Wesley "Mr Basketball" Matthews

[MilTown]

Wes is the odd man out on this team. Very unfortunate as I think he has all the tools. He is just so smooth and athletic and very polished. Defense isn't an issue, but on offense, I think Wes is out of position on this team. It looks like on a lot of sets he is playing near the lane and around the free throw line or down on the baseline. I think he could have been developed as a 2/3 combo with more time at the 2 position. The problem is that on this team there is no room for him. McNeal and DJ play on the perimeter, and now you have Hayward taking away a lot of Wes's touches below the free throw line on the perimeter and in the midrange.

I agree with Wes maybe coming off the bench. I would like to see an experiment with Wes coming off the bench and playing the 2 spot for McNeal.  

[tower912]

Wes needs to hit two consecutive shots from the perimeter or in traffic from about 12 ft and this will all go away.   He is still the glue guy, guarding bigger players, boarding.   Hell, Drew Neitzel is in a shooting slump right now, so it can happen to anyone.   Unless you are going to start Fitz and Lazar, there is no way to bring him off of the bench.   Does anyone really want JM to start as our 3, unless 3 other guys have the flu?

[mviale]

This says alot about wisconsin HS basketball - expectations were high

[bma725]

came close to traveling,

i.e. - he traveled, but it wasn't called 

One could also say he was fouled and it wasn't called.

[chefrad]

All this has been obvious since last year, and wasn't it McNeal who had the bad game?

And, if I had to guess, some of Matthews' severest critics are probably the kind of fans who love Bill Neary's game. Wes isn't a less talented Wade, he is a more talented Neary.

[bartmiller#1]

McNeal had a rough game-- arguably his worst of the season in many ways-- but he also had 14 pts., 7 boards, and 5 assists (to go with his 6 TOs). 

And a couple great defensive plays. 

[mviale]

Jerel is Jerel and BE defensive player of the year.  Wesley peaked in HS.

[bilsu]

He is a guard that is forced to play the small forward position.

[bananahammock]

first of all, the expectations were high for wesley after hearing what a great off season he had.  in early televised games this year, the announcers raved about matthews and kept saying the staff expected him to score 15+ consistently this season.

i feel wesley could use his size advantage by posting up and getting some easier looks if he was playing the 2.  as some have mentioned, he is undersized for the most part at the 3 which may take away some easier, closer looks at the hoop.

i had really hoped they could get him going in the 4 blowouts before the conference season started but they seemed to give up on his jumper and tell him to get to the hoop.

hopefully wes can keep doing the little things and hopefully knock down some open looks.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Not gonna lie, it's pretty cool we have a former MU player posting on the board!

Anyways, I'll stop being OT now 

Chuncken - I have some swamp property down here in Florida, I'll sell it to you cheap!
I think you may want to check your sarcasm detector. I think it is broken. 

see, it's $hit like this that requires the use of teal for sarcasm. 

[Tommy Brice for Coach]

Not gonna lie, it's pretty cool we have a former MU player posting on the board!

Anyways, I'll stop being OT now 

Chuncken - I have some swamp property down here in Florida, I'll sell it to you cheap!
I think you may want to check your sarcasm detector. I think it is broken. 

see, it's $hit like this that requires the use of teal for sarcasm. 

That one went right over my head lol

[Doctor V]

He is a guard that is forced to play the small forward position.

Is that right? Wes has gotten more open shots than anyone on this team recently, and I mean wide open. He cannot make anything beyond the arc, and nothing but layups inside it. Everytime he puts the ball on the floor it reminds me of the guys that tried to run point when Travis got hurt few years back. Lets just tell it like it is, he looks terrible on offense.

People will call me harsh, but he is the biggest disappointment on this team. Crean needs to cut his minutes, get on his case, somehow light a fire. Hes done it with jerel and others, and i dont care how nice of a guy wes is. Sit in the gym and shoot jumpers till you cant life your arm anymore, hes regressed every year it seems. If Crean feels wes cant improve, bring him off the bench at the 3 or 4 and start cubes or fitz, depending on how important size and defense is in that game, or start burke and barro and play hayward at the 3.

That said, i still hold the hope that he will rebound, but seems that a change will maybe help him

[mwbauer7]

Not gonna lie, it's pretty cool we have a former MU player posting on the board!

Anyways, I'll stop being OT now 

Chuncken - I have some swamp property down here in Florida, I'll sell it to you cheap!
I think you may want to check your sarcasm detector. I think it is broken. 

see, it's $hit like this that requires the use of teal for sarcasm. 

That one went right over my head lol

See the Superbar...

[bma725]

He is a guard that is forced to play the small forward position.

Sit in the gym and shoot jumpers till you cant life your arm anymore, hes regressed every year it seems.

Regressed every year?  You're kidding right?  He improved in points, rebounds, steals, and shooting percentage from his freshman to sophomore years.  His shooting percentage this year is actually better than its been the previous two years.  The only thing that's dropped every year is his 3 point shooting, and he was never the outside threat that people made him out to be.  He's a slasher forced to play out of position because MU already has someone better at that.  So he plays out of position because there is no one else with his size and his ability to defend multiple positions at the 3 spot.  All of the better shooting players can't defensively do the things that he does, Hayward isn't quick enough, Fitz can't guard anyone, and Cubillan is too small to play the position.

[Pardner]

Wes will be fine...he is asked to deliver on the intangibles.  The problem is, especially against a zone, he is the third or fourth option--often a decoy.  He is more involved in the 2-3 offense as a point of entry at the free throw line.  Problem is, we have improved our offense against the 2-3, so teams are switching to an electric fence up top by going 1-3-1, 3-2, or a triangle and 2 against us to stop/slow down our transitionals---"pressure a pressure team".  Maybe try some different options like having DJ inbound the ball and have Wes bring it up like his freshman year....or ruining Burke up to high pick for him.  He needs to get his points on the line.

[jaygall31]

Me and my dad had this conversation 2 nights ago. Wesley Wesley Wesley. I believe he's so valuable to our team, soo valuabe. But his role isn't as big as it could be, but he's someone that needs to be on the floor for us to make me feel comfortbale. Maybe he cant keep up with jerel and dominic? Too fast? That can't be it....I hope whatever it is, it ends. Cuz he could be GREAT! very great! Am i disappointed....sure. Too an extent to call for Scotty to play over him? hell no. Wes will be there, night in and night out.

is it like the curse of that class? because they way I see marcus landry isn't the player he could be either....yet.

[NCMUFan]

Wes was real good at getting to the line.  I think Lazar and Wes are similar players in that they are good at driving and getting to the line.  I think Wes still possesses that talent but Lazar is the one doing that more frequently now.  But at the end of the game you look at Wes's stats and he is consistently getting 13 or so points but without the flash.  He shouldn't take more than one three point attempt per game and most of his shots should be from 12 feet and closer.  He plays real hard, I believe he is a solid contributor but let's be realistic on him not being a superstar on a team loaded with talent.