Bradley Beal Appreciation Thread

[Hoop Head]

Beal definitely deserves an appreciation thread. This team doesn't make it late season surge without him. He's adapted his game and become more of a PG than before and also a tenacious defender who gets up in an opponent's jersey to pester them.

This team's success will largely depend on Beal's availability and productivity. He doesn't need to drop 30+ or get 10+ assists but he needs to be efficient and protect the ball, making smart plays.

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[Hoop Head]

Thanks for the suggestion @DeAnna now we have a Beal appreciate thread.

Beal's leadership has been excellent. He's the only 1 of the big 3 that seems to take responsibility and holds himself accountable when things have been tough. I didn't foresee that happening when he was acquired but this team needs a vocal leader and Beal seems to have stepped into that role, at least publicly, and the Suns are better for it.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Thanks for the suggestion @DeAnna now we have a Beal appreciate thread.

Beal's leadership has been excellent. He's the only 1 of the big 3 that seems to take responsibility and holds himself accountable when things have been tough. I didn't foresee that happening when he was acquired but this team needs a vocal leader and Beal seems to have stepped into that role, at least publicly, and the Suns are better for it.

Have to remember, beal has been the alpha on his teams for a LOOOONG time. The talent just wasn’t enough to follow him into battle. Maybe he missed his calling as an alpha on a good team all these years.

 

[Ronin]

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[DeAnna]

I liked him from day 1 when he did a little side-step dance after pirouetting to the basket. Then Booker shook his hand, lol.

Plus he speaks the truth, not cliches in his post-game interviews.

 

[BirdGangThing]

worth the watch

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[ASUCHRIS]

Nice guy, but one of the biggest albatross contracts in the entire league. He has a lot to prove this year.

 

[Covert Rain]

Nice guy, but one of the biggest albatross contracts in the entire league. He has a lot to prove this year.

This. Bradley Beal was a massive disappointment last year. He had spurts but was not an all-star player. We brought him in here to be an all-star. If he doesn't play up to that level that contract (along with that no trade clause ) is definitely an albatross.

 

[BirdGangThing]

i think beal will be the perfect complement to this team if he's going to the hoop constantly

 

[Mainstreet]

i think beal will be the perfect complement to this team if he's going to the hoop constantly

IMO, I think Beal takes the ball to the basket too much, which slows down the offense. He seems to get in point guard mode, trying to create his own shot inside the lane. Now the Suns have point guards to do this job.

He is a good three point shooter and needs to let it fly more often.

 

[Hoop Head]

worth the watch

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I posted the whole podcast link in the other thread. Love and appreciate Beal for his openness and honesty.

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[Covert Rain]

IMO, I think Beal takes the ball to the basket too much, which slows down the offense. He seems to get in point guard mode, trying to create his own shot inside the lane. Now the Suns have point guards to do this job.

He is a good three point shooter and needs to let it fly more often.

Beal stood around A TON last season as well when the ball wasn't in his hands. He needs to move. I would love to see him cut more to the basket. Also, the mid-range is supposed to be his thing too. So, they need to find a way to get him to come off of screens to get him open looks. I am hoping having a true PG allows him to be more of himself or his contract is going to look much worse by the trade deadline.

 

[Chaplin]

Beal stood around A TON last season as well when the ball wasn't in his hands. He needs to move. I would love to see him cut more to the basket. Also, the mid-range is supposed to be his thing too. So, they need to find a way to get him to come off of screens to get him open looks. I am hoping having a true PG allows him to be more of himself or his contract is going to look much worse by the trade deadline.

And how much of that last season was the coach?

 

[Mainstreet]

Beal stood around A TON last season as well when the ball wasn't in his hands. He needs to move. I would love to see him cut more to the basket. Also, the mid-range is supposed to be his thing too. So, they need to find a way to get him to come off of screens to get him open looks. I am hoping having a true PG allows him to be more of himself or his contract is going to look much worse by the trade deadline.

I noticed in the preseason opener against the Lakers, Beal often drove the ball in the lane looking for his shot and it often wasn't there.

We agree, he needs to keep moving looking for his shot and let the point guards find him. It's a transition for him to be more of a shooting guard after he and Booker had additional point guard duties last season.

 

[Covert Rain]

And how much of that last season was the coach?

Not sure. I seriously doubt though Beal was told to camp at the 3 point line knowing his strength was the mid-range. If that was the case the coaching was much worse than I thought. I expect KD, Book and Beal to have much better setups in the mid-range with true PG's on this team though. We should see much less hero ball unless the issue is this mix of players.

 

[Chaplin]

Not sure. I seriously doubt though Beal was told to camp at the 3 point line knowing his strength was the mid-range. If that was the case the coaching was much worse than I thought. I expect KD, Book and Beal to have much better setups in the mid-range with true PG's on this team though. We should see much less hero ball unless the issue is this mix of players.

I disagree, it's not the playground out there. Positions SHOULD be dependent on what play is called. Of course, it also doesn't help when Vogel let Book and KD go iso in 4th quarters.

 

[Covert Rain]

I disagree, it's not the playground out there. Positions SHOULD be dependent on what play is called. Of course, it also doesn't help when Vogel let Book and KD go iso in 4th quarters.

Not sure where I said it was a playground. I disagree that positions should be dependent on calls. A PG position should never be a center position or vice versa just because of a call. Having said that, there are plays for WINGS for example where it's a tad more interchangeable. Matchups are important in the NBA. Teams exploit them every single night.

 

[Chaplin]

Not sure where I said it was a playground. I disagree that positions should be dependent on calls. A PG position should never be a center position or vice versa just because of a call. Having said that, there are plays for WINGS for example where it's a tad more interchangeable. Matchups are important in the NBA. Teams exploit them every single night.

You said you doubted Beal was "told" to camp out at the 3 point line. That implies that either no plays were called or Beal ignored what actually was called. Hence the "playground" designation. I think the coaching was definitely worse than we think. Not that Vogel was 100% to blame, remember Kevin Young was our "offensive guru" last year.

 

[Covert Rain]

You said you doubted Beal was "told" to camp out at the 3 point line. That implies that either no plays were called or Beal ignored what actually was called. Hence the "playground" designation. I think the coaching was definitely worse than we think. Not that Vogel was 100% to blame, remember Kevin Young was our "offensive guru" last year.

We see guys stand around all the time with coaches yelling at them to move. That doesn't equate to playground basketball. That equates to guys not getting into position or getting stuck watching other guys play hero ball. Either way I expect to see much less of that if we let our PG's do their thing.

 

[Chaplin]

We see guys stand around all the time with coaches yelling at them to move. That doesn't equate to playground basketball. That equates to guys not getting into position or getting stuck watching other guys play hero ball. Either way I expect to see much less of that if we let our PG's do their thing.

I really hope we don't see standing around, that's the ISO ball thing that killed us so badly in 4th quarters last year. By the way, we won the 4th quarter in game 1, lol.

Players doing their own thing or ignoring coaches isn't playground ball? Ever played playground ball?

But for arguments sake, let's say Beal was ignoring the coach and standing around (I have a hard time thinking that, but who knows if the team completely tuned out Vogel at the end of the year), doesn't that reflect that the coaching had lost the team?

 

[Hoop Head]

Watching the podcast, I believe Beal being camped at the 3pt line was the system/coaching because that was a noted wake up call for him in college when he was the focus of a film session after he thought he had a good game but the coach tore into him for an hour highlighting every time he should have been moving around rather than standing in the corner. He prides himself on moving without the ball and creating space, finding looks, etc. For him to mention that as a key development in his game in college says a lot to how self aware he is. He didn't throw Vogel under the bus and the talk didn't turn to the Suns for a while but you can connect some dots since that's also not who he was in Washington.

Vogel was a bad coach and Young wasn't as creative as he was hailed to be. The players weren't put in position to succeed. I blame Vogel, Young, and JJ for that. If that happens next season I'll eat some crow but he seemed more active in 1 preseason than he was most nights last year. Definitely saw more Washington Beal than we had last year. Time will tell.

Edit timestamp for that story is 25:30 or so, it's his "Welcome to college" moment.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I saw some #'s prior to last year that he was one of the best finishers at the rim in the NBA. I'm not sure if that showed much last year, but we definitely need to unlock that part of his game, especially if he'll take on more of a creative role with subs.

 

[Covert Rain]

I really hope we don't see standing around, that's the ISO ball thing that killed us so badly in 4th quarters last year. By the way, we won the 4th quarter in game 1, lol.

Players doing their own thing or ignoring coaches isn't playground ball? Ever played playground ball?

But for arguments sake, let's say Beal was ignoring the coach and standing around (I have a hard time thinking that, but who knows if the team completely tuned out Vogel at the end of the year), doesn't that reflect that the coaching had lost the team?

Yep all the time. Usually, there are zero set plays. I mean I think running ISO with Book, KD was purposeful on Vogel's part. I think he thought that would work or felt like he had no choice with a PG. I think it's very easy for these guys to get caught watching KD or Book go to work. Also, definitely, if Vogel wanted more movement and the guys didn't listen he definitely lost the team.

I am really hoping to see more "sets" and more calls by our PG to determine what the defense is giving them. I think we were super predictable last year and when they just threw it to KD or Book everybody in the league knew they were going ISO.

 

[Chaplin]

I am really hoping to see more "sets" and more calls by our PG to determine what the defense is giving them. I think we were super predictable last year and when they just threw it to KD or Book everybody in the league knew they were going ISO.

We saw that in game 1 -- small sample size but definitely something to be hopeful about.