Perhaps, A Few Reasons Why The Blazers Signed Matthews--From A Jazz Fan's Perspective

[ABM]

http://purpleandblues.com/2010/07/12/utah-jazz-wesley-matthews-too/

As most of you have probably heard, the Portland Trail Blazers have extended an offer to Wesley Matthews. If the Utah Jazz don’t match the offer within the week, Wes will be a part of the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Utah Jazz would have lost their 3rd key player of the current off-season.

Seeing the Jazz slowly lose all of the pieces that made them so exciting to watch last season is very hard for any Jazz fan to absorb. But specifically when you talk about a guy like Wesley Matthews, who had such a promising rookie campaign with the Jazz after being overlooked in the NBA Draft, it is even harder to let him go.

Matthews is a typical Jazz player in the sense that he went under the radar coming out of college, and he is all about trying to earn his keep by working hard and doing the little things that are so vital for a team. His ability to defend guards and infuse the Jazz with energy are things that the Jazz are going to have a hard time replacing, as those attributes stem from his personality more than his basketball skill. This is not to say that Wes is not a very talented basketball player, because he is, but it is his fearless and positive personality that separates him from the average Joe in the NBA.

Now I don’t know Wesley Matthews personally, but from what I can see, he is the perfect teammate. He doesn’t have a bad attitude while playing or sitting on the bench, and he always holds himself accountable for the mistakes that he makes. He also looks to relieve the collective team pressure by taking big shots and defending the opposition’s best players in crunch time. If you are seeing that type of maturity and confidence from an undrafted rookie, there is a good chance that he will be able to carry that attitude throughout his career. If that’s the case, Wesley Matthews will always be considered a valuable player that most teams are looking to acquire on their roster. Hence, the Portland Trail Blazers.

So, if you were asking me if I think the Jazz should try to match the offer sheet for Matthews, I would say definitely. Although Matthews appears to be a replaceable player on the surface, his attitude and intangibles make him more important to a team than most NBA players that do what he does on the court. The Utah Jazz need to claim Wesley Matthews and make him part of their family for a very long time. He will always be a bright spot, and they will always be one step closer to a championship as long as he’s on the team.

 

[Rhal]

Re: Perhaps, A Few Reasons Why The Blazers Signed Matthews--From A Jazz Fan's Perspec

Glad to read a nice piece like that from a jazz fan instead of the forum hate thats been reduced into a middle finger at the blazers for trying to get yet another jazz player. Its not our fault that the jazz are way to cheap to try and extend there assests before the market sets the price.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Re: Perhaps, A Few Reasons Why The Blazers Signed Matthews--From A Jazz Fan's Perspec

The guys at Portland Roundball Society did a nice statistical rundown comparing Rudy, Martell and Matthews using synergy and some other player comp tools
http://www.portlandroundballsociety...s-evaluating-what-wesley-matthews-brings.html

Too long to properly summarize their findings, but basically he's sort of like the best of both worlds between Rudy and Martell, with the ability to get to the free throw line.

 

[Further]

Re: Perhaps, A Few Reasons Why The Blazers Signed Matthews--From A Jazz Fan's Perspec

One thing that Wes can do for the Blazers is help create an atmosphere of defensive pride. We already have Batum who is our best defender and who currently defends the best 1/2/3 every night. If we add another player who takes pride in defending the best opposing 1/2/3 that starts a competition where there is always talk and jabbing about who slowed down player X better. Add that to Camby and Oden who are already great at defending bigs and the Blazers really start to build a culture of defense.

Also, When you have two players who can defend 1/2/3 and both can shoot and do some other things on offense, and Roy, who can play the 1/2/3 but who concentrates on offense and although decent on defense, mostly just steps up his D for big moments, you end up with a great 4th quarter team. Put those three together and really put the clamps on the opposition with bigs behind that can add even more pressure. A team that can win in the playoffs.

 

[Further]

Re: Perhaps, A Few Reasons Why The Blazers Signed Matthews--From A Jazz Fan's Perspec

double post

 

[EGame]

Re: Perhaps, A Few Reasons Why The Blazers Signed Matthews--From A Jazz Fan's Perspec

The more I have been thinking about it the more I would love this signing. Sure, it may be overpaying, but having two wing defenders who can shoot the 3? Sign me up. Hopefully this kid stays hungry and really takes on the challenge.

 

[mook]

Re: Perhaps, A Few Reasons Why The Blazers Signed Matthews--From A Jazz Fan's Perspec

One point I thought was interesting in the comments is that his post-all star break stats significantly improved over his pre-all star break stats, even with increased minutes and a starting role. He shot .500 fg%/.400 3pt% when given the spotlight.

And although he didn't have great stats in the playoffs, Sloan liked his defense enough to given him 35 mpg over the ten playoff games.

I'm actually kind of hoping we get the guy now. Which probably means we won't.

 

[Minstrel]

Re: Perhaps, A Few Reasons Why The Blazers Signed Matthews--From A Jazz Fan's Perspec

I'm becoming cautiously optimistic, though I would have preferred J-Chill for that money. Maybe Portland didn't have any chance at him, for some reason.