Bradley Beal - Part II

[Illmatic12]

Im a big fan of Wall but in the next 3-5 yrs do you think guys Beal will be better than Wall?

I doubt it. People are overreacting in here, Wall was a significantly better player than Beal this season. His shot is just slumping in the playoffs.

Beal is going to be a great player, but he doesn't have elite athleticism or size for his position. Wall has both gamechanging athleticism and size, and he has a tremendous all-around impact at the most important position on the floor. I honestly think Wall will be an MVP candidate someday, I can't see Beal ever being that good.

[Illmatic12]

Would you trade Beal straight up for Drummond right now?

It seemed like a no-brainer last year, but Drummond actually regressed this year. He still pulls down a ton of rebounds, but his defensive awareness is a huge negative and his poor FT shooting may plague his entire career.

His ceiling is higher than Beal's, but there's no guarantee he actually reaches it, and he doesn't strike me as the smartest guy in terms of bball IQ. Not saying he can't improve, but when you watch him he doesn't strike you as someone who's destined for greatness like Anthony Davis.

I'm not sure if Drummond will end up being top 3 from the 2012 draft class.

Drummond is an athlete, Davis is a basketball player. Beal is a basketball player. Lillard is a basketball player.

[jmrosenth]

Im a big fan of Wall but in the next 3-5 yrs do you think guys Beal will be better than Wall?

Two different players.

Again I ask, why not enjoy having both guys on this team instead of always trying to compare the two? It's like we can't have nice things.

Debating stupid sports **** is what the Internet was invented for, according to Al Gore.

The Mitch Richmond comparisons are apt, and based on what we've seen in these playoffs, you have to consider his ceiling higher at age 20. Seems to be more athletic and a better defender (both on help and man D) than Mitch was, although I mostly just remember the decrepit Richmond from his Wizards days. Beal's shooting efficiency should improve. Richmond was already a polished 23 year old 4-year college player as a rookie.

[daSwami]

Watching Beal melt down in the fourth quarter last night, after playing an amazing first 3.5 quarters, I was forced to remind myself that "he's only 20 years old." The air-ball free throw - that type of choking won't be happening again once he's got some years under his belt. Right now, he really is a guy who plays better in the flow of the game than when he's under pressure. That's nerves, he'll out-grow it, and then he'll be the Ray Allen clone that people hope he'll become.

[Severn Hoos]

Watching Beal melt down in the fourth quarter last night, after playing an amazing first 3.5 quarters, I was forced to remind myself that "he's only 20 years old." The air-ball free throw - that type of choking won't be happening again once he's got some years under his belt. Right now, he really is a guy who plays better in the flow of the game than when he's under pressure. That's nerves, he'll out-grow it, and then he'll be the Ray Allen clone that people hope he'll become.

And - at the risk of restating yet again what some of us have been saying for some time now - all the more reason this one-year rental, "playoffs-or-bust" approach will pay dividends far beyond this season. Better for him to have that moment now than 2 or 3 years from now, when he might have been in his first playoff environment had the team not made those "short-sighted" moves to "take advantage of a weak conference"

Since I feel I have to say it over and over lest be labeled an apologist - I think EG has squandered a lot of opportunities, spent a lot of resources to get to this level, and really should be replaced so the team can get some fresh blood in there. But the 3 main moves to get to this point - Nene, Okariza, and Gortat - have proven to be valuable to the only development that matters, that of Wall & Beal.

[DCZards]

Watching Beal melt down in the fourth quarter last night, after playing an amazing first 3.5 quarters, I was forced to remind myself that "he's only 20 years old." The air-ball free throw - that type of choking won't be happening again once he's got some years under his belt. Right now, he really is a guy who plays better in the flow of the game than when he's under pressure. That's nerves, he'll out-grow it, and then he'll be the Ray Allen clone that people hope he'll become.

daSwami, I don't know how anyone who has watched Beal play this year can consider a single missed free throw a meltdown on the part of Beal or some form of "choking" on his part, especially when the kid has made clutch shot after clutch shot both during the regular season and the playoffs. In fact, I believe Dub B strives under pressure. Those weren't "nerves" that you saw...it was simply one poorly shot free throw.

[Ruzious]

Watching Beal melt down in the fourth quarter last night, after playing an amazing first 3.5 quarters, I was forced to remind myself that "he's only 20 years old." The air-ball free throw - that type of choking won't be happening again once he's got some years under his belt. Right now, he really is a guy who plays better in the flow of the game than when he's under pressure. That's nerves, he'll out-grow it, and then he'll be the Ray Allen clone that people hope he'll become.

The air-balled FT was his 3rd straight missed FT. I thought Chris Weber explained it well - he'd never performed in front of a crowd like - and to have all eyes on him was a bit daunting. Actually Swami explained it pretty well, too. He got it out of his system, and he'll be just fine mentally. Beal's play has stepped up.

[DCZards]

The air-balled FT was his 3rd straight missed FT. I thought Chris Weber explained it well - he'd never performed in front of a crowd like - and to have all eyes on him was a bit daunting. Actually Swami explained it pretty well, too. He got it out of his system, and he'll be just fine mentally. Beal's play has stepped up.

Again, I think you guys--like Webber--are reading more into it than was there.

[fishercob]

Not to mention the fact that he made a couple big ones to seal it in the final seconds.

[Nivek]

It's not some kind of character defect if Beal was affected by the pressure of the moment. It was a big moment and a big stage, and he's very young. Having been through it, he'll likely be better at it in the future. If it was nerves at all. Doesn't really matter: he played a terrific game and was a BIG reason the Wizards won.

[Ruzious]

It's not some kind of character defect if Beal was affected by the pressure of the moment. It was a big moment and a big stage, and he's very young. Having been through it, he'll likely be better at it in the future. If it was nerves at all. Doesn't really matter: he played a terrific game and was a BIG reason the Wizards won.

Well said. Of course, I could say that about 96% of your posts.

[daSwami]

Watching Beal melt down in the fourth quarter last night, after playing an amazing first 3.5 quarters, I was forced to remind myself that "he's only 20 years old." The air-ball free throw - that type of choking won't be happening again once he's got some years under his belt. Right now, he really is a guy who plays better in the flow of the game than when he's under pressure. That's nerves, he'll out-grow it, and then he'll be the Ray Allen clone that people hope he'll become.

daSwami, I don't know how anyone who has watched Beal play this year can consider a single missed free throw a meltdown on the part of Beal or some form of "choking" on his part, especially when the kid has made clutch shot after clutch shot both during the regular season and the playoffs. In fact, I believe Dub B strives under pressure. Those weren't "nerves" that you saw...it was simply one poorly shot free throw.

For a professional basketball player who shoots 80% - an airball isn't just a poorly shot FT - it's called the yips, the neurological term for it is focal dystonia. It's the brain's neurological response to a high-stress situation - the very definition of nerves (or "choking"). Again, I'm not saying it's a character flaw or mental weakness on Beal's part - I'm chalking it up to his age and inexperience.

[CobraCommander]

Beal didn't melt down as much as he was 20 for a minute. Keep beal with wall and we got two of our big three in a few short years. Then let's add Durant

[DCZards]

It's not some kind of character defect if Beal was affected by the pressure of the moment. It was a big moment and a big stage, and he's very young. Having been through it, he'll likely be better at it in the future. If it was nerves at all. Doesn't really matter: he played a terrific game and was a BIG reason the Wizards won.

Well said. Of course, I could say that about 96% of your posts.

+1

[tontoz]

Watching Beal melt down in the fourth quarter last night, after playing an amazing first 3.5 quarters, I was forced to remind myself that "he's only 20 years old." The air-ball free throw - that type of choking won't be happening again once he's got some years under his belt. Right now, he really is a guy who plays better in the flow of the game than when he's under pressure. That's nerves, he'll out-grow it, and then he'll be the Ray Allen clone that people hope he'll become.

If anything Beal has hit an abnormally large number of big shots late in tight games so far. By my count he dropped 15 in the 4th last night.

[Illmatic12]

Gilbert choked those two FTs in the playoffs. Lebron has choked FTs. Tim Duncan choked FTs in the Finals last year.

Not a big deal..

[daSwami]

Watching Beal melt down in the fourth quarter last night, after playing an amazing first 3.5 quarters, I was forced to remind myself that "he's only 20 years old." The air-ball free throw - that type of choking won't be happening again once he's got some years under his belt. Right now, he really is a guy who plays better in the flow of the game than when he's under pressure. That's nerves, he'll out-grow it, and then he'll be the Ray Allen clone that people hope he'll become.

If anything Beal has hit an abnormally large number of big shots late in tight games so far. By my count he dropped 15 in the 4th last night.

I'm starting to wish I hadn't chimed in on this thread at all. I'm not knocking Beal's ability to produce in the clutch.

My point was to talk about his brain's (perfectly normal) response to that discrete chunk of time when he was standing at the FT line late in a play-off game having just missed 2 previous free-throws. In moments like that, adrenaline can over-ride muscle memory and actually cause acute "mini-seizures" (it's the same basic thing causes you to tremble when you get nervous, but much more finite). It gets even worse when you have time to think about it (like when you're standing at the FT line in front of 20,000 screaming people). This is why it so often effects golfers (in the form of the "yips") - where every shot is an isolated "acute event."

No question Beal has hit a number of big shots late in games - but he usually does that within the rhythm of the game when instinct trumps cognition. But I'd wager that minus the stress of that moment, Beal could shoot 100 free-throws blind-folded and not shoot a single air ball.

I don't want to come off as a blow hard on this, but focal dystonia is a neurological phenomena that I've studied (for personal reasons). Golfers David Duval, Sergio Garcia,Tommy Armour, Mark O'Meara and several others have suffered from it. Musicians, too: it almost cost pianist Leon Fleischer his career.

But it only happened to Beal one time and may never happen again (hopefully). It's good that he was able to recover and hit two more FTs - that should reduce his anxiety going forward. That said, I bet the Pacers will be looking to foul Beal in late-game situations from now on.

[tontoz]

Watching Beal melt down in the fourth quarter last night, after playing an amazing first 3.5 quarters, I was forced to remind myself that "he's only 20 years old." The air-ball free throw - that type of choking won't be happening again once he's got some years under his belt. Right now, he really is a guy who plays better in the flow of the game than when he's under pressure. That's nerves, he'll out-grow it, and then he'll be the Ray Allen clone that people hope he'll become.

If anything Beal has hit an abnormally large number of big shots late in tight games so far. By my count he dropped 15 in the 4th last night.

I'm starting to wish I hadn't chimed in on this thread at all. I'm not knocking Beal's ability to produce in the clutch.

My point was to talk about his brain's (perfectly normal) response to that discrete chunk of time when he was standing at the FT line late in a play-off game having just missed 2 previous free-throws. In moments like that, adrenaline can over-ride muscle memory and actually cause acute "mini-seizures" (it's the same basic thing causes you to tremble when you get nervous, but much more finite). It gets even worse when you have time to think about it (like when you're standing at the FT line in front of 20,000 screaming people). This is why it so often effects golfers (in the form of the "yips") - where every shot is an isolated "acute event."

No question Beal has hit a number of big shots late in games - but he usually does that within the rhythm of the game when instinct trumps cognition. But I'd wager that minus the stress of that moment, Beal could shoot 100 free-throws blind-folded and not shoot a single air ball.

I don't want to come off as a blow hard on this, but focal dystonia is a neurological phenomena that I've studied (for personal reasons). Golfers David Duval, Sergio Garcia,Tommy Armour, Mark O'Meara and several others have suffered from it. Musicians, too: it almost cost pianist Leon Fleischer his career.

But it only happened to Beal one time and may never happen again (hopefully). It's good that he was able to recover and hit two more FTs - that should reduce his anxiety going forward. That said, I bet the Pacers will be looking to foul Beal in late-game situations from now on.

I hope they do because his history suggests he will make them, as he has time and again.

[Kanyewest]

Watching Beal melt down in the fourth quarter last night, after playing an amazing first 3.5 quarters, I was forced to remind myself that "he's only 20 years old." The air-ball free throw - that type of choking won't be happening again once he's got some years under his belt. Right now, he really is a guy who plays better in the flow of the game than when he's under pressure. That's nerves, he'll out-grow it, and then he'll be the Ray Allen clone that people hope he'll become.

You know that Beal followed up that air-ball free throw by making 2 free throws in the final minute of the game. I'm not worried.

[Ruzious]

Why does Swami hate Beal so much?