Bullets v. Suns

[Illmatic12]

Porter deserves no less than 20mpg from now on. He's showing Wittman that he wants those wing minutes.

[fishercob]

Only watched the first half. Like Fish, my comments will be directed towards the season in general, not this particular game.

This is a good team. However, it will not be a contender or considered an elite team unless Beal significantly improves or we get another star to pair with Wall. Wall has definitely taken his play to an elite level. Beal, however, has either regressed or has not improved at all. We just can't afford for him to continue to have these 10-14 point games, missing wide open looks, turning the ball over, etc.

I am not saying that Beal will not improve or that he is a bust. Just saying that unless he dramatically improves or we are fortunate to get another star like Durant to come here, this team will not be a championship caliber team. We need another star to go along with Wall. Right now, we don't have one. Beal is simply playing like an average SG in the league. We need more production out of our starting 2.

We also need an upgrade at back-up point. Miller is just too slow on O and a defensive liability on D.

It would also be nice to have a rim protector on the second unit. However, Beal's poor to average play and having Miller as our back-up point guard are the two single things that are holding this team back from taking that next step where people legitimately can talk about this team being a contender.

Sure. For the Wizards to be a contender, they need better players. Hopefully it's not either Durant or a better Beal, but rather it's both.

Beal's roughly the same player he was over his first two seasons. And interestingly, we all had these same observations and concerns about him last year -- until he went beast mode in the playoffs. I hope that happens again. Just keep in mind that he's as good or better than Wall was at 21.

Korver, Jimmy Butler, Wes Matthews, JJ Redick, Afflalo, etc weren't even in the league yet at 21. Basketball reference is sin't working at the moment, but I think that Beal at 21 stacks up pretty well with Klay and Monta Ellis. He's probably a rung or two below Harden, but that guy's an MVP candidate. Point being, I'm pretty confident that Brad is going to get a lot better -- and so will the Wizards.

Beal's PPA so far this season: 108.

Thompson's PPA at 21: 81. That was his rookie year, though. His year three PPA: 100. That was last year. So far this year: 202.

Ellis at 21: 93. That was year two for him. Year three was his career-best PPA: 136. This year, he's at 112.

Harden at 21: 101. Then this progression: 142, 174, 183, 229.

Methinks folks should stop fretting about Beal.

Basketball reference is back up.
Beal's single 21 year old season vs. Harden, Klay and Monta: http://bkref.com/tiny/t4ops
Cumulative production for Beal, Harden, Klay and Monta as 21 year olds: http://bkref.com/tiny/29VE2

As I suspected, Beal is comparable -- in fact a little better -- than Monta and Klay, and Harden was a beast.

For kicks, here's Beal at 21 vs. the rookie years of Korver, Butler, Matthews, Redick and Afflalo -- all of whom were 1-2 year older as rooks than Beal is now: http://bkref.com/tiny/lbi04

Brad's going to be just fine, my friends!

[Ruzious]

Ya know, there are some players who haven't dramatically improved throughout their careers. For every Thompson, Butler, Harden, and Matthews, there are 3.51967 guys like Rodney Stuckey, Deaquan Cook, Julian Wright, and Morris Almond. Yes, I got those names from looking at

Spoiler:

the first round of the 2007 draft.

[tontoz]

Ya know, there are some players who haven't dramatically improved throughout their careers. For every Thompson, Butler, Harden, and Matthews, there are 3.51967 guys like Rodney Stuckey, Deaquan Cook, Julian Wright, and Morris Almond. Yes, I got those names from looking at

Spoiler:

the first round of the 2007 draft.

Exactly. It always amuses me when people pretend like they know what will happen. We are all just guessing.

[TheSecretWeapon]

Ya know, there are some players who haven't dramatically improved throughout their careers. For every Thompson, Butler, Harden, and Matthews, there are 3.51967 guys like Rodney Stuckey, Deaquan Cook, Julian Wright, and Morris Almond. Yes, I got those names from looking at

Spoiler:

the first round of the 2007 draft.

Exactly. It always amuses me when people pretend like they know what will happen. We are all just guessing.

I knew you were going to say that.

[tontoz]

Ya know, there are some players who haven't dramatically improved throughout their careers. For every Thompson, Butler, Harden, and Matthews, there are 3.51967 guys like Rodney Stuckey, Deaquan Cook, Julian Wright, and Morris Almond. Yes, I got those names from looking at

Spoiler:

the first round of the 2007 draft.

Exactly. It always amuses me when people pretend like they know what will happen. We are all just guessing.

I knew you were going to say that.

What you did there....

Spoiler:

I see it