Larry Brown Sports

Why does it seem like things like this only happen to Michael Beasley? Even in a game where the backup forward had 21 points in 23 minutes, he still managed to make a boneheaded play.

This inbounds pass fail was awesome on so many levels. First off, it took place early in the second quarter, and as you can tell, no players were in the frame. Second, an inbounds pass from under your basket with no pressure on you is one of the most simple plays to execute, yet Beasley manages to muck it up. Lastly, watching this was like watching a cartoon when someone loses their balance by the edge of a pool. You’re watching and hoping they won’t fall into the water. Beasley couldn’t catch his balance, so he ended up putting the ball down on the court, causing a turnover. Super cool move, Beas.

The Suns are now 22-45 after losing 127-105 to the Wizards.

Below is video of the Beasley inbound pass fail:

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Lindsey Hunter had a tremendous reaction to Michael Beasley airballing a jumper on Friday night. The Suns coach stared down his player with a classic “shaking my head” (SMH) expression. He then moved his gaze down to his bench where he appeared to be looking for others to corroborate what he had just seen.

Beasley was subbed out about a minute later. He was 2-for-8 for six points in 15 minutes of Phoenix’s 113-88 loss to the Boston Celtics. Per Suns reporter Paul Coro, Beasley complained after the game about a bruised elbow affecting his shot. X-rays were negative.

To be fair, Hunter’s reaction to the airball is the same expression Suns fans have had all season.

Chest bump to Spin It

Phoenix Suns forward Michael Beasley has converted over 75% of the free throws he has taken in his nearly five-year career, so when he misses more than one or two in a game you can understand why he might be frustrated. During his team’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, Beasley went 3-for-6 from the charity stripe. He was left searching for answers.

After missing a couple of free throws pretty badly, Beasley walked toward the rim and stared at it while shaking his head. He later explained himself.

“I had to scare the gremlins away,” he said when asked about staring down the rim, via NBA.com’s Jonathan Dalton. “Those gremlins are always messing with me.”

Has somebody been puffing the magic dragon again? As Pro Basketball Talk pointed out, this is not the first time Beasley has had trouble with these so-called gremlins. In fact, he blamed them for some minor free throw struggles back in 2010.

“That’s a college job,” Beasley told the Star-Tribune at the time, via A Wolf Among Wolves. “Luis Colon was my college center. He’s a big Spanish guy and when big Spanish guys get mad, they start speaking Spanish real fast. Every time he missed, he’d look at the rim and curse the rim out. So every time I miss, I’m trying to get the gremlin off the top of the rim.”

Considering Beasley is playing well at the moment, his coaching staff probably won’t question it. Last month, Beasley told reporters he is willing to sit in a trash can if it helps the Suns win. He has been pretty useless throughout most of the season, but he scored 20 points in a win over the Chicago Bulls over the weekend and 14 in the loss to Oklahoma City on Monday. If battling the gremlins is helping him contribute, so be it.

Michael Beasley has been held out of the fourth quarter for many of the Phoenix Suns’ games this season, but he’s maintained a pretty good attitude about the benchings until now.

The former No. 2 overall draft pick signed with the Suns as a free agent and is averaging 11.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game this season, but he is shooting just 38.9% from the field. The Arizona Republic says he has been benched for the entire fourth quarter in eight of the Suns’ 17 games this season. The reasons range from him playing poor defense, the team winning in a blowout, or another player being hot.

Beasley says he’s willing to sit on the bench, but there’s a condition: the team has to be winning.

“If I’ve got to sit in a trash can at the end of the bench during crunch time for us to win games, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Beasley said after Sunday’s loss to the Knicks, per Paul Coro. “But if we’re not winning games, and I feel like I can contribute, it’s just discouraging. We don’t have problems. I just feel like we could’ve won the game. I feel like I played, not well, but decent and definitely better than how I have been playing.”

Beasley shot 4-for-10 (which sadly actually improved his field goal percentage), for nine points in the 106-99 loss. He also had a minus 20 for the game, which means the Knicks outscored the Suns by 20 in the minutes he played.

Beasley recognizes his defensive shortcomings, but doesn’t think they’re that bad.

“I feel like I’m playing pretty decent defense,” Beasley said. “I’m not grip pliers. I’m not going to clamp, but who does? The NBA is about scoring points. I don’t feel like anyone is playing head and shoulders above me. I feel like I’m getting into my rotations and doing what I’m supposed to do on the defensive end. I don’t feel like I’m that far, or far at all, behind everybody else.”

Beasley’s defensive issues have long been a problem for him (not to mention his repeated boneheadedness), so this is nothing new. He may say he’s willing to sit in a trash can Oscar the Grouch style, but his comments seem to indicate otherwise. At least he provided us with some outstanding photoshop opportunities through his comments.

H/T Rotoworld

The Timberwolves did not extend a qualifying offer to Michael Beasley this offseason, and it looks like we know why. According to a report, it’s because Minnesota coach Rick Adelman feels Beasley doesn’t play defense or move the ball on offense.

Britt Robson wrote a piece on Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor for Twin Cities Business Magazine that was published mid-September. On Monday, he published a piece on Minn Post sharing additional stories from Taylor.

According to Robson, here’s what Taylor said Adelman thinks about Beasley:

“What Rick said about Michael was, ‘Yes, Michael has been good. I get along with him. But I don’t think we’ll be a championship team with him. If I put Michael in, Michael can score, but he doesn’t play any defense and he forgets the other offensive players, and I just can’t tolerate that under my system because the other players are just standing around.’”

It’s no surprise to hear that analysis of Beasley’s game. You may recall that after an easy win over the Wizards in January, Adelman emphasized that the ball moved well that game. What was notable about that game? Beasley was out with an injury. Even Kevin Love attributed the ball moving well to Beasley being out.

Love also commented in the offseason that the Timberwolves improved because they got rid of some bad blood in the locker room. Between this report about Beasley, and ex-Timberwolves big man Darko Milicic saying he’d kill someone on the court, I think we know about whom Love was speaking.

Chest bump to SB Nation

The trade deadline in any sport can be a stressful time for a number of players. Nobody likes an uncertain future, and although NBA players make millions of dollars it can’t be easy to not know if you’re going to have to uproot your family and move to another city almost instantly. Remaining focused while rumors swirl is a challenge, but Michael Beasley seems to have handled it gracefully.

“I know exactly what I was doing (during the final minutes of the trade deadline): I [sic] watching Fanboy and Chum Chum, eating pizza, French fries and lemonade,” Beasley said according to the Star Tribune.

The Lakers turned down a trade just before the deadline that would have sent Beasley to Los Angeles, but it doesn’t sound like Michael was all that worried about it. Neither was Pau Gasol, who says he napped while all the rumors were making the rounds.

As Ball Don’t Lie informed us, “Fanboy and Chum Chum” is a show on Nickelodeon about two kids who imagine themselves as superheroes and read comic books. If that show mixed with some pizza, fries, and lemonade doesn’t spell relaxation, I don’t know what does. It is fair to wonder, however, if Beasley’s choice in food and programming had more to do with him having the munchies than it did with the trade deadline.

H/T Pro Basketball Talk

Michael Beasley is trying to remake himself in two ways: he’s trying to change his body, and he’s trying to change his image.

Beasley has never been overweight, but he doesn’t have the tightest body in the league. So what’s he doing to drop some pounds? Almost anything possible.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune says Beasley has incorporated elements of yoga, karate, and ballet into his summer workouts. He’s trying to become stronger and more limber so he can have a longer career. He’s lost 15 pounds and is now down to 225.

While Beasley’s desire to make over his body and get in better shape is commendable, it’s the second part of his makeover that will be more challenging. He’s hired a public-relations agency to improve his image. That won’t be easy given Beasley’s eventful summer.

You may recall that Beas was pulled over this summer for speeding while high on weed. He also got physical with a fan during a park league game in New York. And then comments like this certainly don’t help.

Remaking your body is easy. Changing his image will be difficult. We’d prefer to see Beasley do it naturally rather than with hired help.

Chest bump to I am a GM