeouts to stop runs, weird substitution patterns in general... His defensive coaching clearly DOES work but offensively he's still a work in progress (improved this year but still needs work) but man... The little things just don't seem to be there.

[stevemcqueen1]

One positive about Beal's play so far is his shot looks better than ever. It's always looked good but now it's automatic. Mid range to the three point line and at the FT line. And he looks confident when shooting after a couple of dribbles. His role has expanded on offense, but I also think the game has slowed down a little bit for him, he doesn't rush his shots at all. His trail game has been awesome too.

[hands11]

how is beal a max player again?

Yep, not right now... he needs to make some jumps and what is worrisome is the jumps need to be in many different phases of the game. On the defensive side of the ball, he really hasn't been able to get it done - but then he has flashes. On the offensive side - overall, not much of an improvement - but then he has flashes. Maybe next year?

Good news is Porter has definitely improved year over year - not to the point of being able to start but very solid in most aspects of his game. He has become a very solid backup SF. Does Porter catch Beal next year?

If you like Real Plus/Minus as a stat, and I do, you see Beal has improved in both offense and defense and moved up from 30th last year to 19th this year ( small sample size )

He is working hard on defense. That late steal iced the game. I don't have much to complain about there. What I want to see is him get his footwork right on offense and start hitting his open shots again. He is in a funk offensively the last two games and shooting has a lot to do with balance and footwork. At least for most shooters it does. There are some freaks out there and can shoot even when twisted and off balance. But Beal isn't that kind of shooter. He is a form shooter.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_ ... position/2

[hands11]

The key for Beal to take the next step is consistency. He has every skill to be an All Star, but it takes much more than that to perform as a true AS throughout the season.

Like almost every super talented and extremely young player, you don't know what you'll get from him night in and night out yet. It takes years to get to that point. He might drop 30 and 7, scoring from all over the court and setting up teammates and making key plays at critical moments. Or you might get a night where he's invisible and gives you like 10 points.

Fortunately we don't really need him to be better than he is yet. Wall is carrying the team on his back and the older vets in the front court are mostly holding up their end each game and we're winning at the best rate in franchise history.

Agree. Would it be nice if he was balling consistently, hell yeah. But right now, Wall seems to have it covered as a fall back most games and someone or someones seem to always fill in where needed.

In some ways, a game like last night is a good learning experience for Beal. He contributed in other ways. He rebounded. He defended. And he got that last big steal when him and another player trapped Wade for the turnover. That was a nice way to end an ugly game.

Better to learn from a win then a lose. But listen to Paul post game. He wasn't happy. He is pushing them to raise it another level before these tougher games are on them. And those games are right around the corner. Paul is like another coach. He is pushing them and trying to focus them regarding what they need to do now so they are ready for what is ahead.

Just goes to remind us of how many levels there are the climb from being a bad team to being a good one. Even after you get better talent, there is so much to learn from an individual level and then from a team level. Thats what allows teams like SAS and MIA to still play well even when their talent decreases. They have so much team knowledge.

[dckingsfan]

how is beal a max player again?

Yep, not right now... he needs to make some jumps and what is worrisome is the jumps need to be in many different phases of the game. On the defensive side of the ball, he really hasn't been able to get it done - but then he has flashes. On the offensive side - overall, not much of an improvement - but then he has flashes. Maybe next year?

Good news is Porter has definitely improved year over year - not to the point of being able to start but very solid in most aspects of his game. He has become a very solid backup SF. Does Porter catch Beal next year?

last year i thought Beal was better than Butler. Jimmy butler has taken a massive jump while Beal has regressed a bit. That is very concerning

Yep, and many of his peers have taken big steps as well:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... er_by=vorp

But patience is probably a virtue here - we aren't sure how much the injury set him back.

[Kanyewest]

Beal is a max player based on his potential especially since guys get overpaid like Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons. He should be paid less because of his production but teams with cap space will bid up his price.

[hands11]

Two plays I found particularly interesting from the game.

1) Earlier in the game, Wade drove under the basket and from under the hoop he jumped backward in an attempt to draw contract and clear space for the shot and 1, but someone jumped out of the way and he just fell to the ground for a turnover. I laughed my ass off.. Dude is skilled like Harden is skilled, but I hate that style of play. Its what Lowry does as well. They try harder to jump into someone then they try to score. Glad is was a total failure for him that one time. And as for Wade, it was sweet after that 3 that he was the one to turn it over with a struggling Beal being the one to steal it. Specially after all the complaining he did all game.

2) Later in the game, Wall actually was backing down to post up. He got all the way to the middle of the court a few feet in front of the basket before passing it back out. So it was nice to see him trying to implement it in a game. I assume Professor is working with him. Now they have some game film to review. But its going to take a while. Wall is not used to playing with his back to the basket where he can't see the floor. It must be so odd to him to be in that position. Totally foreign. I can see why that might take some time for him to learn. Its like anti Wall. He is all about seeing the floor and this is the exact opposite.

Anyone else catch those two plays ?

[dckingsfan]

Beal is a max player based on his potential especially since guys get overpaid like Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons. He should be paid less because of his production but teams with cap space will bid up his price.

Agreed, potential is the key phrase... the notion is he is young and will still improve. I think when this came up in the thread, it was more about his lack of improvement being worrisome since we almost certainly will max him out.

And if you look at his year over year stats... there has been very minimal (if at all) improvement:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... lbr01.html

You would really have to cherry pick stats to read in any improvement thus far.

But - I think the keyword is patience...