Matthews' Slow Start

[BGrantFan]

The Blazers need him to find his groove on this trip. As well as he played in preseason, he has been pretty bad in three real games.

11.1 PER
29% 3 pt
1 apg/2 tog
Only 1.7 fta/g
100 Ortg

The positives is he is rebounding (4 rpg), shooting well when not shooting 3s (46% FG), and the team is defending well when he is on the court (104 Drtg).

Not bad, but of all the players this season, and factoring in what he is being paid, Matthews has been the most disappointing (relatively speaking, because hey, the team is undefeated) for me so far early this season.

 

[MIXUM]

our bench has sucked.....

rudy also has cooled off from pre season.

my biggest thing with the blazers is they dont have a prolific scorer off the bench. wilson chandler i think is exactly what we need. did the knicks really offer him for rudy? thats robbery

 

[Nikolokolus]

3 games ladies and gentlemen, 3 games ...

 

[Jayps15]

While this thread is obviously premature, I wouldn't say he's played 'pretty badly' in all three games. Matthews was very good in our season opener vs Phoenix, played poorly vs the Clips, and had a decent if turnover prone game last night vs the Knicks. I wouldn't call that disappointing, most of our guys outside of Roy have had at least 1 statistically bad game so far, why would our avg paid 6th man be any different?

Of course 3 games in there is such a small sample size it's impossible to make any real assessment of the stats. Is Aldridge going to keep shooting below 40% from the field and below 60% from the FT line? Will Roy have his the worst FG% and ast/tov of his career?

Give it some time for the peaks and valleys to smooth out a bit.

 

[MIXUM]

how did we not do chandler for rudy?

he is even a better 3point shooter lol then rudy which is all rudy offers

 

[RR7]

how did we not do chandler for rudy?

he is even a better 3point shooter lol then rudy which is all rudy offers

It was never offered. They offered two second round picks for him. Not Chandler. Tough to accept a deal that's never offered.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

For any bench player to have good success in accordance with their talent level they require consistent minutes, and preferably at their natural playing position, and a clearly defined role. Prior to this season I think that has been a weakness of Nate's to ensure those goals are accomplished. I do understand that last year it was difficult due to all the injuries, but still it seems to me to be an overall weakness. It leaves the player to more forge their own agenda ala Bayless.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I want to say one thing that people might be overlooking here, Matthews has been playing a lot of point guard coming off the bench, and so far I'm not sure that's doing him any favors. Maybe it will get better as time moves on, but he seemed to really struggle with his dribble last night and had a tough time getting the team into its sets the previous two outings.

 

[Jayps15]

how did we not do chandler for rudy?

he is even a better 3point shooter lol then rudy which is all rudy offers

In what crazy fantasy land do you live in? Chandler is a bad 3pt shooter, always has been.

I'd probably do Chandler for Rudy straight up if that was offered, which I don't think it has been, but it wouldn't be for Chandler's 3 ball.

 

[Natebishop3]

I want to say one thing that people might be overlooking here, Matthews has been playing a lot of point guard coming off the bench, and so far I'm not sure that's doing him any favors. Maybe it will get better as time moves on, but he seemed to really struggle with his dribble last night and had a tough time getting the team into its sets the previous two outings.

It's like I said before, Williams and Rudy are not point guards, and do not have the handle to play that position.

 

[alex42083]

Wes actually had a pretty good first half against the Knicks, couldn't miss a shot and ended up 5-7 with 13 points and 6 boards. And his defense as part of that lineup with Roy/Batum/Aldridge/Camby at the end is what helped win us the game. I don't think he's been disappointing at all. I still question his ability to run PG though because of his handles. Rudy should be running it if he's in there, but overall, I'm happy we have him.

 

[hasoos]

Yes but the difference between a guy who can play defense, and one who cannot is that even with bad offensive game, Mathews can make a valuable contribution to the team on the defensive end of the court.

 

[Minstrel]

I didn't have really high hopes for Matthews going in. He seemed like a defensive-minded role player off the bench (for a good team) and that's what he's been so far. Portland probably overpaid a little for him, but if Allen's cool with that, I'm cool with that. The team couldn't have used that money in any other way, really, and having Matthews makes the team better than not having Matthews.

I never bought the idea that the team could run a Matthews/Roy/Batum perimeter. Matthews isn't enough of a ball-handler for that and Batum is completely unproven as an NBA-level initiator. Matthews seems like the long-term reserve for Roy (and maybe for Batum in small lineups)....Rudy will need to be moved at some point.

 

[anonymous gambler]

Yes but the difference between a guy who can play defense, and one who cannot is that even with bad offensive game, Mathews can make a valuable contribution to the team on the defensive end of the court.

Well said! It's great to have both Matthews and Batum.

 

[THE HCP]

Funny thing is since the first day they signed him, I was like WHAT THE FUCK!!!?? Why are we giving some scrub all this money? The he came in and totally proved me wrong....... now he's proving me right!!! It's only 3 games and he'll get his game going I'm sure!

 

[MickZagger]

Funny thing is since the first day they signed him, I was like WHAT THE FUCK!!!?? Why are we giving some scrub all this money? The he came in and totally proved me wrong....... now he's proving me right!!! It's only 3 games and he'll get his game going I'm sure!

The fact that you thought he was scrub tell me something....Did you watch the Jazz last year?

 

[blazerboy30]

Funny thing is since the first day they signed him, I was like WHAT THE FUCK!!!?? Why are we giving some scrub all this money? The he came in and totally proved me wrong....... now he's proving me right!!! It's only 3 games and he'll get his game going I'm sure!

Do you watch basketball?

 

[MIXUM]

this is why i dont take hcp seriously

 

[THE HCP]

this is why i dont take hcp seriously

As if your opinion of anything basketball related holds ANY credibility.

 

[THE HCP]

The fact that you thought he was scrub tell me something....Did you watch the Jazz last year?

I did a actually. And wasn't particularly impressed with him. No more then I am right now with a player like CJ Miles. But like I said he proved me wrong in the preseason.

 

[THE HCP]

Do you watch basketball?

I tend to catch a game here and there.

 

[MickZagger]

I did a actually. And wasn't particularly impressed with him. No more then I am right now with a player like CJ Miles. But like I said he proved me wrong in the preseason.

He was a starter as a rookie on a playoff team that made it out of the first round. The term scrub hardly defines Matthews.

 

[BGrantFan]

Do you watch basketball?

Do you offer anything more than predictable ad hominem responses?

 

[KingSpeed]

I didn't see any slow start last night. Wes shot 4 of 4 from the field in the first half for 11 points.

 

[Natebishop3]

this is why i dont take hcp seriously

This gets my vote for post of the year.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I didn't see any slow start last night. Wes shot 4 of 4 from the field in the first half for 11 points.

Lots of ball security issues and he looked kind of ineffectual on defense. Not the best WM game I've ever watched.

 

[BGrantFan]

Matthews tonight

18 minutes
1-4 FG
0-3 3pt
5 points
0 reb
0 assists
0 steals
5 fouls

Step up your game, Wesley.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Batum was just as bad if not worse. Not to mention Rudy. Ugh.

 

[BGrantFan]

Batum was just as bad if not worse. Not to mention Rudy. Ugh.

Batum and Rudy are on rookie contracts. Matthews is worse than Travis Outlaw so far, and at more than 2x the cost.

 

[craigehlo]

Batum and Rudy are on rookie contracts. Matthews is worse than Travis Outlaw so far, and at more than 2x the cost.

I think when the Blazers were scouting Matthews they forgot to realize he played in a much more uptemo system in Utah. He's wasted here playing Nateball.