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Beal has a silky shot, but he jacks an eye-searing number of midrange jumpers that mostly miss. He’s a tentative driver who pulls up early, and he once again ranked as one of the worst pick-and-roll ball handlers in the league this season, per Synergy Sports. Wittman has a bizarre crunch-time love affair with Beal pick-and-rolls, even though those plays turn Wall into a passive bystander with a shaky jumper that defenses don’t respect.

tontoz wrote:Some nice stuff in this article.

Beal has a silky shot, but he jacks an eye-searing number of midrange jumpers that mostly miss. He’s a tentative driver who pulls up early, and he once again ranked as one of the worst pick-and-roll ball handlers in the league this season, per Synergy Sports. Wittman has a bizarre crunch-time love affair with Beal pick-and-rolls, even though those plays turn Wall into a passive bystander with a shaky jumper that defenses don’t respect.

And there are reasons to be bullish on both Beal and Porter — especially if Wittman, or some new coach, molds an offense that better fits their skill sets. Washington has over-stretched Beal’s ballhandling, but that might be healthy for him in the long run. He’s still only 21. He might not be able to work the pick-and-roll against a set defense, but slogging through that process now will turn Beal into a vicious secondary ball handler. When Wall bends the defense and dishes to him, Beal has the chops to blow by defenders closing out on his jumper, slice into the lane, and actually do something productive.

Maybe that won’t last. But Porter improved his shooting over the course of the season, and has morphed with frightening speed from a guy you’re fine leaving open into someone who inspires a little pang of panic when he rises for an open triple. He’s a terror on the glass, a canny off-ball cutter, and a committed defender who flustered DeMar DeRozan in the first round.

But they’ve started to nail the little things. Pierce has been a huge plus, on and off the court, and the Wizards turned trade exceptions into bargain deals for Kris Humphries, DeJuan Blair, and Ramon Sessions — and even more trade exceptions. The trades for Nene and Gortat, controversial at the time, turned out well. They have four people doing analytics and a well-regarded training staff.