The NBA’s annual off-season is when many teams are searching for players in the free market. However, at this time, there are many teams that are expected to win the championship next season. In the reinforcement lists of these teams, there will often be a type of players. The fame and strength of these players are far from the salary they hope the team will give. .
Teams can often buy these players with immediate combat power at a very low price, and these players can also get the chance to win the championship and realize their dreams by lowering their prices. This is also what many people jokingly call “riding the dream train”.
However, the ball is round. Before the end of the season, whether the team can win the championship is still uncertain. There are also many players who hope to join a team that should be the favorite to win the championship, but in the end they missed the championship because of a miscalculation of the situation. .
Among them, Wesley Matthews is definitely the sufferer of the sufferers.
Undrafted picks rising once morest the trend
“I was really pissed off!”
“At 11:40 p.m. on draft night, I was like, ‘It’s almost my turn!'”
“But at 12:01, my name was still not mentioned.”
“I was so pissed! I started throwing things and knocking over tables to vent my emotions.”
“I was like, ‘Isn’t this real? I’ve got to try out once more and get a chance to sign?'”
Those who have played the 2K15 career mode may not be unfamiliar with this beginning. In the personal career mode, we are playing the role of an undrafted pick who lost his name on draft night and was not favored by any team.
In the plot, following our protagonist heard that the last pick in the draft was not his name, he put his anger on the agent like crazy.
But for Matthews, such a plot is not just a game, but actually happened to him.
In 2009, Matthews, a senior, participated in the draft. The draft report said that Matthews has a good shooting touch and a better defensive concept than many rookies in the same ladder, but he has no potential to develop, and his cutting power and dribbling have not reached the league average. Maybe he can only be a green leaf role throughout his career.
“When Wesley is on the court, is he the best player on the team?”
“I don’t think so.”
“However, would you have any reason to want to take him off?”
“I don’t think so!”
In fact, Matthews, who has a full four-year NCAA baptism at Marquette University, is not really bad. Since his sophomore start, Matthews has been doing the job of lubricating the team, that is, when there is a hole in the team, Matthews can fill it in time, so on the court, scoring, defending, and organizing him. Can come to hand.
However, for this kind of tool man who can do a little bit of anything, if there is no excellent physical condition, then for the team, the risk of developing omnipotence will be greatly increased. With so much set-up and little potential to develop, it’s no wonder so many teams are so insensitive to Matthews.
“My career has often been underestimated and ignored by others.”
“But my thinking at the time was, I’m not going overseas.”
“I’m going to try to make my dream of being in the league come true.”
Matthews was not overwhelmed by the frustration of losing the draft. After a night of loss, he immediately cheered up. Under the arrangement of his agent, he immediately agreed to put on the Jazz jersey and go to the summer league for the team.
In fact, many tool players who are good at everything and loose in everything become all-around players in the league. In addition to physical talent, part of the reason is also because of insufficient understanding of the game and insufficient golf quotient.
“If you can’t make the shot, you have to make sure the other guy can’t make the shot either.”
“Your offense won’t go as smoothly every night.”
“But you can always be ready with your attitude and your defense.”
Matthews is very clear that if he wants to stay in the league, he can’t use the label of versatility as a selling point. Instead, he should start with defense and defend once morest the opponent’s shooting guard alone. The tasks of ambushes and running shots from the outside line help the team open up the offensive space.
“Before entering the NBA, I only saw myself as a basketball player who might shoot, not a shooter.”
“I never take a fixed number of three-pointers a day as a practice project.”
“It wasn’t until I came to Utah that I started to seriously practice three-pointers.”
The suitability of defending, not taking the ball, and being able to quickly integrate into the team’s tactics allowed Matthews to win the favor of Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan at the time. He not only kept him with a guaranteed contract, but also served as the starting shooting guard in the second half of the season. Matthews ended his rookie season with 82 games played and 48 starts.
