Posted 01/12/2011 9:27 PM

I think this is a youth problem.  This is only his second year in the league and he's expected to be our 2nd option on offense as well as our defensive star-stopper.  I think he gets in his own head.  He starts missing shots and puts the pressure on himself.  He starts to force the shot (which, as we all know, is primarily ineffective).  I think it will get better with time.  I think he will be a star in this league in a year or two.  

Posted 01/12/2011 10:39 PM

i totally agree w/axe. his youth gets the better of him but when he's on, he's a force to be reckoned with in the league. 

Posted 01/13/2011 1:45 AM

Simple, he's a backup 2 that is starting for a real one. Wes is a streaky shooter, but I am getting tired of seeing Nate try to run so many plays through him because his handles are just bad. He turns it over or makes bad decisions way too often.

I was happy we got him because we needed to boost our bench and I like his D. Now that is all gone and we are worse than last year because Roy is out. I absolutely did not imagine he would start for us... not even for Nic (which I really did not like) and I'm not so sure where people were thinking he was so great (on offense) when we got him, but I wasn't one of them.

Posted 01/13/2011 2:09 AM

When you see a kid like Alonzo Gee, SG/SF who bounced around free agency a bit, putting up some good numbers for Washington last night, it makes you really wonder, WHAT IS CHO DOING?

Wesley can't do it all. Heck, he was supposed to come here and play defense, now he's suckin' so much wind trying to get open on the offensive end that there's just not enough left in the tank sometimes, know what I mean?

Posted 01/13/2011 5:17 AM

In a word Youth. Had he been on our team last year he would have played about 30 minutes for the season but since Nate seen him play somewhere in the pro's he gets starts. Otherwise he would be up to about 4 mins agame this season.

Posted 01/13/2011 6:24 AM

I think he brings a lot more to the team than his shoots- his defense and hustle are very important. He is young and is going to be streaky probally pressure related- I think it stands out more since we are more reliant on him with BRoy out. Still think he is worth every penny.

Posted 01/13/2011 9:05 AM

I was very excited when we signed Wesley, within the context we signed him. I knew his defense was going to balance out nicely with Nico's, him being stouter and more likely to body certain players, taking some of the pressure off of Nico to defend every elite perimeter guy. I think that generally works out most of the time. His offensive game was not something most were expecting, though I personally did expect him to continue making the solid 12-pt or so contribution he was making during the playoffs with Utah. Never once in my happiness in acquiring Wesley did I foresee him replacing Brandon Roy in the lineup. I was a little worried about him coming off the bench, but figured he would be like a JET-style 6th man or that he would eventually take Nico's job (who is ALSO streaking and relatively inconsistent, though that is ALSO streaky, lol!) and they would push each other into getting better by competing for the spot.

So, now, months later, Wesley is not doing the job probably ANYONE thought he would be doing at this point (I do think it is entirely possible part of the acquisition was with an eye to the future though, and that they thought he might be able to EVENTUALLY take BRoy's spot, since they did have knowledge of his knees and their probable longevity) and not surprisingly, he is not performing quite as well as everyone expected. That performance should be considered fully within its context though.

Wesley, if you believe what he and others say about him, is extremely driven and has very high expectations for his game. But his expectations don't necessarily mean he is fully capable of meeting them, or meeting them immediately. I agree with those who have said it is likely mental, inside his own head. He seems to force his shot, rather than just taking what comes. But there's pressure for him to look for those shots and to take them, since our offensive weaponry is greatly diminished. Also, he is still being regarded as either the primary or secondary defensive weapon most of the time (a job he and Nico seem to be splitting, depending on the opposition). Nico has frequently had difficulty balancing playing good hard defense with hitting his shot on the other end, and it shouldn't be surprising that Wesley might be having those same difficulties, especially since he's been in the league for only one full year at this point. At this point, I would GUESS that Wesley is feeling MORE pressure than Nicolas is to up his offensive efforts, from the organization, the coaches, and the fans. He has shown he is capable of having big games and I think that has put even more expectation on him. Nicolas has also shown he can have good games, but so far, Wesley's have been bigger.

Overall, I think it's a combination of factors that include his youth/experience in the league, his mental perspective of his game and his role, pressure to be/become a primary offensive option, and fatigue from trying to do it to perfection on both ends of the court.

Patience is the best medicine. He will work it out. There's a lot of talent there, and he does not really have a history of being inconsistent (as far as I know), but rather one of getting steadily better. I think that is what will pan out here, but it's just my opinion :)

Kassandra, you have maintained reservations throughout, and you should continue to do so. You refused to take his good games for granted and "buy in" to the hype. You should probably do the same with his poor games. Continue to give it time, see where he is when the season ends.

Posted 01/13/2011 11:19 AM

 

Kassandra:

I knew that this was your message board forum.
I agree with EA, on the fact that he is young, wants instant stardom, works to hard and becomes his own worst enemy. (Well that was my view-of his mentality).

Batum said it best; nobody can stay up for every game. You are going to have great games and rotten games. The secret is not to try to have record breaking games every night, but to work on minimizing your rotten games to the extent that there is not so much distance between the high's and the low. I think Wesley had that tremendously high game at Minnesota and is trying to stay in that high. Heck who wouldn't? But as Nic says, in BB that it is impossible to stay that high in 82 games and I agree.

What ever is the reason as in our truce, and with EA's input it is safe to say that he is streaky at the least. The problem becomes will he bring up his bad games by not forcing the game to have his great games. As I have said before, Wesley is like a tidal wave and Batum is trying to be a ripple. Therefore when Batum is not having an A game he isn't such a negative impact as Wesley is.

I see his shooting skills and I don't think he will lose that, but he needs to improve on his court awareness, his open teammates, and his handles. I am hoping he will turn the corner and be a great consistent play that we need.

I read all the time, the comparison between Wesley and Nic, as in either or. And I keep saying we need both to be consistent to gain stability in our team play. Until then the whole team becomes a tidal wave as Wesley goes through his big highs and big lows.

Hg

Posted 01/13/2011 3:45 PM

HG, I agree 100 %, it isnt about Wes$ or Nic, it's about balancing both.
Nice sliced bread reference Kassandra :)
My copy and paste :
tired legs = lower shot % and weaker D.
Wes$ has logged a lot of minutes since Roy went down.

Posted 01/13/2011 3:49 PM

Posted By Kassandra on 01/12/2011 8:59 PM
when we signed Wesley over the summer, much of the reaction from fans were that he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. i reserved judgement and am continuing to do so. for the most part, he's been a hustler and good defender. he's shown flashes of offensive brilliance, but lately his offensive game -- fg shooting in particular -- has been terrible. aside from his career-high game at minnesota, he's shot extremely poorly from the field; 3-12, 3-11, 4-12, 6-20, 2-13. that's a combined 18-68 (or 26.5 percent). 

i'm not here do put down Wesley; i'd like to see him and all of our players do well, but we are going to struggle if our starting sg (currently) shoots this inconsistently. i know i'm going to get some crap for this thread, but i'll put it out there: what's going on with Wesley's shot?

~ Kassandra

So....what you're saying is that Wesley's in a slump? He's a good shooter as shown by his 7 threes in Minnesota, but right now he's just in a shooting slump. it happens to every athlete in any of their respective spots. Don't worry, he's too much of a gym rat to let this slump get the better of him for too much longer.

Posted 01/13/2011 4:08 PM

This is not the first slump that Wesley has been in Nor IMO will it be the last. He is more in the line of a streaky shooter than a good shooter. Webster was a streaky shooter and some claim he was a good shooter. Mighty Mouse was also terrible shooter at times. I just don't classify them as good shooters.

I am sure Wesley will come back with a good game much as Rudy and Batum, but until you can depend on them for more then one game at a time, they will be classified as Kassandra said the team will struggle because he is too streaky.

I don't know if it is because he is young or trying to hard or the defenses has learned to zero in on him and he hasn't learned how to adapt yet. I don't know yet if he will be consistent enough to be great, or if he still should be a back up 2gd, but I do know he is not yet ready to take BRoy's spot as some predict.

Hg

Posted 01/13/2011 7:04 PM

Just as past recipients of the league's MVP award have been subject to, so now has the leading candidate for Most Improved Player Of The Year...a slump.  As Kass has pointed out, Wesley has turned in sub-par performances in the last 5 games.  If that is worthy of noting, so then must be the 39 game stretch of underachieving  Nic is fighting through...a handful of postitive +/- games notwithstanding.

Notable in this stretch where Matthews has struggled to find his range, is the recent change at PG...which almost directly coincides with the start of his slump.  Hard to argue that Mills and Dre play a completely different game, Mills a threat from deep like Matthews.  From Patty, it's not a collapse and a kick OUT that Wesley is receiving...it's a swing.  Food for thought.

PERS as of time of this post:

Wesley Matthews  15.35 (#115)
Nicolas Batum       13.88 (#157)

ex-Blazer (traded TWICE this season) Jerryd Bayless, coming in at #155, with 13.91

Posted 01/13/2011 9:27 PM

EXCELLENT point! Thank you for pointing that out. An angle I had missed in my personal analysis! I will definitely be watching that :)

Posted 01/13/2011 10:54 PM

i think the offense looks much flatter when andres in the game just my opinion though if it was my choice id have rudy start over wesley just my opinion though