Blatche v. Beasley

[mopper8]

They both have played in bench roles and/or supporting roles on a vet-laden teams. In that comparison, Beasley has handily outdone anything Blatche has, at a much younger age and with much less experience.

I don't see what's so difficult about this. Of course you want to emphasize Blatche's post AS-game surge, and ok, that's your prerogrative, but its completely disingenuous to completely ignore everything up until Feb of this year. Especially when Beasley's situation for at least half of his short career is directly comparable to what Blatche was dealing with up until Jamison was traded.

To repeat myself -- In similar situations (playing for 2 years about 20 mpg) the numbers are similar:

Beasley's per 36 (2009/2010) 7.7/1.5/18.9 with a TS% of .515 and 0.7 blocks.
Blatche's per 36 (2008/2009) 8.6/2.3/14.2 with a TS% of .510 and 2.0 blocks.

Beasley in that role was the better scorer, Blatche was better at everything else (including man defense); Blatche was a year older at the time (2 years older now).

Yeah, that's kinda my point...in similar situations, the #s are very similar, only Beasley has done it on winning teams, at a younger age and with fewer years experience in the league...I think the nod has to go to Beasley on that.

Blatche has a 3 month stretch that we have nothing to compare with for Beasley, and he looks great in it, and so I can understand why some Wizards fans want to focus on that. But my only point is, there was nothing in Blatche's play prior to Feb this year that suggested a huge breakout for him that isn't there in Beasley's play as well. That's all. I don't think that's a homerish thing to say.

I, personally, would rather keep Beasley. I can understand why others would want Blatche. But I dont think its fair or rigorous or honest to focus solely on the last 3 months, and looking prior to that, the picture is a lot less clear.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

what was blatche doing when he was a role player playin next to jamison, caron, haywood?

im sure if the Heat traded wade/jo/haslem and featured Beasley. the Heat would be awful but Beasley would get his numbers.

I havent seen Blatche enough so i wont say whos better, just saying put numbers in perspective.


Our offense is built around D. Wade and JO in the post.

15/6 for Beasley is pretty good when u see hes doing it on a winning team and more as role player.

[some_rand]

Also, there is NO way I'd swap Beasley for Blatche, for a couple of simple reasons. First, Blatche is going to get paid, soon. Why swap cheap labor for an expensive player when 2010 is already going to cost you a ton of money?

Blatche's contract lasts until 2012. He will be paid an average of $3.35M over those two years.
Beasley's contract lasts until 2012. He will be paid an average of $5.6M over those two years.

this, blatche is locked into one of the best contracts in basketball right now

[penbeast0]

Mopper, you know I may not love you but I honor and respect your opinion however . . . you weren't saying the numbers were close, you said Beasley had "handily outdone" anything Blatche had put up in a similar role . . . which just isn't true. I'd rather have a role player with Blatche's 08 and 09 numbers than one with Beasley's 09 and 10 numbers . . . easily. Beasley isn't efficient enough yet to make his extra scoring as valuable as Blatche's superior rebounding, passing, and shotblocking (even ignoring defense).

Note that this is a different question than who has more potential in the future...

[mopper8]

Mopper, you know I may not love you but I honor and respect your opinion however . . . you weren't saying the numbers were close, you said Beasley had "handily outdone" anything Blatche had put up in a similar role . . . which just isn't true. I'd rather have a role player with Blatche's 08 and 09 numbers than one with Beasley's 09 and 10 numbers . . . easily. Beasley isn't efficient enough yet to make his extra scoring as valuable as Blatche's superior rebounding, passing, and shotblocking (even ignoring defense).

Note that this is a different question than who has more potential in the future...

Well, maybe I got a little out of hand and that's fair to point out...my main point is that the similar numbers are coming on a much better team for one of the players. You might like Blatche's #s slightly better, but Beasley has been doing it on what are (to my mind) superior teams. The last time the Wiz were comparable to the level of the Heat would be (at best) 07-08, when Blatche was 21, got only 20 mpg, and put up 7.5 pts and 5rbs per. That's kinda way I thought "handily"...I took it as a given that, stats and age roughly similar, the edge goes to the player on the superior team...fair enough though if you don't agree.

edit: another way of thinking about this is, would anyone have really considered starting this thread before Jamison and Butler were traded? I don't think it would be controversial to say that up until Feb of this year, Michael Beasley had the superior career under his belt. Maybe you don't agree, or that it's not germane to the discussion...but I kinda think prior to the last 2 months, it wouldn't have been much of a debate at all. And I say that as someone who has followed Blatche's career and always liked him as a player.

The reason I think it's germane to the discussion is that its hard to judge two players in such obviously different situations, yes? The ability to guess how Beasley would or would not flourish is just as hampered right now as it was to guess how Blatche would do on his own two months ago. Right?

I mean, right now, sure, Wade draws a lot of attention and such, but also, the guy does not get plays run for him, and that's not an exaggeration. We don't have a package for him, really. If he were our feature guy, we'd have all sorts of action to get him into his favorite spots with a live dribble, but as is we run most of our offense either through Wade pnrs, JO post-ups, Wade/Q-Rich isos in the post, Wade off-the-ball action, screen action with Arroyo and Dorell Wright, etc etc. Beas gets some ISO plays or games out as a 3rd option running through a set and such, but its not like we come down and run one from a package of plays for him ever. He could be much more effective if we did (theoretically)

[dlts20]

what are you people talking about? Blatche was in Beasley's position? Dude, Jamison is an All Star who can get 20 & 10 while most think that Wood is one of the best Centers in the league. Beasley only has Haslem and Miami has never even really had a good player at the 3 which is his secondary position. Thats not the same spot at all. You think Beasley wouldve played so much with our coaches behind Jamsion & Butler? You talk about fighting for minutes but its not even a fight. Everyone will always give it to Caron & AJ because there names are established.

More importantly, just do the eye test. Dont give me that crap about numbers. Just watch the guys play. There is no way in hell that anyone can think Beasley is as good. Its a mismatch really. Beasley has some talent but he's just too undersized and his game isnt defined enough. He actually is lucky that he's a lefty which is a huge advantage in sports. If he wasnt that then he would be in serious trouble. If Blatche was a lefty then you wouldnt be able to stop him