More reasons to draft Wesley Matthews.

[KCattheStripe]

Draft Express's analysis of this years SF crop:

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Just-By-the-Numbers-This-Years-Small-Forward-Crop-3270/

[PosImpos]

Interesting.

Also made Sam Young and Austin Daye look very palatable.

[Rondo_is_better]

During this past college basketball season, I identified Wesley Matthews as my favorite *obtainable* prospect for the Celtics 2009 draft. At the time I first noticed him (mid October) he was projected to go in the early 2nd round. If I'm not mistaken, that hasn't changed since then. Early to mid second round. We absolutely need to pick this guy up. I saw so many great things from him out on the floor--he's a guy that I model several parts of my game off of (as a high school player myself). He has a tremendous first step, really good upper-body strength, and excellent footwork off the drive which allows him to sidestep and snake his way into layups, and often, contact, as evidenced by his high FTA rate. He isn't much of an outside shooter, but he's a solid-to-good defender who has a good head on his shoulders with a high IQ and work ethic. He is a very mature player that has the capability to step onto the court with NBA players and contribute right away.

If we draft Wesley Matthews, he will be able to fill the role that Tony Allen was supposed to fill without a) being an idiot all the time b) getting injured all the time and c) turning the ball over all the time.

He's a great guy for us to add to the bench and he could probably be had with a trade or the purchase of a pick. I hope with every fiber of my being that Danny will make a move to pick up Matthews, a ready-to-go player who can fill a role we REALLY need filled.

Please, I implore you, do control-f on the article the OP linked to and search Wesley Matthews. Read all the little tidbits in the article about him and tell me you're not sold on him.

[PosImpos]

During this past college basketball season, I identified Wesley Matthews as my favorite *obtainable* prospect for the Celtics 2009 draft. At the time I first noticed him (mid October) he was projected to go in the early 2nd round. If I'm not mistaken, that hasn't changed since then. Early to mid second round. We absolutely need to pick this guy up. I saw so many great things from him out on the floor--he's a guy that I model several parts of my game off of (as a high school player myself). He has a tremendous first step, really good upper-body strength, and excellent footwork off the drive which allows him to sidestep and snake his way into layups, and often, contact, as evidenced by his high FTA rate. He isn't much of an outside shooter, but he's a solid-to-good defender who has a good head on his shoulders with a high IQ and work ethic. He is a very mature player that has the capability to step onto the court with NBA players and contribute right away.

If we draft Wesley Matthews, he will be able to fill the role that Tony Allen was supposed to fill without a) being an idiot all the time b) getting injured all the time and c) turning the ball over all the time.

He's a great guy for us to add to the bench and he could probably be had with a trade or the purchase of a pick. I hope with every fiber of my being that Danny will make a move to pick up Matthews, a ready-to-go player who can fill a role we REALLY need filled.

Please, I implore you, do control-f on the article the OP linked to and search Wesley Matthews. Read all the little tidbits in the article about him and tell me you're not sold on him.

My main concern is that he's yet another SG / SF prospect with "potential" who probably won't see any playing time under Doc.  It'll just be another roster spot filled by a project.  I'm not saying he wouldn't be a good pickup, but if we're going to get a rookie that Doc isn't going to play we might as well try to get a guy who can play SF or PF (there aren't any centers in this draft it seems).

[hardlyyardley]

Agree with positive assessment of Matthews.....like his backcourt mate McNeal also, but may have to trade up to get him

[nickagneta]

That page didn't exactly impress me but then again the entire draft except for a half dozen players doesn't impress me. I just feel that when we look back on this draft in 5 years we will see it was one of the worst overall drafts in recent memory with almost no players from the second round still being in the league and with little to no impact players coming out of the first round. I think the first round is littered with players that 5 years from now will be 10th-12th players in teams rotations.

[Tough Juice]

I prefer Jeff Adrien, he also is going to be a most loved guy, because he's from the area, he's from Brookline MA, he's a 6'6'' with a 7'2'' wingspan, there are his stats in UConn

13.6ppg / 9.9rpg / 1.7apg / 1.2bpg / 0.5spg / .505%

[perks-a-beast]

o what's the point it's not like Doc will play him 

[nickagneta]

o what's the point it's not like Doc will play him 

Yeah, because it's Doc's fault that a mid second round talent in a bad draft isn't good enough to earn playing time on a team who's only goal is to win a championship.

[perks-a-beast]

o what's the point it's not like Doc will play him 

Yeah, because it's Doc's fault that a mid second round talent in a bad draft isn't good enough to earn playing time on a team who's only goal is to win a championship.

Please. Tell that to the person who started the thread in the first place.

[Jon]

Does this team really need another young 6-5 SF with potential?

[KCattheStripe]

o what's the point it's not like Doc will play him 

Yeah, because it's Doc's fault that a mid second round talent in a bad draft isn't good enough to earn playing time on a team who's only goal is to win a championship.

Well there are a number of differences between Matthews and the young players we've drafted in the past. The first that Matthews stayed all four years at Marquette. He's not Tony Allen, or even worse Gerald Green, this is a mature player with a complete game. Also he played in easily the best conference in all of college basketball and was the leader of (when healthy) the 3rd best team in that conference, So this is not someone out of the A10 (Delonte) Big 12 (Tony) who had yet to face stiff competition.

[nickagneta]

o what's the point it's not like Doc will play him 

Yeah, because it's Doc's fault that a mid second round talent in a bad draft isn't good enough to earn playing time on a team who's only goal is to win a championship.

Well there are a number of differences between Matthews and the young players we've drafted in the past. The first that Matthews stayed all four years at Marquette. He's not Tony Allen, or even worse Gerald Green, this is a mature player with a complete game. Also he played in easily the best conference in all of college basketball and was the leader of (when healthy) the 3rd best team in that conference, So this is not someone out of the A10 (Delonte) Big 12 (Tony) who had yet to face stiff competition.

You're kidding me right?

Tony Allen was the Big 12 Player of the Year on a team that he took to the Final Four and was on one of the top 4 teams IN THE NATION, not his conference. He was a first round pick and played four years of college ball.

Delonte West was a part of one of the best backcourts in college basketball in recent memory. His team was ranked #1 nationally to end the regular season and was again a first round pick and played three years of college ball. He would have been the A-10 Player of the Year had not the NCAA College Player of the Year not played alongside him.

BTW both were chosen in a draft that was considered extremely deep in NBA talent and has produced players the caliber of D Howard, Big Al, Emeka Okafor, Devin Harris, Josh Childress, D West, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Josh Smith, JR Smith, Andris Biedrins, Kevin Martin, Anderson Varejao, Chris Duhon, and Trevor Ariza.

I'm sorry but Matthews isn't even considered a prospect that is as good as Gomes, Big Baby, Leon Powe, or Gabe Pruitt were coming out of college in years with very deep talent pools. Matthews is considered a late second round pick that is only getting some run because of a decent showing in the Portsmouth Invitational. Late second rounder in a bad, bad draft.

You have got to be kidding me? Right?

[KCattheStripe]

o what's the point it's not like Doc will play him 

Yeah, because it's Doc's fault that a mid second round talent in a bad draft isn't good enough to earn playing time on a team who's only goal is to win a championship.

Well there are a number of differences between Matthews and the young players we've drafted in the past. The first that Matthews stayed all four years at Marquette. He's not Tony Allen, or even worse Gerald Green, this is a mature player with a complete game. Also he played in easily the best conference in all of college basketball and was the leader of (when healthy) the 3rd best team in that conference, So this is not someone out of the A10 (Delonte) Big 12 (Tony) who had yet to face stiff competition.

You're kidding me right?

Tony Allen was the Big 12 Player of the Year on a team that he took to the Final Four and was on one of the top 4 teams IN THE NATION, not his conference. He was a first round pick and played four years of college ball.

Delonte West was a part of one of the best backcourts in college basketball in recent memory. His team was ranked #1 nationally to end the regular season and was again a first round pick and played three years of college ball. He would have been the A-10 Player of the Year had not the NCAA College Player of the Year not played alongside him.

BTW both were chosen in a draft that was considered extremely deep in NBA talent and has produced players the caliber of D Howard, Big Al, Emeka Okafor, Devin Harris, Josh Childress, D West, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Josh Smith, JR Smith, Andris Biedrins, Kevin Martin, Anderson Varejao, Chris Duhon, and Trevor Ariza.

I'm sorry but Matthews isn't even considered a prospect that is as good as Gomes, Big Baby, Leon Powe, or Gabe Pruitt were coming out of college in years with very deep talent pools. Matthews is considered a late second round pick that is only getting some run because of a decent showing in the Portsmouth Invitational. Late second rounder in a bad, bad draft.

You have got to be kidding me? Right?

Actually, I'm not. First off, Tony didn't spend foru years at OKst, he spent two years at a JuCo before transfering to OKST.  Secondly, leading a team into the final four is not even remotely a barometer for success in the NBA. How many final fours did Paul Pierce go to? Ray Allen? Shaq? Iverson? Duncan? Nash?

For a point of reference these are the past 14 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Players:

# 1995 – Ed O'Bannon, UCLA
# 1996 – Tony Delk, Kentucky
# 1997 – Miles Simon, Arizona
# 1998 – Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky
# 1999 – Richard Hamilton, UConn
# 2000 – Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State
# 2001 – Shane Battier, Duke
# 2002 – Juan Dixon, Maryland
# 2003 – Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse
# 2004 – Emeka Okafor, UConn
# 2005 – Sean May, North Carolina
# 2006 – Joakim Noah, Florida
# 2007 – Corey Brewer, Florida
# 2008 – Mario Chalmers, Kansas

With the exception of Mello (and maybe Rip), none of them are setting the NBA on fire.

Now I am not suggesting that Wesley Matthews is going to be an all star. What I am suggesting is that a player ( who was in the running for Big East player of the year before injuries kept them from winning the conference) who was the best player on his team in the toughest conference in college basketball history, might be ready to contribute and able to win his coach over in letting him play reserve minutes. I am also saying, that college accolades do not translate to the NBA , as we have seen with TA and his Big 12 player of the year. If they did, Christian Laettner would be a hall of famer.

[BballTim]

o what's the point it's not like Doc will play him 

Yeah, because it's Doc's fault that a mid second round talent in a bad draft isn't good enough to earn playing time on a team who's only goal is to win a championship.

Well there are a number of differences between Matthews and the young players we've drafted in the past. The first that Matthews stayed all four years at Marquette. He's not Tony Allen, or even worse Gerald Green, this is a mature player with a complete game. Also he played in easily the best conference in all of college basketball and was the leader of (when healthy) the 3rd best team in that conference, So this is not someone out of the A10 (Delonte) Big 12 (Tony) who had yet to face stiff competition.

You're kidding me right?

Tony Allen was the Big 12 Player of the Year on a team that he took to the Final Four and was on one of the top 4 teams IN THE NATION, not his conference. He was a first round pick and played four years of college ball.

Delonte West was a part of one of the best backcourts in college basketball in recent memory. His team was ranked #1 nationally to end the regular season and was again a first round pick and played three years of college ball. He would have been the A-10 Player of the Year had not the NCAA College Player of the Year not played alongside him.

BTW both were chosen in a draft that was considered extremely deep in NBA talent and has produced players the caliber of D Howard, Big Al, Emeka Okafor, Devin Harris, Josh Childress, D West, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Josh Smith, JR Smith, Andris Biedrins, Kevin Martin, Anderson Varejao, Chris Duhon, and Trevor Ariza.

I'm sorry but Matthews isn't even considered a prospect that is as good as Gomes, Big Baby, Leon Powe, or Gabe Pruitt were coming out of college in years with very deep talent pools. Matthews is considered a late second round pick that is only getting some run because of a decent showing in the Portsmouth Invitational. Late second rounder in a bad, bad draft.

You have got to be kidding me? Right?

Actually, I'm not. First off, Tony didn't spend foru years at OKst, he spent two years at a JuCo before transfering to OKST.  Secondly, leading a team into the final four is not even remotely a barometer for success in the NBA. How many final fours did Paul Pierce go to? Ray Allen? Shaq? Iverson? Duncan? Nash?

For a point of reference these are the past 14 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Players:

# 1995 – Ed O'Bannon, UCLA
# 1996 – Tony Delk, Kentucky
# 1997 – Miles Simon, Arizona
# 1998 – Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky
# 1999 – Richard Hamilton, UConn
# 2000 – Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State
# 2001 – Shane Battier, Duke
# 2002 – Juan Dixon, Maryland
# 2003 – Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse
# 2004 – Emeka Okafor, UConn
# 2005 – Sean May, North Carolina
# 2006 – Joakim Noah, Florida
# 2007 – Corey Brewer, Florida
# 2008 – Mario Chalmers, Kansas

With the exception of Mello (and maybe Rip), none of them are setting the NBA on fire.

Now I am not suggesting that Wesley Matthews is going to be an all star. What I am suggesting is that a player ( who was in the running for Big East player of the year before injuries kept them from winning the conference) who was the best player on his team in the toughest conference in college basketball history, might be ready to contribute and able to win his coach over in letting him play reserve minutes. I am also saying, that college accolades do not translate to the NBA , as we have seen with TA and his Big 12 player of the year. If they did, Christian Laettner would be a hall of famer.

  Toughest conference in college basketball history? Shouldn't they have to have a team in the finals to make that claim?