Scott Brooks: ‘[John Wall and Brad Beal] Are Like Brothers’

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The relationship between John Wall and Bradley Beal has been one of the bigger stories of the offseason. In August, Wall said that he and Beal “have a tendency to dislike each other on the court,” which raised red flags amongst Wizards fans and became fodder for talking heads during the NBA’s dead period.

One person who isn’t worried about the chemistry between the team’s most important players is new coach Scott Brooks, who dealt with two young stars while in Oklahoma City.

From The Washington Post

“There’s a lot of things I’m worried about going into camp, and every coach in this League is worried about. That is not one of them,” Brooks said of Wall and Beal’s possible rift. “I haven’t even talked to our assistant coaches about it. Will I meet with each player individually? Yes. Will I meet with the team? Yes. Will I meet with the positions together? Yes. But I don’t see our team having a problem with chemistry.”

 

“Two things I noticed about both of them: They’re very competitive, and they care about their teammates. When you have those two qualities, you will never have problems with me as the coach and you’ll never have problems with your teammates,” Brooks said. “With that being said, they’re like brothers, and you’re going to have arguments. If you don’t have an argument as an NBA team, that’s odd.”

The post Scott Brooks: ‘[John Wall and Brad Beal] Are Like Brothers’ appeared first on SLAMonline.

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John Wall: Bradley Beal and I tend ‘to dislike each other on the court’

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John Wall and Bradley Beal are the two centerpieces of the Washington Wizards’ future, but apparently they don’t always see eye-to-eye on the floor.

In a recent interview with CSN Mid-Atlantic, Wall hinted at a bit of an on-court rift between him and his backcourt partner Beal.

“I think a lot of times we have a tendency to dislike each other on the court,” Wall said. “We got to be able to put that to the side. If you miss somebody on one play or don’t have something go right … as long as you come to each other and talk. If I starting arguing with somebody I’m cool. I’m just playing basketball.

“Now that you have your money you got to go out there and improve your game,” Wall continued in reference to Beal. “I want you to be an All-Star just as much as I’m an All-Star. If we were playing well as a tandem like the other two superstars that play together as a backcourt, play as a tandem, one night it’s going to be his night, one night it’s going to be mine, some nights it might be both of us. Those are nights it’s going to be tough to beat us.”

Beal, who signed a max deal this summer to remain in Washington, agreed saying, “It’s tough because we’re both alphas. It’s always tough when you have two guys who firmly believe in themselves, who will bet on themselves against anybody else, who want to be that guy. We both can be that guy.

“Sometimes I think we both lose sight of the fact that we need each other,” Beal elaborated. “I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in without John. John wouldn’t be in the situation he’s in without me, without the rest of the team. It goes hand-in-hand so it’s kind of a pride thing.”

Such differences can be inevitable with two ball-dominant guards trying to co-exist and can sometimes lead to the demise of the partnership (see: Derrick Rose-Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic-Eric Bledsoe, Rajon Rondo-Monta Ellis, etc.). But for every backcourt pairing that has failed to make it work, it seems like an equal number have come to a mutual understanding and used that to achieve great success (e.g. Stephen Curry-Klay Thompson, Kyle Lowry-DeMar DeRozan, Chris Paul-J.J. Redick, etc.).

Wall and Beal are still young (25 and 23, respectively) and haven’t had as much time to build an on-court rapport as you might think with Beal’s injury history and Wall’s own occasional bumps and bruises. With a new head coach in Scott Brooks who was an effective manager of egos during his time in Oklahoma City, hopefully this is all just part of the maturation process for the hyper-talented duo.

Image Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

H/T SLAMOnline

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John Gibbons downplays dugout incident with Josh Donaldson

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The Toronto Blue Jays may be leading the American League East, but some trouble appeared to be brewing from within on Wednesday when reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson got into a heated dugout confrontation with manager John Gibbons. On Friday, Gibbons did his best to downplay the incident.

“One thing that really drives [Josh] is his intensity. He wants to be the best,” Gibbons said in an interview on MLB Network Radio. “He’s on a different level than a lot of guys. He wears it on his sleeve, that’s just what he does.”

Gibbons and Donaldson got into each other’s faces after the latter struck out in the third inning of Wednesday’s 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees (video here). Donaldson, for his part, poked fun at the incident after the game, claiming that the root of the issue was Gibbons’ affinity for his new cologne.

Here"s Josh Donaldson post-game on dust-up with Manager John Gibbons, and his new Tom Ford cologne #bluejays pic.twitter.com/AQcgpKmixi

— Faizal Khamisa (@SNFaizalKhamisa) August 17, 2016

Gibbons couldn’t help but play along with his star third baseman. “In all honesty, Josh, he’s got some nice-smelling cologne,” he continued on Friday.

Part of what sets Donaldson apart is his competitive fire and his passion for the game, and Gibbons understands that. As long as the three-time All-Star continues to produce and smells good while doing so, who are we to judge?

H/T theScore

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