Wes is playing poorly, he''s trying to do more things but unfortunately failing at them, therefore in that sense he has regressed and his shooting is off
My theory is that playing with a worse point guard in Felton is hurting his shooting numbers. We all know Wes is a rhythm guy, whether he's hitting layups or jumpers, it doesn't matter. Wes got a lot more open looks close to the basket with Miller than with Felton, and that is in turn, making him shoot worse on his jump shots.
Last year 25% of his shots came close to the rim, he converted at at rate of .623 eFG and was assisted on 65% of those baskets. 28% came at the rim, he converted those at .635% eFG and was also assisted on 65% of those.
http://www.82games.com/1011/10POR7.HTM
This year, 22% of his shots came close to the rim, but he's converting those at a rate of .469 eFG, more than 15% lower than he did last year. Plus, he's only being assisted on 39% of these baskets. Likewise, 23% of his shots come at the rim, hes shooting .462 eFG on those, and also being assisted only 42% on those. So we see he's shooting less shots close to the basket, shooting significantly worse at the basket, and also being assisted on less of those baskets.
http://www.82games.com/1112/11POR6.HTM
The "eye" test supports this as well. Miller knew how to get the ball to his teammates, and he would throw passes that put them in a position to score. Matthews has been trying to create more himself because his backcourt partner does a poor job setting him up. I think we all underestimate the importance of a good pass.
Even if a guy catches the ball wide open, if he has to bring the ball up because it was thrown too low, bring it down because it was thrown too high, or too hard that it throws off his rhythm, he's more likely to miss. Miller and guys like Steve Nash deliver passes to teammates in rhythm. Felton throws wild passes that make the target, but force them to adjust.
