Matthews

Jazz rookie, Wesley Matthews, has flourished in his starting role. Matthews went on to be an un-drafted player, which many teams now regret.

He played at Marquette all 4 years and was always over shadowed by better players. Going unnoticed, Matthews joined the Utah summer league team to fill a vacant spot. CJ Miles and Kyle Korver both had injuries that took them out of the lineup at the beginning of the season. Matthews impressed the coaching staff and he was signed on for a few 10 day contracts and eventually the rest of the season.

Midway through the season, the Jazz execs decided to trade fan favorite starting shooting guard, Ronnie Brewer. Jazz players hated the trade and said that it made their team worse not better. Several teams around the league traded to get guys, not release. The trade has proven to be the right choice. Matthews stepped in right away and filled the starting shooting guard role. He brings what Brewer couldn't, a 3 point shooter. It was embarrassing last year in the playoffs to see Kobe guarding Brewer 10 feet away, daring him to shoot.

Matthews has shot 45% from three land since March 1. That is a staggering percentage! Sloan has trusted the rookie and the team has flourished because of it.

Ronnie Brewer was an excellent player, a tough slasher/defender. He was near the top of the pack in steals and field goal %. Most of his points came around the basket as he had an amazing leap. You don't hear about Brewer much anymore and that is because of Matthews. The rook is tearing it up. He gets little national exposure because he went un drafted and he plays in Utah, one of the smallest markets in the NBA.

I think there are a lot of benefits to playing college ball first. Too many high school rookies come out and struggle for years. CJ Miles was drafted right out of HS for his smooth stroke. He has been in the league for 5 years and is just starting to come around. Matthews, playing all 4 years, has hit the ground running and doesn't seem to skip a beat.

The playoffs start this weekend. I predict we see the same consistency from Matthews we've seen all season long.