Hoops

Don't know what you got till its gone - $ Beal

Beal who?

Yeah, Good Bump.

I'm still puzzled over the decision.
We had noted last season that Beal had become inconsistent, and the ASSUMPTION was that the Cats were chasing somebody BETTER.
Aside from the ongoing fiasco, I don't blame the Cats for taking a chance on JJ. But the preceding decision to cut Beal remains a mystery.

Gee whiz, if you listen to Trevor gleeson press conference this morning it's like he was pretty much reading off the opening post of this thread.

It happened a little sooner than I said...but Beal is now just a selective chucking memory.

83%..... are we sure JJ isn't Hoggie ?

I'm going to go way out on a limb and predict that he is not going to continue that 83% accuracy from 3 point land

Gotta be honest, for the first half or so, I was thinking JJ looked more like "another Prather" than a "Beal replacement".
THEN he started draining those 3's.
Beal was always more of a volume shooter. If JJ can keep up that accuracy, he's going to be awesome.

In al honesty, for the first three quarters i was looking like a prophet. Cats half court offense was woeful, but transition looked good. But prather and Johnson found their confidence late and the signs were good when they initiated offense late. 37pts in the fourth plus ot after 40 odd in three quarters. I guess it was always going to take time to adjust to new roles. We'll still take our lumps but the upside is now apparent

I opened this thread. I was wrong. Jermaine who?

Beal who?????

I think JJ is a good signing if they had a solid 3 and D backup SG. Unfortunately DKD just isn't there yet and is obviously a long term project. Would have been nice to see Redhage step aside to allow for a more youthful replacement, someone like Drmic.

Fstos you hit the nail on the head with your last paragraph. The rest is irrelevant. Despite the heading this thread isn't saying that beal is irreplaceable. It's saying that it was a strange move to replace a guy who overall, played his role well and a role that no one else on the team could really replicate. We had a chance to do that externally and whilst JJ appears a good player, he doesn't appear the right type of player.

Wildcats couldn't afford Prather, Beal, Jawai. That's why Jervis left

OK Beal had a decent game and his replacement a poor one. Let's wait for a few weeks and see if Beal's form follows past performance and looks something like below which is typical of what it has been in the past few years:

S
US
S
WB
S
S
OK
WB
S

Legend S* =Shit, US = Utter Shit, WB = World Beater, OK = ...I think you get the drift

*These games get forgotten because the Cats either win or people with selective memory only recall games like he played against the Hawks last year.

In saying all that I agree that Johnson appears to be a very similar type of player to Prather which is a strange choice when the Cats really needed a combo guard who had a consistent outside shot and could handle the ball.

Someone made a good point that the loss of jawai hurts too. So it's not so much losing one on isolation but the two most frequent creators of offense at the same time and replacing them with finishing types like Johnson and McKay. Losing Matt knights post ability just rubs it in

Agree lv. Only exchanged a smile with Adam forde and the exchange with gleeson was strictly business. I think the cats actually wanted to part ways with him before last season but he had the option on his contract. We then win another title but cut ties with him. It's not the first strange decision but usually i expect that from other teams, not Perth.

Then again, it seems they get complacent after winning a title. You only need to think back to them thinking they could convert Daniels to a wing player

Beal didn't stop and wait around for niceties with the Cats players as he shook hands- he made his way through quickly. I found that odd.

I'm sure the Cats would have loved to have kept him if they could have workedout a way to fend off the pitchfork-carrying female population of Perth.

'Wildcats couldn't afford Prather, Beal, Jawai. That's why Jervis left because Jawai was suppose to stay. Jawai left after Cairns came up, but Jervis left before. That free up cap space but Beal was already gone at that time. Wildcats used the cap space for their three imports.'

Not true that we couldn't afford Beal. Unless the PR machine is putting a big spin on it, Cats just decided to go with someone more explosive at the two this season.

Pretty sure Beal wanted to stay because he has shown animosity with the way the Cats treated him in interviews with Brisbane.

FYI Johnson hit 193 threes at 36% in 100 D League games.

They have outside shooters, but the issue is they are missing a low post guy who attracts double teams and then hits the open man.

That's what Jawai did- he actually got more assists than Kenny, and in less time. Early signs suggest McKay is a Charles Jackson-esque energy guy, so my question is on how they'll generate genuine offense from the post.

Its going to be crowded for Perth this year. Seems only Wagstaff is a legit 3pt threat.

* Limited sample size of 1 half watched this season.

Watching last night I thought gee we're going to see a lot of the cats in the 60s this season. Then I remembered hang on we had some stink bombs last year too on the road most notably against Townsville might've even been in the 50s. But then I remembered beal was terrible in those games. Adds to the argument how important he was to the cats offense. No problem in the cats seeking an upgrade since he was inconsistent but they should've guy a similar type of player not another prather

Beal hit two big shots in the third quarter last night, while Martin was off getting his mouth cleaned up. Other than that, he didn't do much, not enough to warrant his own thread.

Wildcats couldn't afford Prather, Beal, Jawai. That's why Jervis left because Jawai was suppose to stay. Jawai left after Cairns came up, but Jervis left before. That free up cap space but Beal was already gone at that time. Wildcats used the cap space for their three imports.

Knight is perhaps the most underrated Wildcats big in history, he has been so consistent that it's a shock he isn't given more plaudits.

I think JJ will be a better player but tonight's performance was ugly. It was expressed that JJ gets to the free throw line a lot so that has me thinking of Gaze or Maher but he sure wasn't aggressive like them or had a shot mirroring that.

Perth will be better and they sure need to be.

I wonder how many will remember that Wagstaff and Hire started the first game of the season

Will see...

"Knight is one of the most overrated big men in the league, Brandt will be starting over Knight by the end of the season"

I wish I could post reaction gifs here coz this one requires a doozy.

You couldn't be more wrong

It's a good OP, and worth discussing (again.)

Beal can be inconsistent, but he can also be a game changer when he's on song.
Clearly tonight his was uber motivated and switched on.
Unfortunately we have also seen him not switched on for big games.

The question of why Perth opted to replace Beal?
Well, we'll probably never really know.

Will JJ prove to be a better player than Beal?
I guess we just have to wait and see. WAY too early to make any sort of judgement.

LV - the Cats usually get away with it / figure things out, but the room for error this season is very, very small. Look at Sydney and Melbourne's rosters. Amazing.

You would think it was the end of the season! It's Johnson's first game and he has far more upside than Beal, how can you judge a player based on his first game for a new club. After a few games it will be evident that Johnson is a big improvement on Beal. Knight is one of the most overrated big men in the league, Brandt will be starting over Knight by the end of the season. Knight benefited significantly from the attention that Jawai drew last season and I think the cats should have hung on to Jervis instead of Knight. Totally agree with the comments surrounding the cats stagnant offense, they rely too heavily on the 3 imports to create their own shots.

Look, as I said I think this post might turn out to be spot on.

But, perhaps it's an overreaction at this point. Mckay puts down the alley late instead of rimming it out, and Prather puts in a wide open three he missed late and this could've been a different conversation. We might be saying how Perth keeps tinkering- and seems to have weaknesses- but keeps winning anyway

Nope I'm not fstos. Just one of many who can't stand the cats and really positive for the league to see them drop games like this which they previously would've won. Even Como is a positive.

Gleeson is a flog.

anon #716 is clearly fstos

I'm glad Perth lost time for a changing of the guard. Neal has always been an individual fav of mine, a lot easier to support him now he isn't in Wa. Unlucky cats, couldn't close the deal.

The only thing tougher than seeing the cats try and create offense in the half court was seeing beal burying daggers on them down the other end. Symbolic that the move which will cost us our playoff streak is etched into the first game of the season

I'm not calling for JJs head because I don't think he can play. In a vacuum, you could argue he is a better all around player than beal. This is obviously why the wildcats made the move. But basketball is not played in a vacuum. It's a team game and it's about how the pieces fit. I could just as easily say get rid of prather and bring in someone else but this would be harder to do because at least he's proven for a year.

Funny thing about beal, it's true in his first few games he did SFA but he still managed to hit two clutch threes in the fourth quarter. I remember the commentator at one point saying well at least he's good in the fourth quarter.

Beal was very comfortable and wanted the ball in his hands in big moments. He liked the responsibility and the workload. Cats will miss that badly.

I don't discount what people say about beal being inconsistent or going missing. But he performed more often than not. High usage players are often discounted because they are inefficient. But they still have tremendous value in providing there framework for other offensive players to thrive. Beal was definitely the wildcats engine on the offensive end

Whats the chances he gets the AUS passport before next season?

I wanted Prather gone at the start of last season. And that ended well. And Beal. And Lisch lol

Definitely giving JJ a bit of time before calling for his head. 2 games should be enough.

Anyone remember how everyone wanted Lisch to be booted at the start of his first season...look how he turned out.

Beal misses Perth and I FOR ONE miss him, what a great player who bleeds Perth. You could tell it killed him being out there. At one point he was like my brother Marto is bleeding man!

McKAy is a good garbage man though with some dinkers and dumpers to his game, will get a lot of blocks and not allow many cheapies around the rim.

Perth's offence was painful to watch tonight. Free throws were also a concern, the end of the game could of changed had Perth not missed 4 of 6 FTs.

Not really too concerned about Johnson yet, he played some big games during the pre-season. Anyone remember how everyone wanted Lisch to be booted at the start of his first season...look how he turned out. It's still early days and we still have Knight to come back.

Having said that, its going to be tough to break the top 4 if you drop games at the start of the season so they are going to have to get things going pretty soon.

Gleeson is incompetent

Beal was great for the Wildcats but can go missing n many games. Johnson needs confidence, and McKay started well in is game. Looks like someone who can crash the boards, just need to bulk up a bit. Johnson looked a bit gun shy, and should of shot the ball more, and drive with more purpose. Prather had a shocker, and the other imports were not up to speed to help out being their first game.

Why did Wildcats get Drew when he only plays 2 minutes?

Beal was great for the Wildcats but can go missing n many games. Johnson needs confidence, and McKay started well in is game. Looks like someone who can crash the boards, just need to bulk up a bit. Johnson looked a bit gun shy, and should of shot the ball more, and drive with more purpose. Prather had a shocker, and the other imports were not up to speed to help out being their first game.

Why did Wildcats get Drew when he only plays 2 minutes?

Can't remember if Knight has won a Cats MVP or not but if he hasn't it's a huge travesty

I tend to agree with this post.

But, it's very early days. Give Johnson some time. Knight would've been invaluable tonight

I gave the Cats the benefit of the doubt.

No longer making song, but K-SWITCH recorded this NBL Rap song prior to the NBL season opening:

http://youtu.be/v9mfF9rAYrk

Worth having a look for fans of NBL and Hoops.

Hope you enjoy the link :).