Joan Beringer Has Plenty To Prove In the Preseason

Whether it is outside noise or in-house pressure, expectations are difficult. The proverbial cliché of “drowning out the noise” isn’t always easy for players to handle, especially if you’re 19-year-old Joan Beringer.

He has the fluidity for freakish defensive upside and a linear development pathway that dates back just five years. Most importantly, the Minnesota Timberwolves created an opportunity in the rotation when they traded Naz Reid and Julius Randle.

These are core reasons Beringer is near the top of the NBA’s young talent “breakout” lists across the media landscape. The reality is that it’s not always that easy for players to find their footing on winning rosters. Beringer still needs to prove himself in key areas of his game in the upcoming preseason.

Beringer is still growing into his game. He has only played organized basketball for a short time, and he will add strength as he ages.

Right now, Beringer’s impact comes mostly in flashes. After all, he only played 200 minutes of non-garbage time/blowout time in his rookie season. Beyond the small sample size, Beringer saw action in just one Summer League game this July in Las Vegas before a back injury knocked him out of the team’s final four games.

Most of Beringer’s profile invites speculation and projections. He’s a player in development, but what can he contribute this upcoming season? What should he focus on in training camp and the preseason?

Preseason basketball is not always indicative. The core of the preseason is giving players a chance to ramp up at game speed and allowing those further down the bench to show they are worthy of a roster or rotation spot.

Most of the work and results are found behind closed doors. Still, a few key areas remain for Beringer to prove himself as the preseason nears.

Beringer’s areas for improvement are based on the small sample size of rotational minutes from last season. He had only 200 rotational minutes, but that still gave a rough sample of the impact he can provide and where he needs to improve.

His Cleaning the Glass percentile rankings paint a clear picture: 

Starting with the good. Beringer is a monster offensive rebounder.

He got an offensive rebound on 15.8% of the Timberwolves field-goal misses when he was on the court. That ranked in the 96th percentile and 7th overall for all players listed as bigs on Cleaning the Glass.

Again, the sample size is small, but Beringer’s offensive rebound ability is a standout trait on this team. Rudy Gobert was an imposing threat. He has been in the 72nd percentile or better throughout his entire NBA career. However, outside of Gobert, Julius Randle and Naz Reid struggled to snare offensive rebounds at the same level as Beringer.

Some of Randle and Reid’s shortcomings can be attributed to their positioning on the court within offensive rebound opportunities, or the fact that they shared the court with Gobert. Regardless, Beringer’s flashes are evident on film:

https://youtu.be/W2l238ar_yM

And in the data:

Joan Beringer will need to keep showing his offensive rebound prowess this preseason. It’s a core offensive strength for him and can help mask some of his offensive inefficiencies.

Beringer is a traditional play-finishing big. He scores best when others set him up. If he can create for others by continuing to collect offensive rebounds, it will make it easier for Chris Finch to design the offense and for his teammates to execute.

On the latter, Beringer had a defensive field-goal rebound rate of just 10%. Beringer collected only 10% of opponents’ missed field goals. That ranked in the 10th percentile and 149th among all bigs in the NBA.

Beringer can create more possessions for the Timberwolves, which is commendable. However, if he doesn’t limit opponents from doing so by getting defensive rebounds and ending possessions, he won’t be nearly as impactful. Beringer does a good job of high-pointing the ball, but many of his issues come down to his physical development.

The second area that Beringer needs to prove himself in this preseason is with his foul rate.

Last season, according to Cleaning the Glass, Beringer had a 6% foul percentage. That means Beringer fouled opponents on 6% of their offensive possessions. Among all bigs in Cleaning the Glass’s database, Beringer ranked in the 3rd percentile and 160th in the metric.

Young bigs typically run into foul trouble in the NBA. Beringer’s fouls fall into two categories: Reaching on drives and not positioning himself properly.

Starting with Beringer reaching far too often. One reason Beringer has had trouble getting caught with his hands on ball handlers on drives is that the Timberwolves were comfortable with him switching on ball screens when available. The staff tended to give him the freedom to play at the level of the screen more often than Gobert. As a result, Beringer was much more involved defensively beyond rim protection.

https://youtu.be/4i3LEqPUrdI

That switch usage on defense was a key focus area for him with the Iowa Wolves. The staff clearly wants to tap into his versatility development early. Therefore, the shortcomings that come along with it are normal at this stage. However, he will need to improve as he grows while still on his rookie contract.

Regarding traditional “big man stuff” on defense, Beringer needs to improve his positioning. When he didn’t position himself properly between the roller and ball handler on PnR possessions, or when he didn’t rotate quickly enough to an unabated driver, Beringer panicked and mistimed his jump.

The key factor in Beringer’s metric is that most of it is based on his minutes load.

Beringer is much more likely to see increased minutes this season. The Timberwolves losing Reid and Randle and only adding Jonathan Kuminga this off-season signals Beringer has a potential spot.

If Beringer plays more minutes, he’ll need to be more careful. Gobert will likely get some rest on back-to-backs throughout the season. If Beringer starts because Gobert is injured or resting, picking up two quick fouls will have a much bigger impact than last season. He did not always have those circumstances last season.

Expectations will be high for Joan Beringer this upcoming season. The coaching staff has praised his development, but it is hard to tell what his role will be until preseason. The sample size will be small. Beringer will play only a handful of preseason games. Still, it will be vital to track his rebounding and foul tendencies.