NBA Cover Ups: The Story Of Michael Beasley
Apparently after 159 games (97 as a starter) into a career that has him as a 14 points and 6 rebounds in a little over 27 minutes per game guy, Michael Beasley is a bust. Never mind that his per 36 minute numbers look a little like an All-Star type of player(19 points and 8 rebounds). You'd have to look towards Paul Gasol to get those kinds of numbers, and he's a 9 year NBA veteran. Apparently, folks don't understand how hard it is to post numbers on a team with a proven talent. Now imagine how hard it is to do that with an ALL WORLD talent such as Wade.
Take Andrea Bargnani, the OVERALL 1st pick in the 2006 NBA draft. In his first two seasons, he mustered up point per game averages of (11.6) and (10.2). His rebounding wasn't anything to brag about either, (3.9) and (3.7). Try and keep in mind this is a 7'0 foot Power Forward. His third and fourth seasons weren't anything to brag about either as far as points per game go, (15.4) and (17.2). After a +5 minute per game increase in both years, this is his rebound totals (5.3) and (6.2).
Seriously, how does this kid get a free pass and not Beasley??? Is his situation not similar to that of Beasley(both playing with top 10 players)??? Is he not surrounded by more offensive talent, which many would agree opens up the floor for him??? There have been far worst players drafted at the #2 pick and very few has gotten the pub that Beasley has. I've never known a second year guy that has helped a 15 win team make two consecutive trips to the playoffs, while being his clubs second leading scorer and still be regarded as a failure. That's just crazy. It seems for some reason, folks just want to bring this kid down and tear him apart. And I don't have the slightest reason why.
He hasn't done anything but blame himself for his "so-called" short comings. Never has he blamed any of his teammates or coaches, even when some of the blame could have been placed on them. Since when has their been a time frame on greatness??? Why is Beasley any different from any other player in NBA history???
I just got finished running through his numbers and they aren't that different from a lot of the power forwards in today's game after their second season was completed.
Beasley has 41 games out of 159 were he hasn't reached double figures... Dirk(34), Bosh(35), Garnett(46) and Boozer(50) all had similar struggles. Yet everyone looks at Beasley numbers and gives a very inaccurate picture of what the real story in Miami is. All those players played more than Beasley in their first two seasons and, then he did in his. His numbers can be attributed to his time on the floor. Point blank, because of Wade being his teammates, he wasn't allowed to work through his struggles.
Playing time versus season averages
Michael Beasley is in a very unusual position. Aside from playing with a top 3 NBA player, that's considered to be in the PRIME of his career. Beasley was also manning a position on a team that had a top 20 power forward who had won a NBA title as a starter in just his 3rd season(Udonis Haslem). Even on nights that Beasley was playing better than he normally does, he rarely played past 32 minutes... this is a fact. Think I'm kidding??? Beasley has only played past 30+ minutes in 57 of the 159 games he's played over his career (36 percent). Yet still he has 38 games of 20+ points in that time frame(67 percent)... that means if you play the kid over 30+ minutes, there's a 67 percent chance he'd score 20+ points. That's 55 games out of a 82 game season that he'd score 20+ points.
Bosh scored 20+ points 53 times this season (just 25 times his second season). Amare achieved the same feat 55 times this season. Gasol of the Lakers did it only 27 times this season... a meager 5 times more than Beasley, even though he played way more minutes per game. Regardless of what is said, Beasley doesn't have a problem putting up numbers. He has a problem staying on the floor... period. His minutes were a combination of two things... bias Head Coaching and Dwyane Wade wanting to win now.
The Heat were part of 28 games that they won by 10+ points this past season... they only had 18 losses of 10+ points. Of these 46 games, Beasley has been either the leading scorer or second leading scorer in 35 of the games. Yet, for some odd reason Beasley's minutes per game went down in each month.
The Heat had it's most difficult stretch of the season in it's first 52 games. They played 30 games against playoff teams. That's 58% of their games. They played an additional 8 games against 40+ win clubs. That's 15% of their games. Add it up and you get 73% of their games against quality opponents. This is important because during that time frame, Beasley scored 17+ points on 23 different occasions. He even had 8 games where he scored 14 to 16 points. That's 31 games of being pretty respectable... keep in mind these are numbers that are being attained in a 27 to 31 minute per game clip.
Beasley plays most of his minutes with Dwyane Wade (36 minutes) and Jermaine O'Neal (30 minutes) on the floor. Often he's the third option, regardless if he has a match-up advantage. Last I checked, their was only one ball on the court and being that the shot clock is 24 seconds... that gives him a 1 out of 18 chance every minute played to score. And still he scores 14+ points a game.
This 21 year old, in three games versus the Cavs this year, had averages of 20.3 points per game on 35.7 minutes per game, while shooting 56 percent from the floor. Did the same to the Hawks (4 games-18ppg-49 percent), Thunder(2 games-18ppg-49 percent), Blazers(2 games-22ppg-54 percent), Raptors(3 games-18ppg-52 percent), Spurs( 2 games-16ppg-48 percent)... and those are just some of the playoff teams he's faced off against. He also had good showings against the Suns, Bobcats, Lakers and etc.
October: 2 games, 33mpg, 57 percent, 16.5ppg, 6.0rpg, 2.0spg, 0.5bpg
November: 14 games, 31mpg, 42 percent, 14.2ppg, 6.9rpg, 0.7spg, 0.6bpg
December: 14 games, 32mpg, 48 percent, 17.3ppg, 6.6rpg, 0.8spg, 0.4bpg
January: 15 games, 31mpg, 49 percent, 16.4ppg, 6.8rpg, 1.0spg, 0.3bpg
February: 13 games, 28mpg, 41 percent, 13.5ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.5spg, 0.9bpg
March: 13 games, 27mpg, 43 percent, 12.9ppg, 5.3rpg, 0.9spg, 0.8bpg
April: 7 games, 27mpg, 44 percent, 13.3ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.3spg, 0.9bpg
Poor coaching and poor officiating
He is on a team that has NO INTEREST in using him the way he needs and wants to be used. I find this odd for a team that says they want to do everything to make life easier for Wade. Making life easier for Wade would have been to sacrafice these past two seasons and develope Beasley while picking up draft picks. The Heat wasn't about to win another title and what use is it building up a winning attitude if you're just gonna ship out the players you were grooming??? I don't see the logic in this... SMH.
I live in Miami and watch EVERY Heat game that is televised, if I can't be there in person. They run a total of maybe 7 to 8 plays a game for Beasley... that's it. Other than that, it's all about trying to free up Wade with picks and screens or going to O'Neal on the block.
Most of those jumpers you see Beasley taking are results of drive and kick-outs from Wade. They say they wanted Beasley to drive more... well that's kind of hard to think when Wade is camped in the lane from driving, O'Neal is positioning himself for a pass or rebound... that means at any given time Beasley catches that past, there are 4 to 6 bodies already in the lane. How on Earth can he do anything but shoot a jumper? Or would they prefer that he commit an offensive foul? Now add to that, the fact that the kid gets held and hit a ton without so much as a whistle. He dunks on folks and still doesn't get a call. I know this isn't anything new to the NBA (a young guy not getting a call), but it's beyond apparent that the refs have made a conscious decision to not give Beasley anything outside of a play where he hits the ground... and even that's pushing it. I can understand if he doesn't want to continue to attack and risk a turnover.
In conclusion... Beasley is not as bad as most folks are trying to make him out to be. He didn't do anything that was that bad to merit the attention he's received.
Name me another second year forward who played alongside a player such as Wade that has performed better... excuse me if I don't hold my breath while you look for the numbers.
When the Heat get a true floor general at the point, you will see better numbers from Beasley... if he's a part of the Heat. Until then, give the kid a break... he's only 21 and doing what he can in his limited minutes on the floor. But before you go. Here are the numbers of some other second year PF's.
Bosh: 37 mpg/ 16.8ppg/ 47 percent/ 8.9rpg
Dirk: 36 mpg/ 17.5ppg/ 46 percent/ 6.5rp
Amare: 37 mpg/ 20.6ppg/ 48 percent/ 9.0rpg
Gasol: 36 mpg/ 19.0ppg/ 50 percent/ 8.8rpg
Garnett: 39 mpg/ 17.0ppg/ 48 percent/ 8.0rpg
Boozer: 35mpg/ 15.5ppg/ 11.4rpg
Martin: 34 mpg/ 14.9ppg/ 5.3rpg
Notice how their numbers aren't much better than Beasley even though they were playing 4 to 9 minutes more. And none of them had to deal with playing with a guy that takes 20+ field goal attempts per game.
