Is Beverley an Out-of-control Hothead or a Calculating Defender?

My favorite Rocket to watch since Hayes. There's definitely a method to his madness. He knows what he's doing out there. How to get under people's skin. He's the kind of player you find on championship teams.

 

Yeah that game was hard to watch him.

 

I agree - there is a calculated approach he has to getting under people's skin. That's why you see him so calmly walk away from when players start to lose their composure and try to get in Bev's face. I think he realizes when he has pushed someone to that breaking point and that satisfies him until the ball is live again and then he goes back to work trying to get under their skin some more. Agree that a lot of championship level teams have a guy like this who plays on the edge - he's a real asset here. I wish he did a little more of the offensive things and was used more as a closer to retain a lead(clamp down defensively) but ultimately, we need that "guy with an edge" and Bev is that for us. We need that guy with some of the more reserved guys on this roster.

The situation reminds me of when we had Artest and all of a sudden Yao and the rest of the roster seemed a little bit meaner/less soft like they had in year's past. While Artest was more on the hothead side, the end result is the same - a guy who gets people fired up, tenanciously fights on every play no matter the lead/deficit - in short, a warrior.

 

Yes and no. I think on an overarching level he still knows the score and won't push too far. Even with his reputation as a nuisance he has picked up, I'd have to imagine that at most one or two of his 10 career techs was anything other than a double tech from an opponent trying to confront him.

I also think he's embraced his villain role a bit and that lead to the pokes and jabs you mentioned that were not necessarily there at the beginning of his tenure here (at which point he legitimately was just defending hard and leaving the Class A Irritant act at home). But he's here to play basketball, not just to irritate opponents, and he's been great this year.

 

Also, obligatory:

Spoiler

 

I agree with this completely. He totally lost it in that game. Maybe he was feeding off that OKC crowd. But he was so out of control that he ruined the performance of his teammates.

That being said, I think Bev is the hard nosed player that The Rockets need. He's the 2009 Artest that these rockets need to be considered tough.

 

He knows what he's doing. I can't remember if it was playoffs last year or a big regular season game, but Bev got into it with the opponent and he eventually just skipped away like it was nothing. It was a GREAT moment and i'm sure it p***** off everybody on the other team haha I think most of what he does is calculated.

 

It's under the spoiler in this post.

 

haha thanks!

 

I only saw Bev out of control one time. It was last season and that first game against OKC when he played against Westbrook.

He even said himself the emotions were high and he got a bit out of control.

Other then that everything he does is calculated to me.

 

If Bev leaves he will tone down to not interested in the game maybe? Look at what happened to Chuck Hayes when he left. Hardly the notable 6'6" starting center with a mean aggressive defense he was known for in Houston.

 

Beverley will do whatever it takes to give him a competitive advantage. He wants whoever he is guarding to be thinking about him, and trash talking and giving pushes makes that happen

 

Hustle / Fear does not belong together.....

These are contradictions....
By the way, how many times have you watched a football game where a running back or quarter back appears to be letting up and running out of bounds; the defensive player sees this and lets up, and the back turns it up field to get the first down or a touch down! Too many times. It annoys me when I watch a guard inbound the ball, take the ball to mid court and slowly call a timeout. Meanwhile the defense has turned their backs going to the bench. WHY? Why concede that space to the opponent. When it's obviously that important to them why not try to trap the ball? That was Bev's mindset and I applaud him for it. What happened to Westbrook is what people call an accident, but the media loves trying to play us up as the bad guys.I wish more teams would try to trap the ball for positioning reasons.....

I guarantee you if Westbrook had made that play, all you would hear from the media is he's a great player because he never gives up on a play. We'd see that damn replay as much as the one for Lilliard. The Media does not and will not like us. Hopefully we can use this.... After considering the type of players many of them were during their playing days, it's not surprising.

 

Hustle / Fear does not belong together.....

These are contradictions....
By the way, how many times have you watched a football game where a running back or quarter back appears to be letting up and running out of bounds; the defensive player sees this and lets up, and the back turns it up field to get the first down or a touch down! Too many times. It annoys me when I watch a guard inbound the ball, take the ball to mid court and slowly call a timeout. Meanwhile the defense has turned their backs going to the bench. WHY? Why concede that space to the opponent. When it's obviously that important to them why not try to trap the ball? That was Bev's mindset and I applaud him for it. What happened to Westbrook is what people call an accident, but the media loves trying to play us up as the bad guys.I wish more teams would try to trap the ball for positioning reasons.....

I guarantee you if Westbrook had made that play, all you would hear from the media is he's a great player because he never gives up on a play. We'd see that damn replay as much as the one for Lilliard.

 

He's the embodiment of what the Rockets needed more of last season -- defense, toughness/physicality, and rebounding. Yes, Rockets have these things now even without Beverley, but as far as I'm concerned you can never have enough. Beverley is our glue guy, his impact on the Rockets goes far beyond the box numbers imo.

 

50/50

 

Not only he knows how to get under the skins of the opponents but he also knows how to breathe on the face of the zebras and not getting a T.

Granted, he will commit some dumb fouls from time to time, but I have seen great players did that much worse and often than him also.

His defense is really great, in the sense that will really make the opponents feeling discomfort and not willing to touch the ball. Take the last game against GSW as an example, I focused on Curry most of the game and he scored like 20 points, but those points were all coming from a spur of 3-4 minutes in couple quarters and he basically not doing anything right most of the game.

Bev is a pest and I will hate to see he leave the Rockets and we will need to face him someday.

 

Also, I remembered something Bev said in the Matt Thomas show several months ago.

Bev said one of the big changes in the summer is : he hired a new cook.

He cut out most of the red meat and all the fired foods and eating more healthy foods like fish.

For a guy whose making minimum and widely considered to be the role player of a team, I am deeply moved by such dedication of Bev.

 

I don't expect any of our players to be good samaritans. If Bev shoves a guy, whether or not he's in the wrong doesn't bother me. That fisty attitude rubs off on other guys and is welcomed in my book. You can't be "soft" and play next to a guy like Bev. I've never seen a game where I thought his play crossed the line.

 

90's player stuck in today's NBA. Poor guy was born at the wrong time.