D.C. wizardry
Chemistry between John Wall, right, and Bradley Beal boosts NBA’s Wizards
Washington Wizards guard Brad Beal considered the question, one that backcourt teammate John Wall and coach Scott Brooks already had answered.
What allowed Beal and Wall to excel on the court last season in ways they hadn’t before?
“That biggest thing was realizing we won’t get far unless I help him, and he helps me,” Beal told USA TODAY Sports. “That’s the realization we came to, and Coach Brooks definitely got us to understand that.”
Wall and Beal form one of the best backcourts in the NBA, and they have flourished under Brooks, now beginning his second season with Washington. The Wall-Beal relationship had a chance to go sideways, especially after Wall said at the beginning of last season that the two “have a tendency to dislike each other on the court.”
Instead, Wall and Beal had career seasons under Brooks’ challenging but not overbearing structure. Wall made the All- Star team, and Beal had an All- Star season though he didn’t get the honor.
Wall averaged 23.1 points, 10.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds and two steals, and Beal averaged 23.1 points, 3.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals.
Last season with Wall and Beal on the court for 2,362 minutes, the Wizards scored 112.9 points and allowed 106.7 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com/stats. Washington’s offensive and defensive production decreased with Wall and Beal on the bench, and of Beal’s 637 made field goals, Wall assisted on 245.
“John has an uncanny ability to go 1,000 mph and be able to see all nine players on the court,” Brooks said. “He spots Brad where I have to go back the next day on film and say, ‘How did he see that pass?’ There’s many times as a staff where we rewind it and say, ‘How did he see Brad? Did he see him at the outlet pass? Did he see him at halfcourt? Did he see him at the very end? Or, did he get lucky?’
“Sometimes, we say it has to be luck, because there’s no way he sees him. But he does.”
Beal and Wall should be better this season than last, when the Wizards won 49 games, and they have raised expectations. A 50win season for the first time since 1978-79 is realistic, as is a spot in the Eastern Conference finals.
USA TODAY Sports recently spoke with Wall, Beal and Brooks.
Q: What makes this backcourt one of the best in the NBA?
Wall: “We play both ends of the floor. We both can attack the basket, get to the free throw line, and we have the opportunity to put a lot of pressure on the other team, and it’s the chemistry we have from playing together the last six years.”
Beal: “We play on both sides of the ball. We feel like we take pride in our defense. We take pride in leading our team offensively and getting guys shots and getting ourselves shots.”
Brooks: “They’re both twoway players. If you can guard the ball and score, you’re elite, and they both can do that at a high
level. The combination of speed, quickness, strength and their ability to score in different ways. They can score off pick-and-rolls. They can score off dribble handoffs. They can guard each other’s position. It’s unique.”
Q: What does Beal do that makes Wall better?
Wall: “He spaces the floor for me, and that gives me an opportunity to attack the lane. When he has the ball and runs the pickand-roll, he does a great job of getting double-teams, so that leaves the weak side open and all I have to do is knock down shots. The way he attacks opens things up for other guys and gives us all an opportunity to knock down shots.” Beal: “I’ve developed my ballhandling over the years, making it easier on him and giving him the ability to work on his outside shot and his midrange shots as well. When defenses collapse on me, I’m able to kick it to him, and he’s able to pump-fake to the basket or knock down a three.”
Brooks: “Brad has a calming confidence, and John knows that
and Johns feels that. He’s not always begging for the ball, and when you have that type of respect for one another, it makes the game easier for a point guard, because in a point guard’s job — you never make the four players on the floor happy all the time or the coach happy all the time. But you have to have enough confidence in your decisions and enough of your teammates’ belief in your decisions. With Brad, you can see it.”
Q: What does Wall do that makes Beal better?
Wall: “Just being a point guard who likes to get his teammates involved and trying to find him a rhythm early in the game and get him going. Find him in transition. Sometimes I have a layup, but I’m trying to find the right play for him and get him an open shot or an easier basket.”
Beal: “He makes my job easy because of his pace. He’s the fastest guy in the league with the ball. When he’s doing that, that just loads the defense up and all I’ve got to do is run the floor and find open space. It makes my life
easy because he draws the defense so well with his attacks and his ability to create.” Brooks: “He finds Brad for open shots, and the good thing about Brad, he’s just not a catchand-shoot player. He can put the ball on the floor. So when John finds him and defenders close out, he has the ability to get to the rack and the free throw line.”
Q: What is Brooks’ influence on this backcourt?
Wall: “Just go out there and be ourselves. He wants us to be great and gives us the opportunity to excel. He gives us freedom on the offensive end, but he also wants us lock in on the defensive end. When you do that on both ends of the floor, you can do other things that he allows.”
Beal: “I was a little nervous at first because it was a new adjustment, a new change, a new system. He’s been nothing but a true player’s coach and guard’s coach at that. He takes pride in us being two-way players. His goal for me is to get 20 threes in a game. I’m like, ‘ Are you serious?’ I’m thinking he’s a mad coach. I think it’s out of the question. But that’s the green light he gives us and the confidence he has in us. That confidence pushes us to be better.”
Brooks: “The thing that I want to get across, not only to those two but the entire team, you have to celebrate each other’s success. As the best players on the team, they have to celebrate each other’s success and inspire and empower their teammates. Those are things I want to get across, and I feel we did that throughout last season. And hopefully this season, we can take it to another level. I don’t know how good John or Brad are going to end up being.”