Bradley Beal - Part III

[stevemcqueen1]

@nate33,

I think Beal's stress fractures could be growing pains, but he's had other injuries unrelated to them that demonstrate a pattern of getting banged up.

- The shoulder injury early last season where I think it was Teague got Beal reaching around a screen or something and it looked like Beal wrenched his arm
- The back injury he suffered on a fall last season
- The hamstring injury he suffered at the beginning of this season from the bad cut and fall he took.

Beal is a rugged player and he falls hard a lot. He's not quite as reckless as he used to be, used to go hard to the rim and try and dunk on bigs like Kelly Oubre does, only he wasn't as graceful and well balanced as Kelly is. Nevertheless, he still ends up flat on his back or side a lot. On the plus side, I like that he plays fearless. On the negative side, he doesn't know how to protect himself as he falls. RGIII was like that. He'd get ragdolled a lot because he had no instinct for self preservation.

He does have a pretty sturdy frame though, and he'll get stronger as he ages. He seems to keep well conditioned too. He's also got a finesse game that he can got to when he ages. He's not as smooth and finesse as a Thompson or a Joe Johnson, he'll get injured more than them because of the way he plays. But I don't really worry about his longevity, more just his availability after any of the numerous small injuries he suffers during the course of a season.

[doclinkin]

I think Illmatic12 makes a good point. Beal's injury history may well be due to him finishing growing, rather than a sign that he is made of a glass. Is it possible that he may prove to be more durable in his mid 20's than he was in his early 20's?

I know I was. I didn't stop growing until I was 25, and used to have sprained ankles all the time as a kid, proved far more durable in my late 20's and 30's. And nutrition is key. Brad avoiding sugar will make a huge difference. Sugar is rocket fuel but you can't run your tractor on rocket fuel. Have to keep a steady burn to put in sustained work, not forcefeed surges of activity.

That Brad's growth plates had not fused suggests his ligaments will still have pliability, will make them more elastic. Necessary when you are still growing, otherwise they'd tear just from growing, but it indicates its possible he can't build reliable stability in the supporting muscles of those joints until all is settled.

I like that the Wiz have hired scientists to run their health program though. Hopeful we end up with a true Phoenix style rehab and maintenance program.

Osgood-Schlatter syndrome. There it is. Stress injuries due to activity while growing. Typically disappears after growth has finished.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

I think Illmatic12 makes a good point. Beal's injury history may well be due to him finishing growing, rather than a sign that he is made of a glass. Is it possible that he may prove to be more durable in his mid 20's than he was in his early 20's?

I know I was. I didn't stop growing until I was 25, and used to have sprained ankles all the time as a kid, proved far more durable in my late 20's and 30's. And nutrition is key. Brad avoiding sugar will make a huge difference. Sugar is rocket fuel but you can't run your tractor on rocket fuel. Have to keep a steady burn to put in sustained work, not forcefeed surges of activity.

That Brad's growth plates had not fused suggests his ligaments will still have pliability, will make them more elastic. Necessary when you are still growing, otherwise they'd tear just from growing, but it indicates its possible he can't build reliable stability in the supporting muscles of those joints until all is settled.

I like that the Wiz have hired scientists to run their health program though. Hopeful we end up with a true Phoenix style rehab and maintenance program.

Osgood-Schlatter syndrome. There it is. Stress injuries due to activity while growing. Typically disappears after growth has finished.

... or after getting traded from the Wizards.

[DCZards]

Gil was outstanding at getting FTAs and making them. Nit pick alert, those were 2 critical
FTs BB missed at the end of the game last night. We should have won in regulation.

We would have lost in regulation without Beal. Kid has been ballin' lately.

[dobrojim]

fair enough. He certainly has been balling lately. No major complaints.
Just nitpicks.

[payitforward]

This thread is full of crystal ball stuff, which is natural. What's real, and a good thing, is that right now, on the season so far (445 minutes in 13 games), Bradley Beal is an above average NBA shooting guard based on his numbers. For the first time.

Not a star, not an above average starter. Just an above average NBA SG. On his numbers. But since he's never been that before on any "on the season" view of his numbers, this is a very good thing.

It's especially good given that his 2pt. % is slightly down from last year, his 3pt. % is slightly down from last year, and his defensive rebounding is down from last year as well. Because he's shooting more 3 pointers, his eFG% is almost exactly where it was last year, and because he's getting to the line more and shooting a significantly higher % on FTs, his TS% is up a little as well. Since his usage is up (viz. the more FTAs and slightly more FGAs too), that's a particularly welcome fact. Statistically, efficiency tends to drop as usage rises. Instead, Brad's efficiency is up.

His fouls are down. His steals are a little down, but his turnovers are down more than his steals. His blocks are up. Assists about the same.

Moreover, given a slow start, as his minutes increase, his overall productivity increases too -- though the effect of the slow start will go away as the season progresses.

What to conclude? Who knows. So far, even with his improved play, there's nothing at all to make a person think of Brad as a "max" player. But, his salary is what econs call "a sunk cost." You could call it spilled milk; gets you nowhere to cry over it.

[payitforward]

Gil was outstanding at getting FTAs and making them. Nit pick alert, those were 2 critical
FTs BB missed at the end of the game last night. We should have won in regulation.

We would have lost in regulation without Beal. Kid has been ballin' lately.

He's playing very well indeed. OTOH, we had no business winning that game -- Cousins went 3-10 from the line. Freak event that there was an overtime at all.

[nate33]

This thread is full of crystal ball stuff, which is natural. What's real, and a good thing, is that right now, on the season so far (445 minutes in 13 games), Bradley Beal is an above average NBA shooting guard based on his numbers. For the first time.

Not a star, not an above average starter. Just an above average NBA SG. On his numbers. But since he's never been that before on any "on the season" view of his numbers, this is a very good thing.

Name 14 shooting guards better than Beal.

[WizarDynasty]

Your highest paid player should at least be top 8 in the league overall at his position if you expect to get deep into playoffs. Why.

To get deep into the playoffs, you need to be a top 4 seed. East has top 4 and West has top 4.
If you are at least top 8 shooting guard, that means you will win a battle against every other shooting guard head to head except the 7 shooting guards ranked in front of you.

If beal is top 8, that means only 7 other shooting guards can beat him head to head. There are 32 shooting guards in the league. If Beal can beat 32 minus 7== the other 25 shooting guards head to head in a match up, that means we are guaranteed to at least get 8th slot and be a top 8 team in the entire league.
If Beal can beat the other 25 shooting guards on a night to night basis, then we are ranked at least top 8. Every time beal faces a shooting guard ranked top 7 or higher he loses but as long as he beats the other 25 starters in the league, we are guaranteed to get the 8th overall slot in the league and top 4 playoff seed.

Beal ranked 14th in the league as our best scorer means he loses to 13th other shooting guards and we get 14th seed out 16 available seeds. the 14th overall seed in the league means we are 7th ranked playoff seed.

how many times theh 7th ranked playoff seed make it the second round and even rarer finals of eastern conference. How many times as a 7th seed ever made it the championship and one. We need our highest paid player to rank at least top 8 at his position just so that we can be in one of the top 8 slots for the playoffs. Beal at 14th means we are 7th seeded playoff team at best. We need Beal at top 8 or better overall in the league so that he can beat at least 25 out of 32 shooting guards he matches up with on a nightlyy basis.

[tontoz]

It is pretty strange that he basically sucked before he got hurt but then has broken out after coming back from injury. But we need to keep in mind it is just 6 games.

The important thing to me is that he has taken 9 threes per game over that span while shooting 44%. The one thing he has done well since he has been here is shoot 3s but he really hasn't shot them enough. Shooting that many 3 while maintaining 40+% puts a lot of pressure on the defense.

[AFM]

That 11/27/16 recap is tough bro! You got some sick handles!

[payitforward]

Name 14 shooting guards better than Beal.

Sure, easy. If what you mean is guys who are actually playing better than Beal -- where that means putting up better overall numbers (IOW not just scoring). As opposed to guys to whose name the response is "oh no, not him. Everybody knows Bradley Beal is better than that guy."

Here are 14: Jimmy Butler, Danny Green, C.J. Miles, Iman Shumpert, Lou Williams, Andre Roberson, J.J. Redick, Avery Bradley, Dwyane Wade, DeMar Derozen, Marco Belinelli, Vince Carter, Stanley Johnson, & Kyle Korver.

But one could also add George Hill, who's spending more than half his time at the 2 this season, Darren Collison (look at the numbers if you're skeptical), and a few others.

Now, it seems to me that most people judge how good basketball players as if the sport were similar to, lets say, the floor routine in gymnastics. A single, isolated athlete shows his abilities and skills, and you make a judgment about what he's done, how good he is. Nothing else is involved. If someone wants to view NBA players that way, it's certainly his privilege. And it leads to judgments like "A has a better handle than B" and to "wow" responses to exceptional displays of athleticism (as one responds to some stuff gymnasts do).

Obviously, what's missing in that perspective is a completely different element -- the game. The win or loss. The fact that an incredible drive and dunk in traffic over an opponent is worth the same as a simple layup.

And this "game" perspective is especially critical in basketball -- as opposed to say baseball or football -- because all basketball players do absolutely every on-court activity. And every one of them affects the game -- win/loss -- the same no matter who does them. A made bucket affects the score the same way, independent of who made it. Ditto a rebound or steal or turnover, etc.

What that means is that you simply can't discount one of those activities in the name of another. Brad Beal is a better shooter and a better scorer than e.g. Rodney McGruder (no-name mid-20s rookie SG who's playing a lot of minutes for the Heat). But, hey, McGruder gets a bunch more rebounds than Beal. If you compare them, you have to give Beal credit for his shooting results, but you also have to give McGruder credit for his rebounding results! Duh. Otherwise you are back to the gymnastics way of judging a player, and you're no longer looking at the "game" (win/loss) perspective.

In the perspective I care about -- contribution to wins by way of a player's numbers (all of them) -- Brad is now, for the first time, contributing at an above average level. That's great. He's also still only 23 -- he's younger than a couple of rookies in the league! In fact, he's younger than 3 of the 4 rookies we have on the Wizards! That gives us reason to be optimistic that he'll keep improving. Maybe he'll become one of the best starting SGs in the league, maybe he'll become a star. Or... maybe he'll be injured again, his play will decline, etc.

Who knows? But, neither of those factor into how good he is right now. Which is that for the first time in his career he's above average on the season. In the only thing that matters -- helping his team win.

[nate33]

Name 14 shooting guards better than Beal.

Sure, easy. If what you mean is guys who are actually playing better than Beal -- where that means putting up better overall numbers (IOW not just scoring). As opposed to guys to whose name the response is "oh no, not him. Everybody knows Bradley Beal is better than that guy."

Here are 14: Jimmy Butler, Danny Green, C.J. Miles, Iman Shumpert, Lou Williams, Andre Roberson, J.J. Redick, Avery Bradley, Dwyane Wade, DeMar Derozen, Marco Belinelli, Vince Carter, Stanley Johnson, & Kyle Korver.

But one could also add George Hill, who's spending more than half his time at the 2 this season, Darren Collison (look at the numbers if you're skeptical), and a few others.

Now, it seems to me that most people judge how good basketball players as if the sport were similar to, lets say, the floor routine in gymnastics. A single, isolated athlete shows his abilities and skills, and you make a judgment about what he's done, how good he is. Nothing else is involved. If someone wants to view NBA players that way, it's certainly his privilege. And it leads to judgments like "A has a better handle than B" and to "wow" responses to exceptional displays of athleticism (as one responds to some stuff gymnasts do).

Obviously, what's missing in that perspective is a completely different element -- the game. The win or loss. The fact that an incredible drive and dunk in traffic over an opponent is worth the same as a simple layup.

And this "game" perspective is especially critical in basketball -- as opposed to say baseball or football -- because all basketball players do absolutely every on-court activity. And every one of them affects the game -- win/loss -- the same no matter who does them. A made bucket affects the score the same way, independent of who made it. Ditto a rebound or steal or turnover, etc.

What that means is that you simply can't discount one of those activities in the name of another. Brad Beal is a better shooter and a better scorer than e.g. Rodney McGruder (no-name mid-20s rookie SG who's playing a lot of minutes for the Heat). But, hey, McGruder gets a bunch more rebounds than Beal. If you compare them, you have to give Beal credit for his shooting results, but you also have to give McGruder credit for his rebounding results! Duh. Otherwise you are back to the gymnastics way of judging a player, and you're no longer looking at the "game" (win/loss) perspective.

In the perspective I care about -- contribution to wins by way of a player's numbers (all of them) -- Brad is now, for the first time, contributing at an above average level. That's great. He's also still only 23 -- he's younger than a couple of rookies in the league! In fact, he's younger than 3 of the 4 rookies we have on the Wizards! That gives us reason to be optimistic that he'll keep improving. Maybe he'll become one of the best starting SGs in the league, maybe he'll become a star. Or... maybe he'll be injured again, his play will decline, etc.

Who knows? But, neither of those factor into how good he is right now. Which is that for the first time in his career he's above average on the season. In the only thing that matters -- helping his team win.

You only named 4 SG's currently playing better than Beal. Butler is a SF. Redick is close, so if you wanted to call it 5, I wouldn't quibble. It's a stretch but I'll even give you Danny Green because he might be a better fit specifically for San Antonio who only needs 3 and D at that spot. (He wouldn't be as good as Beal in Washington though. We need a primary scorer and Green can't do that.) There's also McCollum who looks about the same as Beal (though has a rep for terrible D). So, being generous, there's up to 7 SG's better, but only 4 are definite. There is no argument for anyone else on your list though.

Jimmy Butler - Yes - but he plays SF alongside Wade (you can't count both as SG's).
Danny Green - No - has played just 266 minutes and has a USG% of just 11. Beal has more WS, a comparable VORP, and a much higher PER.
C.J. Miles - Yes
Iman Shumpert - No - Beal has better WS, WS/48, PER, ORtg and VORP while playing more minutes and with higher usage.
Lou Williams - Yes
Andre Roberson - No - Not sure if serious. PER of 9.7. TS% of .492 on low usage. Lower WS, WS/48 and VORP
J.J. Redick - No, but it's close - Redick's turnovers offset his better shooting. They're even in ORtg with Beal higher USG% plus better assists and rebounding.
Avery Bradley - No - Beal clearly better on all summary metrics including PER, ORtg, WS/48 and VORP.
Dwyane Wade - Yes
DeMar Derozen - Yes
Marco Belinelli - No - Beal has a higher ORtg on much higher USG% with better D. Beal better on all summary metrics.
Vince Carter - No - Not sure if serious. Beal crushes Carter on all summary metrics.
Stanley Johnson - No - Not sure if serious. Johnson is a 15 mpg backup with a PER of 9.7
Kyle Korver - No - Beal is better than Korver at literally everything - scoring, efficiency, assists, rebounds, steals, turnovers

[tontoz]

Right now Beal's rebounding rate is the same as Nick Young. Glad to see him taking more 3s but other than scoring I don't see any progress.

As a side note it is strange how weak the 2 is league wide relative to the 3 spot.

[nate33]

Right now Beal's rebounding rate is the same as Nick Young. Glad to see him taking more 3s but other than scoring I don't see any progress.

As a side note it is strange how weak the 2 is league wide relative to the 3 spot.

I think some of this is due to the fact that most teams send their SG out on the fast break on every shot attempt so they can fill a lane or fade to the corner 3 (and they must get back on defense instead of crashing the offensive glass because their counterpart is doing the same thing). SG's are rebounding much less as a result. Basically, SG's are being asked to do a bunch of things that don't necessarily show up in the box score very often.

Meanwhile, lot's of SF's slide over to PF in small ball scenarios, allowing them to pad their rebounding stats.

[tontoz]

Right now Beal's rebounding rate is the same as Nick Young. Glad to see him taking more 3s but other than scoring I don't see any progress.

As a side note it is strange how weak the 2 is league wide relative to the 3 spot.

I think some of this is due to the fact that most teams send their SG out on the fast break on every shot attempt so they can fill a lane or fade to the corner 3 (and they must get back on defense instead of crashing the offensive glass because their counterpart is doing the same thing). SG's are rebounding much less as a result. Basically, SG's are being asked to do a bunch of things that don't necessarily show up in the box score very often.

Meanwhile, lot's of SF's slide over to PF in small ball scenarios, allowing them to pad their rebounding stats.

My comment about 2s being weak relative to 3s was a comment about overall ability, not rebounding. But on the subject of rebounding Beal's current rate of 5.2 ranks 56th among 2s, just behind Nick Young.

[WizarDynasty]

You only named 4 SG's currently playing better than Beal. Butler is a SF. Redick is close, so if you wanted to call it 5, I wouldn't quibble. It's a stretch but I'll even give you Danny Green because he might be a better fit specifically for San Antonio who only needs 3 and D at that spot. (He wouldn't be as good as Beal in Washington though. We need a primary scorer and Green can't do that.) There's also McCollum who looks about the same as Beal (though has a rep for terrible D). So, being generous, there's up to 7 SG's better, but only 4 are definite. There is no argument for anyone else on your list though.

Jimmy Butler - Yes - but he plays SF alongside Wade (you can't count both as SG's).
Danny Green - No - has played just 266 minutes and has a USG% of just 11. Beal has more WS, a comparable VORP, and a much higher PER.
C.J. Miles - Yes
Iman Shumpert - No - Beal has better WS, WS/48, PER, ORtg and VORP while playing more minutes and with higher usage.
Lou Williams - Yes
Andre Roberson - No - Not sure if serious. PER of 9.7. TS% of .492 on low usage. Lower WS, WS/48 and VORP
J.J. Redick - No, but it's close - Redick's turnovers offset his better shooting. They're even in ORtg with Beal higher USG% plus better assists and rebounding.
Avery Bradley - No - Beal clearly better on all summary metrics including PER, ORtg, WS/48 and VORP.
Dwyane Wade - Yes
DeMar Derozen - Yes
Marco Belinelli - No - Beal has a higher ORtg on much higher USG% with better D. Beal better on all summary metrics.
Vince Carter - No - Not sure if serious. Beal crushes Carter on all summary metrics.
Stanley Johnson - No - Not sure if serious. Johnson is a 15 mpg backup with a PER of 9.7
Kyle Korver - No - Beal is literally better than Korver at everything - scoring, efficiency, assists, rebounds, steals, turnovers

[/quote]
Beal is not much better in terms of the most important stat. He ranked 22nd for all players who have logged minutes at the sg position. How can you ever consider yourself a playoff team if your scorers don't rank in the top 10 at their position in FTA. Can we up this discussion for the real gm's on this board to figure out how to get at least a top 10 FTA player for his position.

Code: Select all

1   J. Harden Hou - PG,SG,SF   175
2   D. DeRozan Tor - SG,SF   152
3   J. Butler Chi - SG,SF   151
4   A. Wiggins Min - SG,SF   129
5   K. Leonard SA - SG,SF   120
6   E. Bledsoe Pho - PG,SG   111
7   G. Antetokounmpo Mil - PG,SG,SF   94
8   S. Curry GS - PG,SG   85
9   L. Williams LAL - PG,SG   80
10   E. Fournier Orl - SG,SF   73
11   D. Booker Pho - SG   69
12   S. Kilpatrick Bkn - PG,SG   68
13   C. McCollum Por - PG,SG   67
14   D. Wade Chi - PG,SG   62
15   G. Hayward Uta - SG,SF   60
16   N. Batum Cha - SG,SF   59
17   GTD   
18   T. Johnson Mia - PG,SG   59
19   B. Knight Pho - PG,SG   58
20   K. Caldwell-Pope Det - SG   51
21   W. Chandler Den - SG,SF   51
22   B. Beal Was - SG   51

if a player has logged minutes at the shooting guard position, then he is a shooting guard. Anyone who states that harden is not both a shooting guard and a point guard, don't see the picture clearly. Harden has shown that he can excel for metrics at both positions. If we were to trade for jimmy butler and let him play sg for the wizards full time, would he be better at shooting guard than Beal would. That is the simple question you need to ask yourself. The metrics I post say that Butler would get to line playing shooting guard for us than beal would. Would a top 4 seed playoff team choose bradley beal or jimmy butler to play shooting guard full time for them. K. Leonard, and S. curry both play minutes and point guard and shooting guard. Would a playoff team choose K. Leonard or S. Curry over Beal to log full time minutes at the shooting guard position? This tell you if they are relevant for discussion.

We know that Anthony Davis is a better overall player than Beal but would a playoff team select anthony davis over Beal if they were outstanding at the other 4 positions? NOPE. That's it people.

Now my argument is that FTA is most important stat that tell how good a player is. A player with poor ability to draw free throws is generally not as good as a player who can draw twice as many free throws. That's just a general rule and there are exceptions. But most of the time, this rule generally holds up. Bradley Beal's team has a bad record because Bradley Beal can't get to line consistently when his shot isn't falling. His team suffers during crunch time. the shooting guards...or "players who are capable of playing shooting guard and have gotten to the line more during crunch time, have helped their teams get the high efficiency points needed during crunch time. so take a look at the list and don't exclude a guy like butler from being considered a shooting guard because most teams will pick bulter as their starting shooting guard over beal...but most won't pick anthony davis over beal because anthony davis really doesn't have skills to play shooting guard even though he is a better overall player.

[nate33]

Beal is not much better in terms of the most important stat. He ranked 22nd for all players who have logged minutes at the sg position. How can you ever consider yourself a playoff team if your scorers don't rank in the top 10 at their position in FTA. Can we up this discussion for the real gm's on this board to figure out how to get at least a top 10 FTA player for his position.

Spoiler:

Code: Select all

1   J. Harden Hou - PG,SG,SF   175
2   D. DeRozan Tor - SG,SF   152
3   J. Butler Chi - SG,SF   151
4   A. Wiggins Min - SG,SF   129
5   K. Leonard SA - SG,SF   120
6   E. Bledsoe Pho - PG,SG   111
7   G. Antetokounmpo Mil - PG,SG,SF   94
8   S. Curry GS - PG,SG   85
9   L. Williams LAL - PG,SG   80
10   E. Fournier Orl - SG,SF   73
11   D. Booker Pho - SG   69
12   S. Kilpatrick Bkn - PG,SG   68
13   C. McCollum Por - PG,SG   67
14   D. Wade Chi - PG,SG   62
15   G. Hayward Uta - SG,SF   60
16   N. Batum Cha - SG,SF   59
17   GTD   
18   T. Johnson Mia - PG,SG   59
19   B. Knight Pho - PG,SG   58
20   K. Caldwell-Pope Det - SG   51
21   W. Chandler Den - SG,SF   51
22   B. Beal Was - SG   51

if a player has logged minutes at the shooting guard position, then he is a shooting guard.

This is a absurd argument. If you want to call Butler, Wiggins, Leonard, Antetokounmpo, Hayward and Batum shooting guards, fine. Then Otto Porter is about the 3rd best SF in the NBA.

Take your list, and weed out the guys that play predominately PG or SF, and you are left with:

Code: Select all

2   D. DeRozan Tor - SG,SF   152
9   L. Williams LAL - PG,SG   80
10   E. Fournier Orl - SG,SF   73
11   D. Booker Pho - SG   69
12   S. Kilpatrick Bkn - PG,SG   68
13   C. McCollum Por - PG,SG   67
14   D. Wade Chi - PG,SG   62
18   T. Johnson Mia - PG,SG   59
19   B. Knight Pho - PG,SG   58
20   K. Caldwell-Pope Det - SG   51
22   B. Beal Was - SG   51

Beal is ranked 10th with 3 games missed. A fully healthy Beal would rank 7-9th by your metric. And if you really think Johnson, Kilpatrick, Fournier and Booker are currently better than Beal, then you are not worth arguing with. I'll let others draw their own opinions:

[WizarDynasty]

21 players who have the potential to play shooting guard better for the wizards in the nba over bradley beal?

Code: Select all

1   J. Harden Hou - PG,SG,SF   175
2   D. DeRozan Tor - SG,SF   152
3   J. Butler Chi - SG,SF   151
4   A. Wiggins Min - SG,SF   129
5   K. Leonard SA - SG,SF   120
6   E. Bledsoe Pho - PG,SG   111
7   G. Antetokounmpo Mil - PG,SG,SF   94
8   S. Curry GS - PG,SG   85
9   L. Williams LAL - PG,SG   80
10   E. Fournier Orl - SG,SF   73
11   D. Booker Pho - SG   69
12   S. Kilpatrick Bkn - PG,SG   68
13   C. McCollum Por - PG,SG   67
14   D. Wade Chi - PG,SG   62
15   G. Hayward Uta - SG,SF   60
16   N. Batum Cha - SG,SF   59
17   GTD   
18   T. Johnson Mia - PG,SG   59
19   B. Knight Pho - PG,SG   58
20   K. Caldwell-Pope Det - SG   51
21   W. Chandler Den - SG,SF   51
22   B. Beal Was - SG   51

[lastemp3ror]

You know I used to think statistics and only statistics was the best way to judge the quality of a player. This thread has me thinking otherwise. When a statistic tells you Shumpert is better than Beal, than you can't use that ONE stat as your bible. Cause if it gives you the wrong answer once (Shumpert > Beal) then that means it isn't always right. Thus you use a bit of common sense and eye test as well. Putting player contracts aside no GM (people who get paid to evaluate players) will take Shumpert over Beal.