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Washington Wizards: What’s Wrong with the Chemistry Between John Wall and Bradley Beal?

By Ryan Eugene

Dec 3, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) and Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) stand on the court against the Los Angeles Lakers in the third quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 111-95. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) and Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) stand on the court against the Los Angeles Lakers in the third quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 111-95. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Washington Wizards: Wall, Beal Chemistry Issues

Coming into this season, experts and fans alike agreed that the Washington Wizards would be a dark horse team to make the Eastern Conference Finals and challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers, along with the likes of Chicago, Atlanta, and Miami.  

The Westgate Las Vegas Superbook had the preseason over-under at 45.5 wins, after the team totaled 46 wins last season. The general consensus was that Washington – with a young and improving backcourt – wouldn’t fall too far off the mark from the previous year, as the duo would have another year under its belt, and a second consecutive conference semifinals appearance to help.  

John Wall, in his sixth season, and Bradley Beal, in his fourth season, would make the leap from dynamic talents to a consistent All-Star tandem.

As we know, this hasn’t been the case, as Beal, a popular pick to make his first All-Star game, has been in-and-out of the lineup. He’s on pace to play 57 games this season

Two seasons ago, Wall and Beal boldly claimed that they were in fact the best backcourt in the league.  

During the 2013-2014 season, the team advanced to the Eastern conference semifinals before losing to the no.1 seed Indiana Pacers in six games. The House of Guards averaged over 36 points during the regular season and 35 points in the postseason in 11 games.  

Compared with 42 points during the regular season and 39 points in seven postseason games from the Splash Brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the best backcourt statement didn’t sound as absurd as it obviously does today.  

Wall and Beal only built off of their success last season averaging 41 points combined in the postseason. While Beal’s points per game were down by two from the year before, the duo seemed more engaged and did a better job of rubbing off on the other players.  

While a quick look at this season’s statistics may show an improvement in production (they’re up to 37 points per game), viewers of actual Washington Wizards games have been left to ask what has actually happened to the beautiful chemistry the two have shown over the past few seasons.

This season, it appears Beal has found more comfort when he can do more of the creating on the floor, which commonly comes with Wall on the bench.

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Beal is shooting 4 percent better with John Wall off the court, and better from every point on the floor except behind the three point line.  

Don’t look too much into this number, however, as the time when Wall is on the bench is usually the start of the 2nd and 4th quarters when the opponent has in its backups.  

What is worth monitoring is his usage rate.  

Running the offense should become more of a role for Beal in the Wizards offense, and he’s proven that he can handle a larger burden, as he did in the NBA Playoffs last year when Wall was injured and at the start of this season when his usage rate was an average of 29 percent during the first five games of the season.  

During this five game stretch, he averaged 25 points and joined Earl Monroe (1968) as the only players in franchise history to score at least 24 points in the season’s first five games.  

On the season, Beal has a usage rate of 25 percent but has seen this drop to 24.5 percent, 23.5 in March and April, respectively, when it seems his struggles have been most apparent, capped off by the 2-16 shooting performance on Sunday against the Clippers.  

Since scoring over 24 in the first five games, Beal has scored over 24 seven times in his last 48 games.

Playing alongside an extremely ball dominant guard can be tough, especially as another talented young guard, and it looks like Beal may be going through some rough stretches here with Wall – who leads the league in touches per game at just under 99, four more than the next player, Rajon Rondo.  

Beal, on the other hand, is averaging 51 touches per game, and just about three touches per point, which is about even with Curry and Paul George.  

The act of touching the ball, and running the offense can help to make a player feel more involved on the offensive end, leading to more confidence and activity.

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In the past, Beal has admitted that he could stand to be more assertive at times.  

It’s not a huge problem when it comes every once in awhile, but it is when the lack of assertion becomes a pattern.  

I’m not overly advocating taking away Wall’s touches, but getting more ball movement will be key to helping an offense that seems to struggle in large spurts at least two times a week.  

A few less possessions of strictly Nene post-ups would be great too.

Looking back at the chemistry of our favorite backcourt, with Wall on the court, 60 percent of Beal’s field goals are assisted on, as opposed to 40 percent with Wall on the bench.  

After the numerous injuries to Beal this season, and in his career, Wittman brought him off the bench for 20 games this season to both manage his minutes better and allow him to run the offense more often playing with the bench unit.

While this may have benefited the team – they were +6 in Offensive rating – it’s really not practical for someone who has shown flashes of being an All-Star and seems poised to be a max-salary player next season.  

Additionally, it’s possible that this move by the coaching staff, which happened mid-season, is a reason why Wall and Beal haven’t made as much progress together as anticipated. It certainly put a mental strain on Beal, who wouldn’t know coming into shootaround whether or not he would start that night, and doesn’t even know his minutes limit.

While Wall has been excellent this year in helping the team get something out of the many seemingly empty possessions in a Randy Wittman run offense, Ernie Grunfeld should probably look at candidates that can help create more opportunities for both guards to run the offense.  

We wrote about some potential coaching candidates last week.

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With the team likely not making the playoffs this year, focus on how the team plays in the last few games.  

Beal has millions of reasons to show off his skillset as a restricted free agent, and showing that he can share future stardom with Wall will help make Grunfeld’s job easier when it’s time to re-sign him.  

They’re certainly not a championship level duo yet, but with more consistency next season they can showcase the ability to be two thirds of a championship level trio.  

The two showed great chemistry early on, leading the Washington Wizards to a 3-2 record through five games with a more balanced approach and averaged 44 points combined, versus 37 points on the season.

Hopefully, next season, we can see a continuation of that play early on, and I would expect the coaching staff to emphasize this because of the team’s record, and the fact that retaining Beal would likely mean that he will be the team’s highest paid player.

Obviously, the recent swelling to Wall’s knee is concerning, and I hope he can join the team for the last four games to help an admittedly extremely low chance at the playoffs, and build chemistry amongst the backcourt and the starters, as the majority, if not all, will be back here next season.  

Next: Wall, Beal Are Not A Championship Duo

If nothing else, watch to see if Wall mimics the end of the 2012-13 season, which is the last time the team didn’t make the playoffs, when he had three 30+ point games and his career high of 47, over the last 15 games.  Wall still has a chance at being the 5th player to average 20 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds.

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