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[Wizards 2012-13 Player Reviews from the TAI crew are going down; let's reflect---
index so far: Jannero Pargo, Jason Collins, Shaun Livingston, Shelvin Mack, Cartier Martin,
Earl Barron, Jan Vesely, Chris Singleton, Trevor Booker, Garrett Temple, Emeka Okafor,
Trevor Ariza, Martell Webster, A.J. Price, Jordan Crawford, Kevin Seraphin, John Wall.]

Bradley Beal

6-5 (but not really) : Height
207 lbs. : Weight
19 : Age
R : Years NBA Experience
1 : NBA Team

Drafted third overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Time as a Wizard in 2012-13

56 : Games
46 : Starts
1,745 : Minutes

1.63 out of 3 stars

Average Truth About It.net DC Council Game Rating
{Beal evaluated over 52 games}

13.6 PER

NBA historical PER contribution equivalent:
maybe Kevin Grevey for the 1979-80 Washington Bullets (13.7)
maybe Vince Carter for the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks (13.6),
maybe Ron Harper for the 2004-05 Miami Heat (13.6)

.082 Win Shares/48 Minutes

NBA historical WS/48 contribution equivalent:
maybe Muggsy Bogues for the 1991-92 Charlotte Hornets (.082),
maybe Spud Webb for the 1987-88 Atlanta Hawks (.082),
maybe Dwyane Wade for the 2007-08 Miami Heat (.082)

With Bradley Beal on the Court…

The Wizards offense scored 0.3 points less per 100 possessions (OffRtg)
The Wizards defense allowed 0.4 points more per 100 possessions (DefRtg)
Plus/Minus per 48 minutes: minus-2.4

Numbers : Per 36 Minutes

16.1 : Points
4.4 : Rebounds
0.6 : Blocks
1.0 : Steals
2.8 : Assists
1.9 : Turnovers
2.3 : Fouls

0.91 PPP

Beal had 842 offensive possessions with the Wizards that ended with a FGA, TO or FTs, and he scored 0.91 Points Per Possession (PPP) on those, ranked 209th in the NBA (via Synergy Sports Technology). Defensively, he allowed 0.88 PPP over 560 possessions, ranked 224th.

Shooting

41% Field Goals (282-687)
38.6% 3-Pointers (91-236)
78.6% Free Throws (125-159)

#3

Bradley Beal in 2012-13 with the Wizards:

Growing Pains? Beal With Them

by John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend)

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So Bradley Beal’s rookie season over. After originally injuring his left ankle in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers on March 3 and then missing six straight games through March 15—being declared “day-to-day” the whole time—Beal came back for three games. He then injured that same left ankle, again. Beal was declared “day-to-day” from March 21 through March 29, missing five straight games. He returned to the court last Sunday against the Toronto Raptors and played again on Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls. His jump shot, and game, seemed present (he did make a career-high six 3s against Toronto), but Beal was clearly not himself during those two contests. He looked stiff. So on Wednesday, the Wizards shut him down for the season, as they discovered a “stress injury” to his right fibula, a clear indication that, in playing, Beal was compensating for his left ankle injury.

What does it all mean? Bad, #SoWizards luck, that’s what. Should Beal have paid more attention to the signals his body was likely sending him? Should the Wizards medical staff have better monitored the rookie for such issues? Probably a little of both. The injury doesn’t diminish a very good rookie season for Beal, and it doesn’t have an affect on a meaningless chase for the ninth spot in the East. The Wizards caught the stress injury, albeit seemingly a tad late, Beal will get rest, and, according to team release, he will return to basketball activity in six weeks.

After the Toronto game, I asked Beal (video below) if this particular ankle injury was the type where it helps to get back on the court and work some of the stiffness out.

“Throughout my life, I’ve always sprained my ankles. That’s probably any basketball player,” said Beal. “But I always just kept playing. Now, it’s something totally different. These are ankle injuries I’ve never had before. It’s affecting different areas of my ankle and my leg. It’s just something that I just have to deal with and take time to be able to rest it.”

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One thing that struck me about Bradley Beal’s shooting zone chart for games 21-50 that I included at the bottom of the previous post was the relatively even distribution in attempts per location. Now, he’s certainly better from certain spots — 12.1 percent better on 3-pointers from the left corner versus the right; 32.3 percent better on above the break 3s from the right side as opposed to the left (even though he’s attempted 14 more on the left side). It’s especially interesting to go back to that post and compare Beal’s game 21-50 chart to those of Eric Gordon, Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen to get a feel about the player each was when they got into the league (and to a certain extent, still are).

Below I’ve re-posted Beal’s shooting zone chart for games 21-50, and below that, Beal’s chart for games 1-20. After that, we have a video of Beal talking about the progression of his jump shot — he says he’s now getting more lift. Given that Beal’s Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%) has gone from 42.1 percent over his first 20 games to 49.8 percent over games 21-50, that is certainly evident.

Bradley Beal: Games 21-50

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“[Bradley Beal] is very talented. … He can play without the ball, he can put alot of pressure on the defense and he can shoot it. He is the future of the NBA.” —Jason Kidd.

[video below / quote via TAI's Adam McGinnis]

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By now, most people will agree that Bradley Beal is a keeper—and that isn’t just because his agent, Mark Bartelstein, recently said, “I’m sure lots of teams would like to have Brad, but the Wizards have absolutely no intention of trading him.”

But that’s not all that interesting. Beal was projected to be a “keeper,” and was expected to produce as the No. 3 pick in the last draft. And he has. Beal was named December’s Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, and, over the last three games, the former Florida Gator has averaged a plus/minus of plus-10.7 per game, along with 18.3 points (63.6% from 3-point range), 3.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists.

What’s more interesting is the reason why he’s been able to get better game by game, even before John Wall made his season debut. The easy analysis would be to say, ‘Oh, the game is finally slowing down for Beal.’ He even said so himself after Monday night’s 29-point thumping of the Orlando Magic: “The game’s starting to slow down for me more, and I’ve gained a lot more confidence.”

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When season recap of the 2012-13 Oklahoma City Thunder is pixeled, their 101-99 loss to Washington Wizards will stand out like a RG3 jersey in Dallas, or me drinking an O’Doul’s. The “worst beating first” result was improbable, but it was memorable because of its strange quirks.

Washington often gets buried by poor beginnings, but this time they raced out to a strong start with 30 points in the first quarter. And a devastating scoring drought (like the seven-minute stretch that cemented the Jan. 9 loss to Miami, ugh) never materialized.

Jan Vesely actually did positive stuff on the basketball court, finishing with 10 points. Honza had gone weeks without totaling that output, and get this: he only had two fouls. Emeka Okafor showed himself to be a rim protector with a gigantic rejection of a Kevin Durant slam attempt. Garrett Temple scored some huge offensive put-backs in the paint.

Serge Ibaka — OKC’s big man — was their best offensive player, pouring in a career-high 26 points; Ibaka even drilled a 3-pointer at first half buzzer. And Wizards, finally, inexplicably to followers of this squad, did not fold in crunch time, highlighted by Bradley Beal’s smooth, one-handed, game-winning dagger.

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As Washington’s dreary season slogs along, faithful followers of this 2-15 team should realize that no loss is a surprise anymore. Blowouts, overtime defeats, missed game-winners, unsuccessful comebacks, and so many—nay, too many—“moral victories.” Even the Wizards’ two wins caused discomfort throughout their conclusions. Personally, I expect the worst and then laugh at the absurdity of the outcomes to mask my disappointed sorrow.

Twitter hashtags #SoWizards and #BecauseWizards exist for a reason. And, somehow, the Wizards found yet another unique way to lose an NBA contest on Saturday night, falling to Golden State, 101-97. This squad continues to be stricken by late-game calamity.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry made two free throws to put Warriors up three points, 99-96, with eight seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The Warriors then wisely fouled Wizards guard Bradley Beal on the floor before he was able to get a potential game-tying 3-point shot off. Randy Wittman acknowledged in post game presser that it was a wise strategy employed by the Warriors since Washington was out of timeouts. Beal was surprised by the foul, believing that he was in the act of shooting.

“I didn’t know they were going to foul. I thought he was going to let me shoot, but the ref called it. He said that he called it before I shot it. But I didn’t take another dribble, so I thought it was three shots. … It was a smart foul because you shoot two free throws.”

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BRADLEY BEAL IS NOT HAVING A GOOD ROOKIE YEAR, so far.

ESPN.com’s David Thorpe recently listed Beal amongst his rookie disappointments (ESPN Insider), but concluded:

If John Wall, who is out with a knee injury, were playing next to Beal in the backcourt, things would surely get easier for Beal. It’s a great thing to look forward to. Just as the game slows down for Beal, Wall should return, and that combination suggests Beal will have a big second half of the season.

Also, Beal is just 19 years old. Much room for improvement. But how much? Let’s peel back some numbers.

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Bradley Beal on his stuggles after the Wizards home opener against the Celtics:

Since he was officially announced as a member of the Washington Wizards, Bradley Beal has been compared to Ray Allen, James Harden, Dwyane Wade, and, as of last Saturday, Jeff Malone. He was not brought in as a savior, but as a complement to John Wall and Nene, and maybe even an upgrade over Jordan Crawford and the dearly departed Nick Young. And when Beal was announced as the starting shooting guard in the Wizards’ season debut last week, he was the second-youngest shooting guard to ever hold that distinction (Kevin Durant did it first).

Unfortunately for Beal, his performances in the first two games of the season haven’t reminded anyone of Ray Allen, The Beard, D-Wade, Jeff Malone, or even Quinton Ross for that matter. Beal has shot 2-for-13 and scored just 10 points over two contests. In crunch time against the Celtics on Saturday, Coach Randy Wittman felt more comfortable with A.J. Price and Jannero Pargo in the back court. Price commented that it seemed like Beal was the “first guy [other teams] talk about in the scouting report.” Based on Doc Rivers’ comments in the pre-game presser, that is 100 percent correct:

“Beal’s good, a solid, fundamental basketball player, and a great shooter. He reminds of a Jeff Malone, a thin Jeff Malone, except he can put the ball on the floor a little more, but he’s a terrific rebounder for his size.”

Beal has gotten words of encouragement from Trevor Ariza, who told him “it may not be your year this year, but you have to stay the course,” from Emeka Okafor, who told him to keep an “even keel,” and from Randy Wittman, who asked him to focus on other facets of his game like defense and rebounding. But Beal may also want to seek solace from two more unlikely sources: Jared Sullinger and Doc Rivers.

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UPDATE on John Wall…

He still has two legs. Here, on Monday afternoon, he performs a dribbling drill with assistant coach Ryan Saunders. This is a John Wall update, in GIF form.

UPDATE on Kevin Seraphin…

He didn’t practice on Monday with that strained right calf muscle of his. A return is indeterminate according to head coach Randy Wittman.

“That’s one of those things that can continue to make great strides in a day or two, but then it could be a week, it could be two,” said the coach. “It’s one of those things — calf, hamstring, any kind of muscle injury — you just don’t know until it runs it course.”

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