Don’t Fret Over Beasley’s Poor Premiere

You know I had to leap up in defense of Michael Beasley, even after only one game. Sure, the guy had a wretched NBA debut, spending way too much time launching uncomfortable threes, not realizing he could get inside at will, and of course, not playing defense at all. On top of all that, his stat line was dismal and doesn’t bear repeating. By contrast, Derrick Rose may not have had Chris Paul-like numbers, and still needs a jumper, but his poise was unmistakable, he controlled the team and protected the ball, showed off a little, and just generally felt like a player destined for huge things.↵
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↵Good thing the Greg Oden saga took another plunge into the abyss, or else Beasley would be getting even more heat (ugh) for his performance. I did, however, catch at least one blogger refer to this stinker as “Adam Morrison-esque.” I’m sorry, but that’s radically unfair. I’d say it was more in line with some of the early struggles faced by Beasley’s good pal Kevin Durant. While Durant actually threw up some points in his debut, at times it was obvious he just didn’t know what to do, and was overmatched or equals in ways he hadn’t necessarily anticipated. But he had some flashes of real invention, and when the jumper was falling, went on a deadly tear.↵
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Okay, so Durant taking on the Suns isn’t exactly the best measure of how ready he was for the NBA, just as Beasley should’ve been able to do a little more against the defense-less Knicks. However, think back to that first shot he took, a twirling, facile move with power behind it, a drive that wowed everyone and got him an easy bucket to start his career. I saw a few of those during KD’s first game, and that’s why I never lost faith. Same with Beasley. Anyone who can pull that kind of thing off -- and no, Adam Morrison can’t -- will eventually figure things out.↵
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↵In the Miami Herald, Udonis Haslem summed it all up nicely: “He’s going to be a great player. He has a great future in this league. But he doesn’t have it all figured out right now. There’s some things he has to learn.” Those moments will become more and more frequent, and the errancy will resolve itself into real strengths and weaknesses. That’s when we can really assess him, and when, as we do with Durant today, we’ll surmise that Beasley has a bright future that he just has to keep catching up with. ↵↵We’ll catch the next episode tonight against Sacramento ... ↵

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