Article on Wes about offseason and Free Agency

[State Street Warrior]

A short article about Wes' plan for the offseason and hinting that the Jazz will match offers made from other teams.  Should be an interesting offseason for him and the Jazz.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700031591/Utah-Jazz-Wesley-Matthews-Kyrylo-Fesenko-at-Jazz-crossroads.html

[drewm88]

From the article:

"(Matthews) has just been a bulldog," Sloan said Tuesday. "He's been willing to work and to do extra stuff to make himself better. On the rating sheet for our defense, he was one of the top guys all year long. ... He's been fun to coach."

Compare that to the quote Sloan has about Fesenko in the same article:

"Fes is a guy who can get better — if he works at it," said Sloan. "We can't make him do the work. He's got to learn how to work harder."

Love the respect for Wes, love what Wes has done, further love the fact that Sloan clearly wasn't just blowing smoke about all his players.

[Brewtown Andy]

From the article:

"(Matthews) has just been a bulldog," Sloan said Tuesday. "He's been willing to work and to do extra stuff to make himself better. On the rating sheet for our defense, he was one of the top guys all year long. ... He's been fun to coach."

And any compliment about his defense is a high compliment coming from a guy who was nicknamed The Human Chainsaw.

[groove]

And any compliment about his defense is a high compliment coming from a guy who was nicknamed The Human Chainsaw.

Yeah, I hated when the Bucks had to play the Bulls when the Bulls had Sloan, Van Lier and Awtrey. Awtrey would always hammer Jabbar with cheap shots.

Update: I just read the 3/18/74 edition of the Milwaukee Sentinel that had coverage of the previous day's game between the Bulls and the Bucks. Headline: Bulls Brawl; Bucks Win. The game featured three altercations - Awtrey punched Jabbar; Sloan and Oscar Robertson went at it and Fritz Williams later tackled Sloan.  Sloan's reaction to Awtrey chasing down Jabbar and punching him in the face? "The big guy is always giving people the elbow, Dennis had a right to go after him" Ahh, Good times, when hard fouls were allowed in the NBA.

[4everwarriors]

I'm figuring the Jazz will extend him a contract of about 12-16 mil over 4 years.

[PGsHeroes32]

All the comments at the bottom of the article love Wes as well. Personally as a person who hates the NBA and only roots for teams with players that I like, I hope Wes dips on the Jazz. I am a Nuggets fan because I love Melo but I will be rooting for whatever team Dwade and Wes go to as long as they dont stay with their current garbage teams. Wade is a stud and needs another ring while Wes may not start on other teams, he will atleast be with good players who are smart. The Jazz are a team of complete tools with no basketball sense and I could barely stand watching them.


Hopefully they both go to the same team, that would be gold.

[CrazyEcho]

All the comments at the bottom of the article love Wes as well. Personally as a person who hates the NBA and only roots for teams with players that I like, I hope Wes dips on the Jazz. I am a Nuggets fan because I love Melo but I will be rooting for whatever team Dwade and Wes go to as long as they dont stay with their current garbage teams. Wade is a stud and needs another ring while Wes may not start on other teams, he will atleast be with good players who are smart. The Jazz are a team of complete tools with no basketball sense and I could barely stand watching them.


Hopefully they both go to the same team, that would be gold.

I think you're way-off about the Jazz (perhaps blinded by your Nugget love?).  The Jazz beat the Nuggets in the play-offs because they were well-coached (Sloan is a top-5 coach in the league).  They were missing AK and Okur and still won.  They played the Lakers competitively in each game (I think), but Kobe + Pau (not to mention Artest/Bynum/Odom) just had too much talent to overcome.  

I hope Wes stays on the Jazz and D-Wade gets Amare in Miami.  

[damuts222]

I think you're way-off about the Jazz (perhaps blinded by your Nugget love?).

Agreed. The Jazz have a good young core, but there were and are too many scorers on their team. Miles took a lot of bad shots in the LA series.

[BostonBaller]

Wes also had a nice phone interview today on ESPN 2 1st and 10. sounded very grateful and humble for his opportunity at Utah, although he said "what?" about 3 times to questions...sounds like someone needs a new phone with the money he will be making!

[MU B2002]

 

Agreed. The Jazz have a good young core, but there were and are too many scorers on their team. Miles took a lot of bad shots in the LA series.

They looked a lot more cohesive once they dealt of Brewer, and Milsap was huge off the bench in just about every playoff game.

And bonus... they also have one of the top 2 PGs in the league.

[PGsHeroes32]

Did you just completely skip over the part where I said I root for Melo? I hate the NBA and dont like any teams as a whole. I root for players because the NBA is garbage. The Jazz suck its that simple. Millsap is a good player.  Freshenko is god awful. Ronnie Price cant shoot, doesnt pass and cant play d. Miles takes dumb shot after dumb shot. Boozer takes idiotic shots as well but is atleast a good player. But he wont be back(again proving they will suck next year). WIlliams is a star and hes the only one on the team that is so he even takes idiotic shots down the stretch. Do you know how many times Wes camped otu in the corner while Miles and company jacked up turn around contested shots for misses? The comments on the article have their own fans saying the same thing.

The Jazz are not good. This would be further shown threw the fact they never get farther than the second round.

[wojosdojo]

I wouldn't be shocked for offers but I would be really shocked if he left.
1. Utah loves him especially Jerry Sloan. If Jerry likes him as a rookie he's not going anywhere.
2. Wes has to be the most thankful guy in the world after his great season. If it weren't for Utah taking a chance on him he'd be playing way out east.

[Doris Burkes Thong]

Wes will be back in Utah. Book it.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

I'm figuring the Jazz will extend him a contract of about 12-16 mil over 4 years.

I like Wes as much as anyone, but I'd be SHOCKED if this occurred.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Sloan and the Jazz will absolutely keep Wes. For Sloan to call him a Bulldog tells the whole tale. Jerry was a tenacious player and for him to see that in a player and to show the confidence to use him as much as he did this year,he is not going to lose him to another team. the Jazz need their picks this year to replace Boozer with some height to combat the bigger teams. Carlos is too small to keep in Utah for the money he is going to make as a free agent.

[mosarsour]

Wes will be back in Utah. Book it.

I'm with you on this one. There's no way Utah is letting him go. He fits their style perfectly, Sloan is a HOF coach and he gets to play with the best PG in the league. If Boozer stays and add another quality big, they will be a scary team in the next few years.

If there is an NBA team that I hate as much as I hate the Badgers,  I'd have to say it's that team of thugs in Denver that Hayward seems to love. They've got 3 players (K-Mart, JR Smith, and Carmelo) that are team chemistry cancers. Which is why Denver with this current group will never win. The only players worth watching on that team is Billups and the Birdman.

[PGsHeroes32]

I mean looking at your picture its easy to take you for an idiot but your inability to read really takes things to a whole new level. The NBA IS GARBAGE, ITS BORING AND MOST GUYS PLAY FOR THE MONEY AND NOT BECAUSE THEY LOVE THE GAME. THAT IS WHY I ROOT FOR INDIVIDUALS AND I WANT TO SEE MELO WIN, I COULD GIVE A DAMN LESS ABOUT THE NUGGETS, BUT HE HAPPENS TO PLAY FOR THEM NOW. You got that now? Im not a attracted to thugs. I rooted for Wade til he got his ring, now i hope he leaves and goes to a better team and i will hope he wins another. Basically all i can do is cheer for Wes because the Jazz have absolutly 0 prayer to ever win a championship.


That said, to the people who can actually read at a 4th grade level. I found another article by searching Wes on google where Kobe is praising  him and theres even a remark that sloan loved his play so much, Wes may be added to his will.

[mosarsour]

[mosarsour]

All the comments at the bottom of the article love Wes as well. Personally as a person who hates the NBA and only roots for teams with players that I like, I hope Wes dips on the Jazz. I am a Nuggets fan because I love Melo but I will be rooting for whatever team Dwade and Wes go to as long as they dont stay with their current garbage teams. Wade is a stud and needs another ring while Wes may not start on other teams, he will atleast be with good players who are smart. The Jazz are a team of complete tools with no basketball sense and I could barely stand watching them.


Hopefully they both go to the same team, that would be gold.

[GGGG]

I like Wes as much as anyone, but I'd be SHOCKED if this occurred.

Yeah...no way Matthews is a $3 M a year player at this point.  Too limited offensively.

[GGGG]

I mean looking at your picture its easy to take you for an idiot but your inability to read really takes things to a whole new level. The NBA IS GARBAGE, ITS BORING AND MOST GUYS PLAY FOR THE MONEY AND NOT BECAUSE THEY LOVE THE GAME.

That is a ridiculous statement with nothing to back it up.  Regular season NBA is dull because the season is too damn long.  NBA playoffs is the best basketball on the planet.  And it's better now than it ever has been.

[PGsHeroes32]

yeah they are so awsome with how many 4-0 sweeps already? College basketball is the only entertaining bball around. The NHL playoffs are where the entertainment is at

[Hards Alumni]

yeah they are so awsome with how many 4-0 sweeps already? College basketball is the only entertaining bball around. The NHL playoffs are where the entertainment is at

le sigh.

[reinko]

yeah they are so awsome with how many 4-0 sweeps already? College basketball is the only entertaining bball around. The NHL playoffs are where the entertainment is at

3 out of 12 series have been sweeps.  And of those 12 games, only 3 were decided by more than 10 points.  So yeah, your point is so valid.

[GGGG]

yeah they are so awsome with how many 4-0 sweeps already? College basketball is the only entertaining bball around. The NHL playoffs are where the entertainment is at

I mean the quality of basketball played.  The NCAA tournament, while it had some exciting games, mostly was a display of brutal basketball.