Wes Matthews is playing like shit

[Rastapopoulos]

He's regularly putting up the worst +/- (certainly of the starters) and for the last five games, his numbers are:
8 ppg (in 33 minutes!)
26% shooting (!)
29% 3 pt.
10 total free throws (that means he's averaging 2 a game)
3 r/g
1.4 a/g

That's... atrocious. Is he injured? At this point, should he be playing ahead of Elliot Williams (other than that he knows the plays)?

(On the plus side he has very low turnovers (4 in 5 games - perhaps shooting every time you get the ball helps) and 9 steals.)

 

[illmatic99]

He's killing my fantasy team.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Maybe he just realized he has a long term deal and no longer has to play hard to get paid.

 

[illmatic99]

Maybe he just realized he has a long term deal and no longer has to play hard to get paid.

Are you kidding me? Wesley is probably the last person I'd think that about.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Are you kidding me? Wesley is probably the last person I'd think that about.

I feel the same way.

The real trouble with Wesley is that it just feels like he's trying to do things outside of his wheelhouse, mainly trying to put the ball on the floor and take forays to the rim when he's got neither the hops to elevate nor the handle to negotiate traffic.

 

[B-Roy]

Wesley scores in the flow of the offense.

When the offense has no flow....well....yeah...

 

[Blazinaway]

I feel the same way.

The real trouble with Wesley is that it just feels like he's trying to do things outside of his wheelhouse, mainly trying to put the ball on the floor and take forays to the rim when he's got neither the hops to elevate nor the handle to negotiate traffic.

Agree, he's trying to force things and it's not pretty

 

[ehizzy3]

I would like to see Eliot get some minutes. But I believe Wes will snap out of this soon.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Matthews is a 6th man. He is better suited in that role. It's not his fault he is our starting 2guard. He plays hard, and gives the team a solid defensive effort most every night. Like Batum, however, he is a role player.

 

[Boise Blazer]

Wesley scores in the flow of the offense.

When the offense has no flow....well....yeah...

Ding Ding Ding!!! That is dead on with Wes.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I agree with the posters who say he scores best in the flow of the offense; and because Crawford and Felton were shooting so bad and Batum not really doing that much in most games, I think he did try to do too much sometimes. Hopefully now that Felton is shooting better, Wes can relax some. AND, he still is our hardest working defender (and fairly effective also).

 

[Ed O]

Agree, he's trying to force things and it's not pretty

He has four turnovers in five games (per the original post). That does not support that he's "forcing" things.

I agree with the posters that have said (a) he's reliant on other things in the offense going well, and (b) he's just not that good.

I am glad he's a Blazer, but I wish we had a better starter. I feel the same way about 60% of our starting five.

Ed O.

 

[magnifier661]

He has four turnovers in five games (per the original post). That does not support that he's "forcing" things.

I agree with the posters that have said (a) he's reliant on other things in the offense going well, and (b) he's just not that good.

I am glad he's a Blazer, but I wish we had a better starter. I feel the same way about 60% of our starting five.

Ed O.

I think it's more "forcing shots" maybe?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Wesley is playing a bit better over the past ten games:

      PortlandTrailBlazers (full stats)

          Scoring Statistics
   Player           Pos  G M/Gm  FGm  FGa  PCT  3m  3a  PCT  FTm  FTA  PCT  AVG
 1 aldridge,lamarcu  PF 10 35.3   94  175 .537   0   2 .000   45   56 .804 23.3
 2 crawford,jamal    SG 10 28.4   61  135 .452  20  50 .400   25   27 .926 16.7
 3 batum,nicolas     SF  8 25.2   35   72 .486  18  37 .486   23   29 .793 13.9
 4 wallace,gerald    SF 10 34.7   54  103 .524   5  23 .217   18   25 .720 13.1
 [B]5 matthews,wesley   SG 10 31.7   43  102 .422  16  47 .340   23   25 .920 12.5[/B]
 6 felton,raymond    PG  9 30.0   31   86 .360   7  34 .206   10   13 .769  8.8
 7 thomas,kurt        C 10 16.1   21   35 .600   0   0 .000    2    2 1.00  4.4
 8 smith,craig       PF 10 11.3   17   41 .415   0   0 .000    8   14 .571  4.2
 9 williams,elliot   SG  7  6.0   11   19 .579   2   5 .400    1    2 .500  3.6
10 camby,marcus      PF 10 25.2   16   40 .400   0   0 .000    1    4 .250  3.3
11 johnson,armon     PG  1  5.0    1    1 1.00   0   0 .000    0    0 .000  2.0
12 babbitt,luke      SF  5  4.2    3    6 .500   2   2 1.00    0    0 .000  1.6
13 johnson,chris      C  5  3.8    3    7 .429   0   0 .000    2    3 .667  1.6
14 smith,nolan       PG  7  6.1    2   17 .118   0   5 .000    1    5 .200  0.7

          Rebounding Statistics
   Player             AS AS/g  ST ST/G  TO TO/g  BK BK/g  TND  OR OR/g  TR TR/g
 1 aldridge,lamarcu   31  3.1   8  0.8  28  2.8   9  0.9 23.8  28 2.8   80  8.0
 2 crawford,jamal     47  4.7   8  0.8  25  2.5   2  0.2 15.0   0 0.0   15  1.5
 3 batum,nicolas       8  1.0  10  1.2  11  1.4   7  0.9 13.7   9 1.1   20  2.5
 4 wallace,gerald     27  2.7  17  1.7  18  1.8   4  0.4 16.4  11 1.1   62  6.2
 [B]5 matthews,wesley    27  2.7  11  1.1   6  0.6   2  0.2 13.3   7 0.7   27  2.7[/B]
 6 felton,raymond     51  5.7  14  1.6  25  2.8   1  0.1  9.4   3 0.3   18  2.0
 7 thomas,kurt         8  0.8   7  0.7   8  0.8   6  0.6  6.7   4 0.4   37  3.7
 8 smith,craig         5  0.5   6  0.6   7  0.7   1  0.1  4.7  11 1.1   33  3.3
 9 williams,elliot     0  0.0   2  0.3   2  0.3   1  0.1  3.4   3 0.4    7  1.0
10 camby,marcus       23  2.3  14  1.4  11  1.1  24  2.4 17.3  32 3.2  120 12.0
11 johnson,armon       0  0.0   1  1.0   1  1.0   0  0.0  3.0   0 0.0    1  1.0
12 babbitt,luke        0  0.0   0  0.0   2  0.4   1  0.2  2.6   0 0.0    9  1.8
13 johnson,chris       1  0.2   0  0.0   2  0.4   0  0.0  0.1   0 0.0    1  0.2
14 smith,nolan         6  0.9   1  0.1   5  0.7   0  0.0 -1.0   2 0.3    5  0.7

...but still noticeably worse than Batum or Crawford. So I suggest: Wesley for Ramon Sessions. (Yes it would be nice to get Varejao as well, but that ain't happening. He's their second-best player, and not by much.)

Why we do it: WE NEED A FUCKING POINT GUARD!
Why they do it: they have Kyrie Irving and Boobie Gibson, so they're pretty set, but they have no SG, and Byron Scott likes defense.

 

[RoyToy]

Matthews is a 6th man. He is better suited in that role. It's not his fault he is our starting 2guard. He plays hard, and gives the team a solid defensive effort most every night. Like Batum, however, he is a role player.

Jamal Crawford is a 6th man. He can get his own shot off and can be an instant scoring option.

Wesley certainly isn't that. His game actually fits better with the starters. He's just way too inconsistent this season.

 

[HailBlazers]

I suggest we bench him for Batum.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Huh: look what I just found out:
Plus/Minus over the last ten games

Player 1 	Team 	+ 	- 	+/- 	Min 	+/- /Min 	G
L. Deng 	Bulls 	757 	-608 	149 	375:18 		10
P. Pierce 	Celtics 	731 	-593 	138 	353:12 		10
W. Matthews 	[B]Trail Blazers [/B]	690 	-569 	121 	318:24 		10
L. Aldridge 	[B]Trail Blazers[/B] 	740 	-628 	112 	352:32 		10
C. Paul 	Clippers 	793 	-696 	97 	351:48 		10
G. Wallace 	[B]Trail Blazers[/B] 	720 	-630 	90 	346:37 		10
K. Garnett 	Celtics 	584 	-498 	86 	298:48 		10
R. Allen 	Celtics 	606 	-521 	85 	306:09 		10
D. Green 	Spurs 	557 	-473 	84 	271:42 		10
P. Patterson 	Rockets 	473 	-390 	83 	217:21 		10
B. Griffin 	Clippers 	788 	-705 	83 	363:41 		10
J. Noah 	Bulls 	704 	-622 	82 	325:08 		10
M. Bonner 	Spurs 	499 	-418 	81 	234:39 		10
R. Felton 	[B]Trail Blazers[/B] 	644 	-563 	81 	307:06 		10
C. Budinger 	Rockets 	434 	-353 	81 	202:49 		10
L. James 	Heat 	797 	-718 	79 	384:20 		10
B. Bass 	Celtics 	595 	-517 	78 	311:51 		10
R. Hamilton 	Bulls 	697 	-620 	77 	317:58 		10
U. Haslem 	Heat 	509 	-436 	73 	241:45 		10
C. Boozer 	Bulls 	669 	-597 	72 	311:09 		10
J. Crawford 	[B]Trail Blazers[/B] 	609 	-537 	72 	286:08 		10
D. Rose 	Bulls 	711 	-643 	68 	336:06 		10
J. Harden 	Thunder 	752 	-685 	67 	335:24 		10
M. Camby 	[B]Trail Blazers[/B] 	505 	-442 	63 	249:02 		10

Lotsa Blazers, and look who's on top. Go figger.

 

[RoyToy]

You found a useless statistic

 

[illmatic99]

Lotsa Blazers, and look who's on top. Go figger.

That 44point win has a lot to do with this.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

That 44point win has a lot to do with this.

That makes sense. That explains the # of Blazers. But it doesn't explain the order they come in. And, of course, those players managed to GET a 44 point win, which is kind of impressive.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

You found a useless statistic

That's silly. The use of a statistic is relative, so every statistic is useless from some perspective. From the perspective of knowing the margin of scoring while a particular player was on the floor, +/- is absolutely perfect, and I think that's worth knowing.

 

[MickZagger]

I feel the same way.

The real trouble with Wesley is that it just feels like he's trying to do things outside of his wheelhouse, mainly trying to put the ball on the floor and take forays to the rim when he's got neither the hops to elevate nor the handle to negotiate traffic.

Hit the nail on the head. I cringe everytime he puts the ball on the floor. He's a catch and shoot guy. A really streaky one at that. I've always thought of him as an ideal 6th man.

 

[PapaG]

Matthews is a 6th man. He is better suited in that role. It's not his fault he is our starting 2guard. He plays hard, and gives the team a solid defensive effort most every night. Like Batum, however, he is a role player.

He's an 8th man at best. A sixth man should at least be able to create his own offense, and if not, be an elite shooter like a Dale Ellis.

Hated his signing from Day One, and he's done nothing to move me from that opinion. Too much of a contract for a guy that had one year under his belt. If he continues to struggle, may as well move Nic into the line-up and try him out at SG.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

More +/- fun:
Here's the home stats for the Blazers this season:

Player 1 	Team 	+ 	- 	+/- 	Min 	+/- /Min 	G
[B]W. Matthews[/B] 	Trail Blazers 	1,054 	-843 	211 	465:29 		14
L. Aldridge 	Trail Blazers 	1,093 	-894 	199 	496:23 		14
G. Wallace 	Trail Blazers 	1,067 	-882 	185 	485:37 		14
R. Felton 	Trail Blazers 	881 	-757 	124 	405:40 		13
M. Camby 	Trail Blazers 	732 	-623 	109 	346:02 		14
J. Crawford 	Trail Blazers 	805 	-707 	98 	375:19 		14
K. Thomas 	Trail Blazers 	491 	-437 	54 	226:43 		14
N. Batum 	Trail Blazers 	672 	-631 	41 	307:14 		13
A. Johnson 	Trail Blazers 	7 	-9 	-2 	5:04 		1
E. Williams 	Trail Blazers 	82 	-90 	-8 	39:21 		7
L. Babbitt 	Trail Blazers 	49 	-59 	-10 	26:42 		7
C. Smith 	Trail Blazers 	250 	-262 	-12 	122:42 		12
C. Johnson 	Trail Blazers 	63 	-89 	-26 	31:44 		8
N. Smith 	Trail Blazers 	99 	-127 	-28 	50:55 		9

And here's the away:

Player 1 	Team 	+ 	- 	+/- 	Min 	+/- /Min 	G
K. Thomas 	Trail Blazers 	380 	-356 	24 	209:00 		12
N. Smith 	Trail Blazers 	94 	-88 	6 	46:53 		7
E. Williams 	Trail Blazers 	38 	-38 	0 	18:53 		4
R. Felton 	Trail Blazers 	792 	-794 	-2 	413:35 		12
L. Babbitt 	Trail Blazers 	7 	-13 	-6 	6:23 		2
C. Johnson 	Trail Blazers 	27 	-33 	-6 	14:22 		3
L. Aldridge 	Trail Blazers 	883 	-897 	-14 	460:24 		12
J. Crawford 	Trail Blazers 	571 	-588 	-17 	296:50 		12
G. Wallace 	Trail Blazers 	692 	-711 	-19 	381:55 		11
M. Camby 	Trail Blazers 	390 	-422 	-32 	210:23 		9
C. Smith 	Trail Blazers 	288 	-324 	-36 	155:36 		12
N. Batum 	Trail Blazers 	568 	-616 	-48 	302:31 		11
[B]W. Matthews[/B] 	Trail Blazers 	700 	-760 	-60 	388:09 		12

And we thought Gerald Wallace was the bipolar one.

 

[jlprk]

Wesley is playing a bit better over the past ten games:

He's up in effienciency points while playing fewer minutes.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketbal...d-trail-blazers/team/profile/12/25/13-6-1-eff

 

[blue32]

If he continues to shoot the ball by pushing it, he's going to continue to suck. Maybe Felton and Him can get together with that shooting coach.

 

[Nate Dogg]

I'm still not happy with him either. 31 minutes, 2-6 FGM-A, 0-2 on 3pointers, with 4 points against New Orleans? Seriously?

Spin: Despite hitting 1.7 treys per game on the season, Matthews made only 1-for-5 from three-point range against the Rockets. He also added two rebounds, two steals, and an assist to round out his evening for the Blazers. Over his past three contests, Matthews has posted 15.3 points (on 51.9 percent from the floor), 3.3 assists, 2.3 boards, 1.7 steals, and 1.7 treys in 34.2 minutes.

 

[jlprk]

This season among NBA shooting guards he is 7th in steals and 10th in offensive rebounds. Among all players he is 24th in FT%.

 

[jlprk]

Changing the link I used in Post #25 from "last 10 games" to "last 3 games" shows that Matthews has stayed the same in proportion to his 2-minute increase in playing time. Crawford has improved a little per minute, while everyone else has gotten worse, relative to their minutes.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketbal...d-trail-blazers/team/profile/12/25/13-4-1-eff