Wiz of Awes
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The State of the Washington Wizards

By Jen Julie Smith

SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 10: Bradley Beal #3, John Wall #2, Otto Porter #22 and Marcin Gortat #13 of the Washington Wizards huddle up during the game against the Sacramento Kings on March 10, 2017 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 10: Bradley Beal #3, John Wall #2, Otto Porter #22 and Marcin Gortat #13 of the Washington Wizards huddle up during the game against the Sacramento Kings on March 10, 2017 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Boston, MA –  MAY 15: Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics during Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2017 NBA Playoffs on May 15, 2017 at TD Garden in Boston, MA. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Boston, MA –  MAY 15: Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics during Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2017 NBA Playoffs on May 15, 2017 at TD Garden in Boston, MA. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Bradley Beal

Now, for Bradley Beal. He had an excellent season, and the best of his NBA career. It was like the movie Unbreakable, he went from being made of glass to being made of steel this past season. He has a beautiful outside shot, and even had nasty dunks, when he was in the mood.

But Beal needs to work on his mental game. You can’t play like you’re a superstar at home, then a role player when you’re away. You said, during the Atlanta series it felt like you were playing against 15,000. No, your only concern are the 5 players on the court. You appeared to figure it out in the elimination Game-7 in Boston, but by then it was too late.

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Another area of improvement is your offense. You did a great job defending Isaiah Thomas at home, but you were mismatched when defended by Avery Bradley. That’s not a knock on you, because I believe that Avery was the best defender on the Celtics. And once they foolishly traded him away, I instantly thought that Boston was no longer a problem.

You have to work on your handles, when the defender is all over you. Thankfully, you’re a great outside shooter, but there were some off nights where you went cold. And when you’re not hot, you have to be able to get inside for the layup or jumper.

I’m not saying you have to switch hands real fast, do a 360, then dribble to the basket like you’re Allen Iverson. I’m saying be more aggressive inside the paint. Because you’re no longer Samuel L. Jackson from Unbreakable – you’re no longer Mr. Glass.

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