Michael Beasley: Early Impressions

He is 19-years-old and likes Spongebob Squarepants cartoons and wears a Batman mouthguard during games.

This is Michael Beasley, a young and vibrant kid who is living his dream. People seem to forget that he is just a KID.

He is also the starting Power Forward of the Miami Heat. It was a move that had to be made when considering this roster in order to start the trio of Shawn Marion and Udonis Haslem along with himself.

We're only 10 games into the 2008-09 NBA season, but it's never too early for impressions.

Michael Beasley is currently averaging 16.3 points per game to go along with 5.9 rebounds per game on 44 percent shooting. He is also contributing about two assists per game as well as one steal and one block per.

Unfortunately, these numbers are only scratching the surface of Michael Beasley's true potential. It's only his rookie season, but he is being used the wrong way by rookie head coach, Michael Spoelstra.

Beasley is the highest ever lottery selection in Miami Heat franchise history and yet he is treated like a role player on the level of Udonis Haslem on the basketball court.

Beasley has been subbed out during the closing minutes of games twice now for the less than spectacular bench player in Mark Blount. Where is the logic in that?

Can anyone possible explain such a move? Spoelstra claims it was due to Beasley's defensive deficiencies but fails to realize the irony of that statement since Mark Blount is an even worse defensive player.

Derrick Rose and OJ Mayo are not being used as role players and I think it's about time that Beasley isn't either.

Again though, we are only 10 games into the regular season and Beasley as well as this Heat team has a very long way to go before a conclusion can be made about how much Beasley will pan out.

One thing is for sure... Heat fans are most definitely excited  at this point. Especially coming off of a 15-win season.