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long suffrin' boulez fan wrote:I’m gonna say we’re winning this one

Halcyon wrote:Can Beal go nuclear for like 50 like old times?

Kanyewest wrote:Beal looks significantly older over this stretch of games. I will say the positive is that Beal is putting a lot of effort on the defensive end moreso than I can remember but it may be effecting his offensive. But he does look winded a lot. Maybe there is a natural decline coming with Beal who may have to do a better job taking care of his body in the offseason.

We can't ignore that getting Covid may have had some effect on his game at least staying in shape during the offseason. It disallowed him the opportunity of playing with team USA where most players (other than Lillard) end up having career years after playing with the team. Or if fatigue is ultimately building up with Beal after a relatively short offseason and previously condensed season.

Coaching may have had an impact as well on the offensive side of things. The Wizards spend 80% of their training camp focused on defense. A lot of improvement has been made there but now the offense is not as consistent. Overall, can't argue with Wes Unseld as the results seem to be working even after the recent results

Perhaps Beal's game also thrives next to not only Westbrook but Rui as well.

It hasn't been a great year for Beal's trainer Drew Hanlen as his clients are having worse seasons. Guys like Tatum and Embiid are relatively worse.

Beal also has said on podcasts that he doesn't really value analytics in basketball. Perhaps that's why he's spending much of his game working on his midrange and his handle. As the new rules, it seems to reward less of those behaviors for perimeter oriented guards- an in the meantime Beal's 3 point shot has declined to the worst it has been at any time of his career. Russell Westbrook has actually made more 3s than Beal this season (36 vs 35) on fewer attempts.

Then again, Beal has developed the reputation of starting out slow. He only came on fire in his 2nd half of his college season at Florida. Same thing happened in Beal's rookie season and Beal also has had playoff runs then some of the season. So maybe there is hope that Beal can redeem himself later in the season.

nate33 wrote:

Kanyewest wrote:Beal looks significantly older over this stretch of games. I will say the positive is that Beal is putting a lot of effort on the defensive end moreso than I can remember but it may be effecting his offensive. But he does look winded a lot. Maybe there is a natural decline coming with Beal who may have to do a better job taking care of his body in the offseason.

We can't ignore that getting Covid may have had some effect on his game at least staying in shape during the offseason. It disallowed him the opportunity of playing with team USA where most players (other than Lillard) end up having career years after playing with the team. Or if fatigue is ultimately building up with Beal after a relatively short offseason and previously condensed season.

Coaching may have had an impact as well on the offensive side of things. The Wizards spend 80% of their training camp focused on defense. A lot of improvement has been made there but now the offense is not as consistent. Overall, can't argue with Wes Unseld as the results seem to be working even after the recent results

Perhaps Beal's game also thrives next to not only Westbrook but Rui as well.

It hasn't been a great year for Beal's trainer Drew Hanlen as his clients are having worse seasons. Guys like Tatum and Embiid are relatively worse.

Beal also has said on podcasts that he doesn't really value analytics in basketball. Perhaps that's why he's spending much of his game working on his midrange and his handle. As the new rules, it seems to reward less of those behaviors for perimeter oriented guards- an in the meantime Beal's 3 point shot has declined to the worst it has been at any time of his career. Russell Westbrook has actually made more 3s than Beal this season (36 vs 35) on fewer attempts.

Then again, Beal has developed the reputation of starting out slow. He only came on fire in his 2nd half of his college season at Florida. Same thing happened in Beal's rookie season and Beal also has had playoff runs then some of the season. So maybe there is hope that Beal can redeem himself later in the season.

I don't really buy many of these excuses except for the "starting slow" one in your last paragraph.

Beal is too young for a natural decline.

Beal looks in great shape to me, and I've seen no signs that he is fatigued out there. He misses in the 1st quarter as much as the 4th.

Rui is absolutely not a sufficiently respected offensive threat that he draws defensive attention from Beal. Rui has not been a good offensive player for the Wizards yet in his career. Teams are content to let him shoot long 2's and they're not worried about Rui making the extra pass. Indeed, Kuzma with his superior passing and his willingness to launch 3's without hesitation is likely helping Beal on offense more than Rui ever did.

Interesting observation about Drew Hanlen's clients.

Regarding analytics, I actually think Beal messed himself up in the past by pursuing analytics to a fault. His commitment to launching 8-9 three's a game has really destroyed his 3-point shooting. I actually like that he is getting away from launching so many 3-balls. As long as he is shooting 26%, he SHOULD be avoiding them.