Bradley Beal

[tontoz]

I don't think being "clutch" is a myth or a totally useless concept. There's is something to be said for the person who can step up and make a play or basket when the game is on the line. Stress and emotions are realities for all of us, and there's a lot more pressure and stress associated with taking a shot with 5 seconds left in the game and your team down by 1 (when the stakes are high) than it is taking a shot in the middle of the first quarter and your team down by 1.

Jordan used to say that the key is not being afraid to miss. I think a lot of players don't want that burden on them. They don't want to be the guy taking that shot. The best clutch players are guys who want to take that shot and have the ability to make them.

There is a great clutch player sitting on the Wizards bench. Sam I Am has so many daggers on his resume he would make Jack the Ripper jealous.

[DCsOwn]

More supporting evidence:

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/2/27/4 ... ile-rookie

Thanks for posting this article. A lot of great stuff in it: The stuff about Beal's family; his relationship with Wall; Cassell's role in Beal's development; Webster's comments; Beal's emergence as a leader,etc.

This paragraph captures Double B's talents best, IMO.

"Beal is only 19 years old, but you wouldn't know it. There's nothing 19 about how he carries himself. On the floor he rarely forces anything -- he's smooth, smart, steady. In the half-court, you'll almost never see him take more than three dribbles. Listed at 6'3 and 207 pounds, he's sneaky with his speed, strength and athleticism. Explosive fastbreak dunks, reverse layups and rebounds in traffic shouldn't look so easy."[/quote]

No problem, and that's the paragraph that resonated the most with me as well.

[Ruzious]

I don't think being "clutch" is a myth or a totally useless concept. There's is something to be said for the person who can step up and make a play or basket when the game is on the line. Stress and emotions are realities for all of us, and there's a lot more pressure and stress associated with taking a shot with 5 seconds left in the game and your team down by 1 (when the stakes are high) than it is taking a shot in the middle of the first quarter and your team down by 1.

Agreed. It's not saying that points earlier in the game aren't as important as points later in the game. It's saying (at least imo) it is more difficult to score later in the game if the game is close.

[go'stags]

I don't think being "clutch" is a myth or a totally useless concept. There's is something to be said for the person who can step up and make a play or basket when the game is on the line. Stress and emotions are realities for all of us, and there's a lot more pressure and stress associated with taking a shot with 5 seconds left in the game and your team down by 1 (when the stakes are high) than it is taking a shot in the middle of the first quarter and your team down by 1.

Agreed. It's not saying that points earlier in the game aren't as important as points later in the game. It's saying (at least imo) it is more difficult to score later in the game if the game is close.

+1. Defenses do tighten up late in games, especially in the playoffs.

(edit: I was being petty. My apologies)

[DCZards]

+1. Do people *really* need this to be said? Defenses *do* tighten up late in games, *especially* in playoff games; Its just common sense.

Agreed. But it's not just defenses that get tighter...some people's collars get tighter as well...if you know what I mean. That's why I believe that there is such a thing as "clutch", players who can handle the stress/pressure of the critical moment.

[hands11]

The season isn't even over yet and with every game, it becomes more and more clear, Beal is the best young core long term piece on the team. I no longer worry about what kind of game he will have before a game. I expect him to play well, make sound decisions and shoot effectively.

It was a tough start to the season for him, but it was a no win situation give the injured roster. Then like magic, his shot went from clank to money. I don't know if I have even seen anything like that before. Ever. Usually it happens in phases. With Beal, it was like a light switch going on.

Then the injury happened. When he returned, he struggled some. Then just like before. Click, and his shot was money again. And its not just his game, its his smarts, maturity and personality. He is just the whole package. Beal is the the main reason I feel confident things are finally turning in the right direction. And it not just about a next year. Its about a 10 year run.

Made props to Webster also. I am confident about him contributing as well. He really out performed expectations this year. This is beyond what people thought would be the best case scenario for him.

Trevor A and Okafor. Can't really ask for much more then they have done. Meet or exceeded expectations.
Nene still seems like he isn't 100% and he struggled against athletic younger bigs but hard to complain with what he has delivered once he was healthy enough to play 30 minutes.

Its Wall that doesn't fit in with that group as clearly. His decision making doesn't match with the above group. And in that list of names above, I can't imagine pregame saying, I hope..fill in the blank...doesn't go 1-9 with 6 turnovers tonight. Its just totally different with Wall. He has established no consistency regarding what he will do well and how he will help win a game.

I wonder what Wall will bring much more in line like I wonder what Kevin S will bring. Ouch. Sobering to realize the truth in that.

[tontoz]

I wonder if he aggravated his wrist injury on that fall early in the 2nd half. I don't think he made a jumper the rest of the game.

[willbcocks]

After his 12 rebound game, I posted that it looked like a light had gone on in Beal's head about rebounding the basketball. It looked like he realized that he could -- and should -- grab rebounds in the NBA.

In the 3 games since, he's grabbed 5, 6, and 6. I think he will eventually reach the same level as the NBA's top rebounding small guards, D. Wade and Harden, who average around 5 rebounds per game.

[The Consiglieri]

I don't think being "clutch" is a myth or a totally useless concept. There's is something to be said for the person who can step up and make a play or basket when the game is on the line. Stress and emotions are realities for all of us, and there's a lot more pressure and stress associated with taking a shot with 5 seconds left in the game and your team down by 1 (when the stakes are high) than it is taking a shot in the middle of the first quarter and your team down by 1.

I tend to go with the idea that clutch is nonsense as well, however in basketball there is some relevance, and as previously mentioned with regards to gay, if your job with your squad is always to have the last shot, the last shot is rarely as well designed and well executed as a shot in the middle of the second quarter or whatever, the last shot has to be made before the clock reads 0.0, and while sometimes a team has the time to set up its shot, many times you dont, you just try to get the ball to your guy whether its high percentage or not and hope for the best, and that can definitely distort effiecency stats.

[pancakes3]

I think clutch is irrelevant in the NBA. Everyone there is a cocky SOB when it comes to their game from Kobe on down to Scalabrine. I would be very surprised if anyone at that level is actually afraid of taking a last second shot. Of course, there would be preferences to what that shot is, (Wall may be less comfortable with a 3 than a drive) but the gonads are there and "choking" is irrelevant.

[fishercob]

The clutch gods giveth:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcajwfVHTYI[/youtube]

The clutch gods taketh away:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO58NRNxQ4Y[/youtube]

[hands11]

http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/nam ... on-wizards

Mark it down. 2/27/13 First day Double B lead the team in PPG.

Beal has no neck

Look how the pictures are taken. Everyones V on their shirt is at the same place but Beal has a ton of empty space at the top of his picture.

Okafor and Trevor A have Alien necks
Beal is like

[hands11]

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ec17ed0000

Wow this young man just continues to impress me. Listen to his answer. And at the end he puts it on himself.

And he is only 19.

[queridiculo]

It's nice to see Beal come around. For his age his maturity and mindset stands out, a welcome departure from the three stooges days.

What concerns me a bit is his ineffectiveness playing on the ball. His handles are incredibly suspect and he's not even close to being effective breaking down his man in one on one situation.

What that means to me in the long run is that Washington will need to find a way to cultivate a post game, and complement his skill set with a PG and SF that can get into the lane and finish.

Wall might be that guy at the point, but until he develops a jumper that opponents have to respect, defenses will simply collapse in the middle and play the passing lanes.

[Illuminaire]

I agree that Beal's handles need work, Que. He did blow by his defender a few times last game to get into the lane, though - and scored efficiently doing so.

It's still a major work in progress, but I would not call him ineffective. He doesn't have any great moves yet, but he seems to be able to get by people when he needs to, at least some of the time.

[queridiculo]

It's my impression that Beal mostly gets into the lane when he's coming off screens, but struggles mightily in iso sets. Washington doesn't really call many of those for Beal, so it could just be a function of him playing within himself, but it seems that when he finds himself in those situations his handle appears extremely tight and that he lacks the explosiveness and wiggle to get that edge you need to beat your defender.

Maybe it'll come with time, but just like shooting, it's a skill that can only be developed to a certain extent.

[willbcocks]

This is a real question: how important are iso sets? While teams generally use them at the end of games to run off the clock and avoid turnovers, do they create high percentage shots relative to other sets? My uninformed sense is that iso shots generate low percentage shots, cut down offensive rebounding opportunities, and drain the defensive energy out of teammates. Anyone have stats on this?

[nate33]

Ray Allen and Reggie Miller were never particularly good at breaking down defenders off the dribble yet still managed to have HOF careers. I think Beal will ultimately be a bit better than both those guys at creating off the dribble. (It remains to be seen if he'll have their ridiculous shooting ability. That's a pretty high standard.)

One disadvantage Beal has is that he doesn't have an extremely quick release. He has sped up his release from what it looked like in November, but it's still not quick like Stephen Curry's, for example. I don't know if that will get much better or not.

James Harden is a guy who never really struck me as having a particularly fast release or a particularly shifty handle, yet he gets to the lane at will. He does it by taking good angles and having a very nice hesitation move and shot fake. Harden's style of game seems like it's one that can be learned, rather than being innate. I wonder if Beal could look like that in a couple of years.

[AFM]

He doesn't have a super quick release, but he gets great elevation on his shot. Earlier in the year, he had been getting blocked pretty often, but it seems he's figured that out.
He doesn't really have an arsenal of moves to break his defender down, but just based off the fact that he's such a good jump shooter they have to respect it, and he's been getting to the basket pretty easily these past few games.

[tontoz]

I am not a fan of isos anyway. There is only one ball and 5 players. If you run a lot of isos that means 4 guys are standing around watching too much.

And I think Beal can create his own shot. I think the running floater he showed last game is a shot he will be able to use effectively as time goes on. Guys have to play up tight on him because he can shoot which will make it easy to get a step on them.

I think there is a lot of value in having someone who can put up numbers without dominating the ball.