Bradley Beal - Part II

[hands11]

So don't be shocked if you see this very soon.

Wall
Webster/Beal
Trevor A
Nene
Gortat

Its an option I called for earlier in the year. But I get why Randy waited so long to do it. It was more about Beal developing to win more long term then winning more right then. But for a team looking to make noise in the playoffs, Webster is better able to take that load on his shoulders then Beal is. Gotta think about the team at this point.

I don't think Randy will or should start Webster over Beal. If Beal is struggling, Webster is there to come off the bench to replace him...that might even mean that Webster regularly plays more minutes than Beal and closes out the games. But I'd continue to start Beal.

The biggest problem I have with Webster is that he's not a very good ballhandler or passer, which puts more pressure on Wall when he's in the game. Beal may be a mediocre ballhandler and so-so passer but he's better than Webster in both areas.

We will see. I just see it as a lot easier for Webster to bring it consistently then Beal at this stage of the season.

And Webster is 6-7 and steps from 2s into 3s. Beal is 6-4 and steps from 3s into 2s.
Webster has ice in his veins. He gets and 1s on 3 balls.
He actually does cut for dunks and rebounds.

And he can do this.



Its just speculation. Maybe it doesn't happen. But I won't be shocked if it does.

[hands11]

So don't be shocked if you see this very soon.

Wall
Webster/Beal
Trevor A
Nene
Gortat

Its an option I called for earlier in the year. But I get why Randy waited so long to do it. It was more about Beal developing to win more long term then winning more right then. But for a team looking to make noise in the playoffs, Webster is better able to take that load on his shoulders then Beal is. Gotta think about the team at this point.

I don't think Randy will or should start Webster over Beal. If Beal is struggling, Webster is there to come off the bench to replace him...that might even mean that Webster regularly plays more minutes than Beal and closes out the games. But I'd continue to start Beal.

The biggest problem I have with Webster is that he's not a very good ballhandler or passer, which puts more pressure on Wall when he's in the game. Beal may be a mediocre ballhandler and so-so passer but he's better than Webster in both areas.

Also, his current rotation has Beal in the game when Wall sits. While that makes Beal a less efficient player, it's still better than having Temple and Webster share the backcourt. We can't even get into offensive sets when those two are at guard.

His rotations also has Webster in when Wall sits. So with the adjustment, looks like you still get Temple, Beal and Webster out there when Wall sits.

http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gamef ... ame=CLEWAS

This guy.
http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ter-2-8-14

Or this guy
http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ame-2-7-14

[hands11]

Now thats the kind of game I want to see from Beal.

Real nice line.

16 pts 6 rebounds 5 assists, 1 steal

10 shots 5 were 3s and he made 4. 6-10 FG

Only thing missing was some FTAs

He even played some PG when Temple playing off the ball and they did well like that.

I can't even remember seeing a long 2.

[Knighthonor]

Man Beal is a beast!!

They need to develop him some point on point guard skills. this backcourt is beast.

[hands11]

Man, Beal is been really annoying me to often lately.

When he dials his game in to what he does well, he looks awesome.
Catch and shoot 3s. Rebounds. Drives. Even making some nice assists.

But when he shoots that dribble to the left drifting to the left mid range 2 like he thinks he is Kobe.
Or the step one foot inside the 3 line long 2
Or dribbles around at the top of the key going now where.

Then its very frustrating to watch. Specially when he does a few of those things back to back to back.

[DCZards]

Man, Beal is been really annoying me to often lately.

When he dials his game in to what he does well, he looks awesome.
Catch and shoot 3s. Rebounds. Drives. Even making some nice assists.

But when he shoots that dribble to the left drifting to the left mid range 2 like he thinks he is Kobe.
Or the step one foot inside the 3 line long 2
Or dribbles around at the top of the key going now where.

Then its very frustrating to watch. Specially when he does a few of those things back to back to back.

Beal's inconsistent, sometiimes flawed play is what I'd expect from a 20 year old, second year player. Don't get frustrated Hands, Double B is a work in progress.

[jivelikenice]

^I don't mind the up and down nature of a second year pro's game. I mind the approach he takes. I hate that he continues to take long 2s early in the shot clock, that he's trying too hard to prove he's capable of creating his own shot, and that while he runs behind screens for the handoff he's taking 10-15 seconds of the shot clock (probably moreso a Wittman issue). He's not a very fun player to watch play right now.

I think a lot of the criticism that Wall took in his first few years in the league helped him realize what he needed to do to prove he was worthy of being selected where he was. Beal is shileded from that level of criticism so I don't know if he gets it.

[WallToWall]

I wonder if, at the end of the season, we will think he took a step forward or backward for his 2nd year? Right now, I see positives. Sure, we'd like more from him. He is still finding his game, believe it or not. He know he has to work on many things in the off-season.... But there is much up-side.
Positives:
3 point shooting
Getting free
pick and roll (its better than before w/Gortat)
assists

Neg:
doesnt bring it every game (on/off switch)
streaky
needs expand his game
endurance/conditioning

[nate33]

I'm still not worried at all about Beal. This year, he is really working on expanding all aspects of his game: passing, driving, pull-up jumpers, pick-and-rolls etc. He is getting better at all of it. The unfortunate downside is that in his efforts to broaden his skills, he spends more time doing things where he's less efficient, while spending less time on things where he is most efficient. I think the coaches don't want to reign him in too much because they don't want to hurt his confidence.

While it's frustrating to watch at times, I think it'll be great in the long run. A year or two down the road, after becoming fairly proficient in all aspects of the game, he'll then be able to mix and match his skills to utilize the most effective skill based on what the defense is giving him. People will talk about him making The Leap when in fact he will only be tweaking his game to eliminate the inefficiencies.

[jivelikenice]

Hope you're right Nate. I'm not worried, but slightly concerned he's focusing too heavily on areas which aren't his strength out of some level of stubborness as well as a need for improvement. As his game grows hopefully he focus on his strengths, while having the complimentary skillset to play an all around game versus trying to be something he's not.

[nate33]

I saw something in the Memphis game that really made me smile. Beal has gotten pretty good at running the pick and roll lately and finally forcing the defense to adjust. At some point in the middle of the 3rd quarter, Beal ran a pick-and-roll with Gortat, he subtly glanced at Gortat as Gortat was rolling, which goaded the help defender to shade toward Gortat a bit, but Beal just kept the ball and exploded to the basket for an easy layup.

It almost reminded me of a Nash/Amare pick-and-roll. Nash had all the nuances mastered so that he was almost unguardable. He ended up with easy layups at the rim despite being the smallest guy on the court because they were so scared to death of his passing that they forgot to guard his shot.

[dckingsfan]

Good list WalltoWall... I would add:

Positives:
3 point shooting
Getting free
pick and roll (its better than before w/Gortat)
AST% up
TO% down


Neg:
At the top of the list defense and defensive intensity
doesnt bring it every game (on/off switch)
streaky
needs expand his game
endurance/conditioning
eFG% down
RB% down

[nate33]

Hope you're right Nate. I'm not worried, but slightly concerned he's focusing too heavily on areas which aren't his strength out of some level of stubborness as well as a need for improvement. As his game grows hopefully he focus on his strengths, while having the complimentary skillset to play an all around game versus trying to be something he's not.

Don't forget what a TERRIBLE ball handler he was last year. It was downright embarrassing watching him try to play PG when Wall was out. Now, he's our primary ball handler for the 2nd unit and doing a darn good job. Over the past 21 games, he's averaging 4.4 assists and just 1.5 turnovers. In the 205 minutes that Beal was on the court without Wall (over the last 21 games), Beal is averaging 5.8 assists and 2.3 turnovers per 36 minutes.

[DCZards]

Hope you're right Nate. I'm not worried, but slightly concerned he's focusing too heavily on areas which aren't his strength out of some level of stubborness as well as a need for improvement. As his game grows hopefully he focus on his strengths, while having the complimentary skillset to play an all around game versus trying to be something he's not.

Jive, I think Beal is probably trying a little to hard to become an all-around player. Beal has said himself that he needs to attack the basket more. So that's why you often see him probing and looking for openings to attack the basket even when that opening is not there...so he ends up just sorta dribbling in place a lot of the times. But I like that kind of youthful "stubborness," as you call it, because he'll evenutally figure it out and improve on that aspect of his game.

I also believe the coaches see how hard Double B is working, especially in practice, to become a better player and know it will pay off for him and the Zards in the long run. So they're not eager to yank him out of the game when he's not playing well or publicly criticism him in a way that might hurt his confidence.

The kid has a long way to go to be a top 2-3 SG in the NBA but I believe he can get there. And, when that happens, the Zards backcourt is going to be an absolute joy to watch.

[dckingsfan]

I will say one more thing that worries me the most and that is that some of his peer's are improving faster than he is... Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Damian Lillard, Terrence Jones, Jeremy Lamb, Patrick Beverley, Jonas Valanciunas, Kyle Singler, Jared Sullinger, Terrence Ross, John Henson, Miles Plumlee, Harrison Barnes, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Maurice Harkless all seem to be progressing faster, and that is worrisome.

[Dat2U]

Hope you're right Nate. I'm not worried, but slightly concerned he's focusing too heavily on areas which aren't his strength out of some level of stubborness as well as a need for improvement. As his game grows hopefully he focus on his strengths, while having the complimentary skillset to play an all around game versus trying to be something he's not.

Don't forget what a TERRIBLE ball handler he was last year. It was downright embarrassing watching him try to play PG when Wall was out. Now, he's our primary ball handler for the 2nd unit and doing a darn good job. Over the past 21 games, he's averaging 4.4 assists and just 1.5 turnovers. In the 205 minutes that Beal was on the court without Wall (over the last 21 games), Beal is averaging 5.8 assists and 2.3 turnovers per 36 minutes.

I'm sorry reasoned anaylsis isn't welcome here.

But seriously, good point. It walks me back from the ledge a bit. His overall shot selection kills me though.

[DCZards]

I will say one more thing that worries me the most and that is that some of his peer's are improving faster than he is... Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Damian Lillard, Terrence Jones, Jeremy Lamb, Patrick Beverley, Jonas Valanciunas, Kyle Singler, Jared Sullinger, Terrence Ross, John Henson, Miles Plumlee, Harrison Barnes, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Maurice Harkless all seem to be progressing faster, and that is worrisome.

First of all, it's almost impossible to compare the so-called improvement of big men to that of guards. The required skillset is vastly different. So I'd take guys like Davis, Drummond, Henson, Plumlee, Jones, Jonas V., etc. off the list. And when you're talking about players like Lillard and Singler, you're talking about guys who are considerably older than Beal and had the benefit of 4 years of college ball...Beverly is 25 years old with two years of college and 3 years of international ball under his belt. That experience matters a lot, imo.

Lamb has improved but he's a role player coming off the bench. So his playing time is limited and his flaws are not nearly as obvious as Beal's, who is a core player for his team.

I've seen little or no improved play from MKG, Harkless and Barnes this year...and with the NBA TV package I watch a LOT of their games.

[dobrojim]

I'm not overly concerned about where BB is at this time but that said,
I have noticed that he struggles to create openings for himself. This is
arguably an indication of the respect he has already garnered which as
a 20 yo, is pretty impressive. Defenses are paying him a lot of attention.
But with all players and especially young ones, it's all about staying ahead
of how the league adapts to you ie being able to counter that with positive skills.
That is how potential is realized.

[nate33]

Yeah, Lamb has the easiest job in the league. He just stands in the corner and shoots open jumpers against 2nd string defenses. And he still only hits 35% of them.

Technically, Drummond hasn't really improved either from a statistical standpoint. Although I guess maintaining his rookie production over more minutes against starters is an improvement.

Valanciunas has regressed. Barnes has regressed.

MKG and Harkless have done nothing.

[dckingsfan]

Good points above - you could say that Beal really doesn't have many peers in that group. They are either bigs or older. It might be a touch of homerism though...

But to say that Lamb hasn't improved - ugh! His D is soooo much better and now much better than Beal's. His passing is much better. Both his 2 and 3 point percentages are better.

The argument was that we would see a big jump in year 3 - and I have bought into that. And the argument was that we wouldn't see those jumps in other players.

Clearly Lillard and Lamb have taken big jumps as guards. Even Maurice Harkless, Terrance Ross, and Austin Rivers have made good strides.

This isn't doom and gloom - but it is reason for concern. That is the rate of improvement... not if he is improving.