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My thoughts: When the Portland Trail Blazers signed Wesley Matthews last summer as a free agent, it was surprising -- in a couple of different ways.
First, people immediately thought Portland overpaid for him. He got a startling amount of money for a guy who had been undrafted and played just one season in the NBA. Second, he got a lot of money for a guy who clearly was going to be a backup at off-guard, behind a big-minutes player in Brandon Roy.
It's interesting now to look back and wonder if the Trail Blazers didn't have some indication, didn't know more than they said they knew, about the problems Roy was going to have with his knees last season.
And it's funny how the whole thing with Matthews worked out. He'd been brought here to be a reserve but when Roy ran into early knee problems, Matthews quickly convinced the coaching staff that he played better as a starter than an off-the-bench guy, which bought him a ticket to the starting lineup. I thought that curious at the time, because the reality is, MOST guys play better as a starter -- and why isn't he getting used to a reserve role because he's still going to have to play behind Roy when Roy gets healthy, right?
Well, that was early in the season, before we knew the extent of Roy's injuries to his knees and Matthews never did get forced out of the starting lineup -- even when Roy came back for good late in the season.
Fans immediately fell in love with Matthews' hustle, his three-point shooting and his defense. My take on this: there is no question Matthews plays hard. His three-point shooting surprised me, as he turned out to be the team's most consistent long-range gunner. His defense, I thought, was OK. Not terrific, but OK. He works hard.
I believe the coaching staff fell in love with Matthews, too. And coaching staffs aren't supposed to do that. I think when Roy returned late in the season, he should have gotten his starting job back -- pro players, particularly all-stars, shouldn't lose their starting jobs because of injury. Roy never got a chance to start and get comfortable in that role, which is the only role he'd ever had in the NBA.
But this coaching staff, as you know by now, values "scrappiness" more than just about anything else. Matthews personifies that trait. Breathe fire, run around like crazy, dive for a ball a couple of times a game and you're going to play. That's fine, but talent -- or lack of it -- has to count, too.
Matthews is an interesting player whose career is likely still on the upswing. He works hard at his game and probably has another couple of seasons of improvement. But I must add this -- he needs that improvement.
For a starting off-guard in the NBA, Matthews' passing skills are horrendous. And his ball-handling skills are just about as bad. He has no handle and can't pass (or won't pass -- sometimes hard to tell which one). These are not the qualities of even an average NBA guard. He isn't much of a rebounder, either.
Very often his stat lines were incredibly one-dimensional. You watch him play and often wonder if he actually sees any of his teammates, who are often open and expecting a pass from him that they never get. Players of this nature have value in the NBA -- but most of them are big-time finishers and shooters, guys who can drill it whenever they have just a sliver of room to get off their shot. Those guys are often encouraged not to pass, because they are so good with their jumper.
Matthews does not yet have those offensive skills. With the ball in his hands in a one-on-one situation, he's often cringe-worthy.
I look at him as he is now and hope that he'll continue to get better. He certainly seems to have the kind of drive to make that happen. If he doesn't, though, he's not even an average NBA guard. He's nothing close to the top tier right now and I don't think a championship-level team would be happy until it found a better starting guard than Matthews.
wesley matthews portland trail blazers
What I hear around the league: "Not sure about him yet. I've seen him play well and seen him on nights when he didn't do well."
"I don't know that the system did him any favors. He might profit from being with a team that ran more. Like a lot of their players."
"I thought he was a better defender than what he showed last season. In Utah, he got himself into the starting lineup because of the way he defended. He did not look to be that kind of defender in Portland."
"Too often, in their system, he ended up trying to go one-on-one. He's definitely not good at that -- partly because he isn't much of a distributor."
http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landing?...sment-Wesley-Mat=1&blockID=526097&feedID=8351
First, people immediately thought Portland overpaid for him. He got a startling amount of money for a guy who had been undrafted and played just one season in the NBA. Second, he got a lot of money for a guy who clearly was going to be a backup at off-guard, behind a big-minutes player in Brandon Roy.
It's interesting now to look back and wonder if the Trail Blazers didn't have some indication, didn't know more than they said they knew, about the problems Roy was going to have with his knees last season.
And it's funny how the whole thing with Matthews worked out. He'd been brought here to be a reserve but when Roy ran into early knee problems, Matthews quickly convinced the coaching staff that he played better as a starter than an off-the-bench guy, which bought him a ticket to the starting lineup. I thought that curious at the time, because the reality is, MOST guys play better as a starter -- and why isn't he getting used to a reserve role because he's still going to have to play behind Roy when Roy gets healthy, right?
Well, that was early in the season, before we knew the extent of Roy's injuries to his knees and Matthews never did get forced out of the starting lineup -- even when Roy came back for good late in the season.
Fans immediately fell in love with Matthews' hustle, his three-point shooting and his defense. My take on this: there is no question Matthews plays hard. His three-point shooting surprised me, as he turned out to be the team's most consistent long-range gunner. His defense, I thought, was OK. Not terrific, but OK. He works hard.
I believe the coaching staff fell in love with Matthews, too. And coaching staffs aren't supposed to do that. I think when Roy returned late in the season, he should have gotten his starting job back -- pro players, particularly all-stars, shouldn't lose their starting jobs because of injury. Roy never got a chance to start and get comfortable in that role, which is the only role he'd ever had in the NBA.
But this coaching staff, as you know by now, values "scrappiness" more than just about anything else. Matthews personifies that trait. Breathe fire, run around like crazy, dive for a ball a couple of times a game and you're going to play. That's fine, but talent -- or lack of it -- has to count, too.
Matthews is an interesting player whose career is likely still on the upswing. He works hard at his game and probably has another couple of seasons of improvement. But I must add this -- he needs that improvement.
For a starting off-guard in the NBA, Matthews' passing skills are horrendous. And his ball-handling skills are just about as bad. He has no handle and can't pass (or won't pass -- sometimes hard to tell which one). These are not the qualities of even an average NBA guard. He isn't much of a rebounder, either.
Very often his stat lines were incredibly one-dimensional. You watch him play and often wonder if he actually sees any of his teammates, who are often open and expecting a pass from him that they never get. Players of this nature have value in the NBA -- but most of them are big-time finishers and shooters, guys who can drill it whenever they have just a sliver of room to get off their shot. Those guys are often encouraged not to pass, because they are so good with their jumper.
Matthews does not yet have those offensive skills. With the ball in his hands in a one-on-one situation, he's often cringe-worthy.
I look at him as he is now and hope that he'll continue to get better. He certainly seems to have the kind of drive to make that happen. If he doesn't, though, he's not even an average NBA guard. He's nothing close to the top tier right now and I don't think a championship-level team would be happy until it found a better starting guard than Matthews.
wesley matthews portland trail blazers
What I hear around the league: "Not sure about him yet. I've seen him play well and seen him on nights when he didn't do well."
"I don't know that the system did him any favors. He might profit from being with a team that ran more. Like a lot of their players."
"I thought he was a better defender than what he showed last season. In Utah, he got himself into the starting lineup because of the way he defended. He did not look to be that kind of defender in Portland."
"Too often, in their system, he ended up trying to go one-on-one. He's definitely not good at that -- partly because he isn't much of a distributor."
http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landing?...sment-Wesley-Mat=1&blockID=526097&feedID=8351
