Originally Posted by
davekay1971
For the record, while I openly deride Beaker and have, possibly, called him a gimp, I don't think he's a remotely average player. He's an extremely productive offensive player, no matter what you (or I) may think of the fairness in the way his play is refereed. My venom toward Beaker derives from a few points: (1) the color blue he wears; (2) the "Hey, I'm a star, I should get that call" attitude he's developed over the last two years; and (3) the vast disparity between his hype and his actual game. For point 3, that's more a media problem than a Beaker problem - he can't help that commentators and analysts have hyped him up to be the 2nd coming, when he's probably not the best player on his own team (I give that to Lawson, who has finally, to my great dismay, raised his play to match his ability). He's a very good player with a very high motor, and that combination accounts for a lot of his production...and his ppg and rpg, as well as his career numbers indicate that he is a very, very productive low post player. But he is also a mediocre post defender, a lousy passer out of the post, and his offensive skill set is limited - his shot from mid range and beyond is highly suspect.