CHRISTMAS BEAS!
Knicks’ Michael Beasley is gift that keeps on giving
Unconventional in mind and game, Michael Beasley has eclipsed 30 points twice in last 8 days in role that would have suited Carmelo well.
Michael Beasley is either crazy good or plain crazy. It just depends on the day. Crazy is attending six high schools, lecturing a reporter on the human brain and declaring yourself on par talent-wise with LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Amusing, yes. And a little crazy. But scoring 28 points in the last 17 minutes of Thursday’s nationally televised win over the Boston Celtics and becoming the first NBA player this season to produce 30 points and at least 10 rebounds off the bench is crazy good. It was the type of performance that had the crowd at Madison Square Garden chanting “M-V-P” and one that leaves you wondering why a player with Beasley’s offensive ability has bounced around the NBA, was exiled to China and never became a star. “Maybe it’s just a matter of being in the right place and in the right role,” says Golden State Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams. “I think he’s found a home in New York. He’s older now. It takes some guys longer than others to figure things out.” Beasley, who entered the league two years before LeBron left Cleveland as a free agent and signed with Miami, was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft.
Derrick Rose, the top overall pick in 2008, went on to become the youngest MVP in league history. Russell Westbrook, the fourth pick, averaged a triple-double last season while capturing MVP honors. The fifth pick, Kevin Love, is a fourtime All Star, Olympic gold medalist and NBA champion.
Beasley? He began his journey in Miami, moved on to Minnesota, Phoenix, back to Miami, Shanghai, Miami again, Shandong, Houston, Milwaukee and now the Knicks. The transient forward has never spent more than two seasons in any one stop.
At 6-foot-9 and left-handed, Beasley is a match-up nightmare. Of course, the same could be said about his defense. He never seems to fit. Plus, there was an arrest in Scottsdale for marijuana possession, a brief stint in rehab for an undisclosed issue and a sexual assault case involving Beasley that was later dropped.
“He’s his own worst enemy,” says one NBA executive. “He gets in his own way. Talented yes but not always focused. Michael Beasley has ability.”
Beasley agrees. In October, during an interview with Bleacher Report, he put himself in the same class talent-wise with LeBron and Durant while acknowledging “I’m not being cocky; it’s just always how I felt. But I got into trouble as soon as I got into the NBA, and it left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.”
Beasley’s honesty is refreshing plus it meshes well in a major media market. Signed before the Knicks traded Carmelo Anthony to Oklahoma City, Beasley was confident that he and his more accomplished teammate would be a lethal combination, with Beasley calling himself the left-handed Carmelo.
“That’s not far off,” Adams says. “I watched him against Boston the other night and Beasley is so difficult to guard because he can drive either left or right.”
An NBA scout takes it one step further, claiming that Beasley, 29, is actually tougher to defend today than the 33-year-old Anthony.
“I’m not the only person who believes that,” the scout added.
If you think of what Beasley is doing, it would have been the perfect role for Anthony on this current Knicks team. Come off the bench, play fewer minutes and provide scoring when needed.
Beasley was an afterthought on Thursday but after the Knicks fell behind by nine, Jeff Hornacek decided to roll the dice with him. Out went Kristaps Porzingis, who had missed all 11 shots he attempted, and in went Beasley — as well as just about everything he shot.
“(Beasley) hit a bunch of tough shots. Credit him,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “I don’t think it was as much a breakdown as he got raised up over guys, whether it was Semi (Ojeleye), Al (Horford), Marcus (Smart), whoever was on him, he just got into that rhythm. And he’s a tremendous individual scorer when he gets going like that . ... He deserves credit for that. That’s what he does.”
Beasley entered Friday’s loss in Detroit averaging 12.5 points over 534 career games. His most productive season was in 2010-11 when he averaged 19.2 points with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were coached by current Knicks assistant Kurt Rambis.
“He’s a great isolation player,” says former NBA player and current Celtics broadcaster Brian Scalabrine, who was with the Bulls the year Rose won MVP. “But the NBA is a pick-and-roll league. If that was a bigger part of his game he would be an All-Star.”
Beasley is a career reclamation project and New Yorkers seem to have a soft spot for those players. Latrell Sprewell was beloved. J.R. Smith won Sixth Man of the Year with the Knicks the season after returning from China.
Beasley fits the mold. Talented, troubled and unpredictable. He will say or do something unexpected at any moment. Thursday’s second half against Boston was a prime example. And his memorable interview with SNY’s Taylor Rooks before the
season was prime Beasley.
“If you look up right, you can research the human brain,” Beasley said during Rooks’ podcast. “It says that we are only capable of using 10 percent of our brain. You believe that?
“It’s the consensus scientifically. So who was the guy that used 11 that made it okay to say that everybody’s T just using 10?” he podcast immediately went viral.
“His mind just works that way,” Rooks said. “The brain was just the tip of the iceberg. It was entertaining.
“Everyone thought it was refreshing, like there’s no other NBA player out there who works that way. I see it in my comments literally all the time… people are so happy to see Michael Beasley do well and have this chance. And use 100% of his brain.”