Wojo loves Wes Matthews' Game!

[VegasWarrior77]

Steve Wojciechowski ‏@steve_wojo  8h
Man, I hope all the Marquette players I coach play the game like @wessywes2  -- WINNER!! #Blazers #mubb
10:02 PM - 27 Apr 2014

[MU82]

Wojo:

From your tweet to your players' ears!

Wes was inspiring last night. I stayed up late to watch it, and I'm glad I did.

[WarriorFan]

I think we can be proud that 2 of the current best wing defenders in the league are MU products.  Jimmy Buckets and Wes.
Crowder's D isn't bad either.

[Tugg Speedman]

I think we can be proud that 2 of the current best wing defenders in the league are MU products.  Jimmy Buckets and Wes.
Crowder's D isn't bad either.

Wing defenders ... Dwade?

[Tums Festival]

Between Wes' game-saving defensive play and Jimmy's game-winning shot Marquette is having a positive presence in these playoffs so far.

[WarriorFan]

Wing defenders ... Dwade?

He Was, and still Can Be on any given night, but you don't often see him with the #1 defensive assignment any more.  I almost included him but that was 4+ years ago.

[ThatDude]

I think we can be proud that 2 of the current best wing defenders in the league are MU products.  Jimmy Buckets and Wes.
Crowder's D isn't bad either.

D Wade is the best defender of all of them

[mikekinsellaMVP]

D Wade is the best defender of all of them

Five years and two knees ago.

[Avenue Commons]

Five years and two knees ago.

True. This is how it ends for all explosive players like DWade. He has a few years left and them he'll be a first ballot NBA Hall of Famer.

[wadesworld]

I think we can be proud that 2 of the current best wing defenders in the league are MU products.  Jimmy Buckets and Wes.
Crowder's D isn't bad either.

Kevin Durant might tell you Tony Allen should be in that discussion. Maybe Kawhi Leonard as well.

[keefe]

True. This is how it ends for all explosive players like DWade. He has a few years left and them he'll be a first ballot NBA Hall of Famer.

Hopefully. Unfortunately he has to pick and choose his moments now. But in his prime...peerless.

[JakeBarnes]

Hopefully. Unfortunately he has to pick and choose his moments now. But in his prime...peerless.

Very true. He was the posterboy for floorburn and hustle.

[MU82]

Kevin Durant might tell you Tony Allen should be in that discussion. Maybe Kawhi Leonard as well.

Tony Allen is awesome. Not only a terrific 1-on-1 defender but one of those irritant types who clearly pisses off the guy he's defending.

As for the Wade discussion, I sadly must agree that this is no longer consistently true for him. He was a somewhat different kind of defender than Butler and Allen and even Wes. They are longer and are very tough 1-on-1 guys. Wade was incredible at anticipating passes, blocking shots from behind, etc.

Wes' game-clinching steal yesterday was as beautiful a defensive play as there is. Sometimes, a guy gets credited with an "easy steal" -- the offensive player throws a bad pass right into the defender's hand, or the defender capitalizes on a tipped ball. There was nothing easy or routine about this one. Wes had to decide if he should leave his man -- no easy decision, because his man was Harden -- so he could apply max pressure on Beverley. He had only a split-second to make the decision and then only a split-second to make a play on the ball. His timing was impeccable, he didn't foul, he recovered the ball and then he pushed it ahead to a teammate so he wouldn't get tied up. I loved every second of it!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Steve Wojciechowski ‏@steve_wojo  8h
Man, I hope all the Marquette players I coach play the game like @wessywes2  -- WINNER!! #Blazers #mubb
10:02 PM - 27 Apr 2014

He should, Wes is a traditional....does things rock solid in all facets.

[brandx]

We should remember how Wes earned his stripes in the NBA. As a rookie, he was the one assigned to guard Kobe full time. After playing just over 20 minutes a game in regular season, it went to 40 minutes per game vs. the Lakers

[4everwarriors]

Wes wasn't stink 'til that CS'er, thank goodness, left.

[tower912]

He just needed unleashed.

[mikekinsellaMVP]

Zach Lowe had some kind words for Wes today in his column:

I'm not sure any player has shuttled between "overpaid" and "underpaid" more often in popular conception since the Blazers swiped Wesley Matthews from Utah via the full midlevel exception. But here he is, humiliating a listless James Harden in the post, raining triples, and hounding Harden on the other end. Matthews can slide to bulkier small forwards if need be, helping to unlock Nic Batum's flexibility on defense. Daryl Morey wishes he had a wing like this.

http://grantland.com/features/nba-playoffs-2014-the-power-of-the-pretty-good-guys-gortat-ariza-courtney-lee/

[keefe]

He should, Wes is a traditional....does things rock solid in all facets.

Jams

These attempts to recast the term "traditional" are 100% transparent...