Wizards star Bradley Beal has a very set role for his team. As the primary scoring option, his biggest job is to put the ball through the hoop by any means necessary, and he’s pretty good at it.
Over 9 years, he has cemented himself as one of the league’s most elite shooters and he continues to get better with each passing year.
But on Sunday, Beal played a new role for his squad. Without their three top guards, Spencer Dinwiddie, Raul Neto, and Aaron Holiday, Beal was tapped to take over the starting position in their place, marking the first time in his career he started at point.
After the game was over, he described the experience to reporters.
“I knew what tonight was going to be. It was I had to run the show and had to understand I was going to have to get guys shots. It was kind of that balance between figuring out when to be aggressive and when to get guys shots,” Beal said of playing point guard via NBC Sports.
“When you’re playing the point, you’ve gotta run a team. You have to get guys into the offense, you have to get guys into position, you’ve gotta get guys shots, you’ve gotta talk, you’ve gotta be engaged, you’ve gotta encourage,” he emphasized. “You’re the head of the snake at all times. It was fun, it was fun. I enjoyed it. There was definitely a lot I can learn from that. If it happens again, I’ll be ready.”
After an impressive start to the season, the Wizards have struggled of late, dropping 7 of their last 10 games to sit at .500 on the campaign.
No doubt, injuries, and sickness have played a role in the slide, but they have a number of other issues to work out if they hope to get back to a respectable place in the East.
Maybe, with Beal honing some of his playmaking abilities, it will help get them closer to where they want to be.
