Looks as if Wessy's hops have improved

[illmatic99]

Found this on Casey's twitter:

[video=youtube;-EtC8pwZUjQ]

 

[Eastoff]

he looks pretty mundane for an NBA player if you ask me.

edit: he improves as the video goes on.

 

[Pinwheel1]

He looks like he lost weight.

 

[blue32]

His head almost hit the rim a couple of times, not bad Matthews, not bad....

 

[Nikolokolus]

The thing for me is can he do this against NBA level competition? His handle gets so shaky in traffic

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

i love me some wessy wes. just has a great attitude for a ball player.

 

[illmatic99]

Hops change vs NBA competition? I didn't realize. He definitely looks more explosive, and as mentioned-- like he's lost some weight. Finishing around the rim was one of his weaker points before. Hopefully, he has improved that.

 

[RR7]

Wesley Matthews ‏@wessywes2
Torn tendon? Yeah RT @danzsmith300: @wessywes2 @chold guy dunks 5 times in two years. Now throwing down windmills. Was the ankle that bad?

 

[DaLincolnJones]

Iam impressed that he is still working to get better

 

[VanillaGorilla]

It's really about how bad his ankle was injured last season. Hopefully he has increased mobility that he can utilize in the open court and breaking his man down off the dribble.

 

[STOMP]

as others have mentioned, dude has battled through ankle issues for much of both of his seasons in Portland. If he's put that behind him it would only make sense that he'd be capable of more athletic play like these recent highlights. Definitely good to see

STOMP

 

[handiman]

Weren't his parents DI T&F jumpers or something?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

The thing for me is can he do this against NBA level competition? His handle gets so shaky in traffic

That's key for me too. What I noticed in the vid was not his "hops" so much, as the fact that he couldn't get to the rim unless he had a wide open lane, and if anybody was in front of him, he took a long jumper rather than drive past his defender (0:27, 0:37, 0:54, 1:04).

 

[Pinwheel1]

I will be happy if he finishes on a fast break with no one around him. The Blazers as a team missed a lot of wide open lay ups last year.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Without a doubt it looks like his hops have improved and thats great to see. I love the fact that he works hard during every off-season. Hopefully this is the year it really pays off.

 

[Sinobas]

You never really get a sense for how good NBA players are until you seem them going against inferior competition.

 

[Eastoff]

Weren't his parents DI T&F jumpers or something?

wiki says his parents both played college ball. His mom was an all american, and also did track for running.