Posts Tagged ‘Wesley Matthews’

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FIT Week: Harrison Barnes Is A True Warrior

January 27, 2013  ·  2:57PM




Now in the middle of the NBA’s FIT Live Healthy Week, the league knew what it was doing when it requested Golden State Warriors rookie Harrison Barnes join the cause.

“He’s one of those guys that have come in early and not only understands basketball, but the business of basketball,” said JoHan Wang, Warriors’ director of athletic performance. “He knows that his body is the most important thing that’s going to help him through his career. With that being said, he’s already started doing a lot of things that I’ve worked with guys that are late in their careers, they don’t start figuring out until their eight, nine, 10 years in the league.

“Which is big because I’ve only worked with a handful of guys that have done that and understand. For a guy that’s come in, he’s already a starter, he’s proven he can play in this league and I’m sure you’ve seen his highlights. He has unbelievable athletic ability, and he’s willing to study the game, so the sky’s the limit for this kid.”

For Barnes, 20, an understanding of the importance of exercise and fitness started as a kid growing up in Ames, Iowa, and craving every moment — when the temperature allowed — to be outdoors and playing a myriad of sports, from basketball to track to soccer and even a little football in middle school.

Such dedication helped him to become the seventh overall pick of the Warriors in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Barnes joins fellow NBA players Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks), Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns), Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves), Wesley Matthews (Portland Trail Blazers), Chandler Parsons (Houston Rockets), and John Wall (Washington Wizards) in promoting NBA FIT Live Healthy Week.

The week features grassroots programs and events, special on-court apparel and in-arena and online programming designed to inspire kids and families across the country to live active, healthy lives.  Throughout the week, NBA and NBA Development League players will wear special on-court attire, including adidas NBA FIT shooting shirts and blue headbands and wristbands.

“Exercise is just an important part of everyday life,” said the 6-foot-8, 210-pound Barnes. “Whether you’re an athlete or not, it’s important. I’m glad the NBA has chosen this initiative to reach out to kids and help them become active and fit and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

You can check out NBA.com/nbafit  to get fitness tips from players and trainers, view player workout videos, and check out healthy recipes from celebrity chefs Rachael Ray, Mario Batali, Michael Ferraro, Michael Psilakis, and Dale Talde.  Follow @NBACares for special promotions and giveaways throughout the week.

Here’s more of Barnes in his own words:

Q: Growing up what sports did you like to play?

A: As I kid growing up I was really active. I was outdoors a lot during the summers, whether it was playing soccer, whether it was track, basketball, I did a little bit of football, I was just trying to be as active as possible. I did track all the way through high school, I did soccer until I got to middle school and then football when I got to middle school.

Q: What’s your advice to kids, who have so many indoor distractions, to get outdoors and exercise?

A: Just enjoy being active. I grew up in Iowa, so I only had three months to be outside and just really cherished those moments. But people out here in California, they can be outside all the time. Just go be active, whether it’s running around a playground or an organized sport, basketball, football, track, soccer, whatever it is. Just go outside and be active.

Q: You’ve started every game of your first NBA season, something few rookies can say. How would you describe your first season?

A: I think I’ve been playing pretty well. I’m starting on a team that is fifth in the West, so there’s really no complaints. Just want to continue to get better every single day and I continue to do that.

Q: What were your expectations coming into your rookie season?

A: My goals were to come into this team and just contribute and hopefully be part of a team that makes the playoffs. I’ve been able to contribute so far this season, hopefully just continue to get more consistent and hopefully keep our playoff dreams alive.

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Shaqtin’ A Fool: Vol. 2, Episode 4

December 7, 2012  ·  2:47AM


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Shaq is a man of the people, and when the people ask for more JaVale McGee, the people get more JaVale McGee. The Fool MVP makes this week’s list not once, but twice — along with Blake Griffin, Rasheed “Ball Don’t Lie!” Wallace and Wesley Matthews. Vote for your favorite Shaqtin’ A Fool moment!

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Blazers Face The Aldridge Question

November 29, 2012  ·  5:09PM

It’s getting late early in Portland.

Of course, the shadows can’t get much longer and the outlook much bleaker than when you’ve become the first team all season to lose to the Wizards.

Still, these things happen. If it were a one-game pratfall, it would be easier for the Trail Blazers to move on up the road and try to work out their frustrations on the soon-to-be-Rondo-less Celtics.

But the trouble is that 15 games into this season, it is already beginning to look a lot like last season. And the one before. And the one before.

“Inexcusable,” is the way guard Wesley Matthews described the loss at Washington and nobody was really sure if he was talking about the way the Blazers shot the ball, rebounded, defended or got off the bus.

Intolerable for their fans is the knowledge that over the past decade, the Blazers have done more rebuilding than FEMA and still have little to show for it. They have the longest current Western Conference drought without winning a playoff series (13 seasons and counting) and are giving little indication that it’s about to end. Enthusiasm for new coach Terry Stotts’ up-tempo, move-the-ball offense is leaking like air from a flat tire.

All of which quickly brings up the question of what to do with LaMarcus Aldridge?

The Blazers official stance is: nothing. That’s what general manager Neil Olshey told Aldridge in an October meeting, asking for patience and promising that the power forward would not be traded.

But how wise is that from both sides?

Aldridge is 27 going on who knows what. He’s previously had a heart condition, was sidelined last season by a hip injury and is now bothered an achy back, probably from having to carry so much of the load. He’s averaging a team-high 38.2 minutes per game and a career-low shooting percentage of 43.9.

On one hand the Blazers need their best player on the floor for his lion’s share of time in order to even dream of competing for one of the lower rung spots on the playoff ladder. But if this is a team that isn’t really going anywhere until rookies Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard develop, Nicolas Batum gets a real clue and then significant free agent additions are made next summer, does it make sense to wear Aldridge out?

The Blazers, with Greg Oden and Brandon Roy as cautionary tales in their recent past, are quite familiar with players that simply break down physically. If it’s going to take Olshey’s two-year window to get Aldridge the help he needs, what state will he be in physically, not to mention mentally? Might there come a time, even this season, when L.A. is ready to flee to L.A. or OKC or any other playoff contender with a need for the kind of firepower he brings? In this NBA era that we live, players are far less likely to commit themselves to a franchise for an entire career. How much longer before those around him, or Aldridge himself, conclude it’s time to start inching him toward the door?

If you’re the Blazers and have seen Aldridge’s game deteriorate into mostly jumpers and fadeaways this season, it could be easy to conclude that he’s past the point — if he ever was — of being a No. 1 option on a championship contender. If you’re already thinking about the next remodeling of the roster, wouldn’t it make sense to move the process along with a deal that could bring in young talent to grow at the same pace with Lillard, Leonard and Batum?

Of course, the trade deadline isn’t till February. But it’s already gotten late early in Portland.

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Harden Show Can’t Be Solo Act

November 4, 2012  ·  4:32PM




HOUSTON – So it turns out that you really do need more than one player on your team to win every night.

It was a point made in the early high-flying years of Michael Jordan and virtually every season of Wilt Chamberlain’s career, a couple of names that had been unexpectedly linked to James Harden after he dropped in 37 and 45 points in his first two games as a Rocket.

So when Harden looked more like the Russian space station Mir plummeting into the South Pacific, making just 8 of 24 shots in the home opener on Saturday night, it was a reminder that the blockbuster trade was just a start. There is still much work to be done in Houston.

For the Rockets to come close to their stated goal of challenging for a playoff spot in what suddenly looks like a very wide open Western Conference, The Beard’s teammates are going to have to make more than a whisker of a contribution, especially at crunch time. Even when Harden was struggling to shoot just 1-for-8, it was all about him. (more…)

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Posted in 2012, HT News / Comments (72) /

Matthews’ Fire Puts Out Harden’s Flame

November 4, 2012  ·  1:31AM



HOUSTON — Wesley Matthews could only have looked more alone on an island if he’d been trying to crack open coconuts and build a raft.

There was the clock running down in a tie game and here was James Harden – the NBA’s opening week version of a five-alarm fire — standing in front of him with the ball in his hands.

“You’re in the gym by yourself and you’re counting down ‘5-4-3…,’ ” Matthews said. “Once the clock hit four seconds, there was gonna be no screen coming. It was just gonna be me and him. He was left hand dominant so I tried to jump to that side and he had the ball loose out there.”

Loose enough for Matthews to strip the ball away and send the game into overtime, where his Blazers ran off to a 95-85 win.

It had been quite an eye-popping start to his Houston incarnation for Harden, scoring 37 and 45 points in his first two games with his new team, putting up numbers that were Chamberlainesque. (more…)

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Posted in 2012, HT News / Comments (23) /

Aldridge At Center Of Trail Blazers’ Attention … But For How Long?

October 4, 2012  ·  5:55PM




HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – For all of the excitement and trepidation that comes with rebuilding and relying on youngsters like Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard to help revitalize the situation in Portland, there is one man, and one man only, in the middle of the mix out there.

LaMarcus Aldridge holds the key to the team’s (immediate) future. His leadership, on and off the court, will have to serve as the main catalyst for a team searching for a new identity with a new coach (Terry Stotts), new young pieces and a brand new sole headliner in the All-Star power forward.

Aldridge showed last season that he was up to task of being the front man for the franchise, taking over a role that had rested largely on the shoulders of Brandon Roy before he retired prior to the start of an abbreviated training camp. Aldridge made his first All-Team and served notice that Kevin Love and Blake Griffin would have company in their quest to claim the crown as next in line in the Western Conference’s proud power forward lineage.

Just how long Aldridge remains alone at the center of all things for the Trail Blazers, however, remains to be seen. He has quality help in HT fave Wesley Matthews and Nic Batum, two of the survivors from the latest franchise restart. Aldridge is completely healed from offseason hip surgery and eager to get this season started.

But he only has two years remaining on his current contract and at 27 at the stage of his career where his physical powers should plateau for at least the next three or four seasons. In a day and age when superstars are aligning themselves in search of championship glory, the Los Angeles Lakers will be on the season-long rock tour this year after Miami did it the previous two years and Boston before them, it’s not unreasonable to ask just how long Aldridge will want to remain the leader of a start-up band.

Our main man Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune broached that very subject with Aldridge as the Trail Blazers opened camp, hunting answers for very pertinent questions:

Will Aldridge stay motivated as the young, inexperienced Blazers fall out of the playoff picture sometime after the All-Star break?

Will he tire of the constant double-teams that will dog his every move in the post?

Will he get frustrated as most of his West teammates in the 2012 All-Star Game — guys such as Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Love — play into the postseason?

Might he desire a trade at some point soon?

Maybe he’ll be fine with another rebuilding team.

“I’m here,” he told me after Tuesday’s opening training-camp session. “I’m here to try to win, to try to compete, to get better every night.”

(more…)

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Posted in 2012 Training Camps / Comments (13) /

Stotts Pledges Full-Speed Attack

August 9, 2012  ·  9:18AM

Summer is the equivalent of Dec. 31 for lots of teams in the NBA, particularly those with new regimes. A new GM or coach comes in with the best of intentions. He might even dip a toe into the land of resolutions. Typically, those come in the form of vows for how his team is going to play.

With pace. Entertaining style of basketball. Score in transition. Force the action. Trust the players.

Then November hits, the coach can’t stomach the sight of another wild pass flying out of bounds and he stomps on the brakes. Overnight, 80 becomes the new 100 for that team in an attempt to choke off such mistakes.

It has happened countless times, so the challenge for new Portland coach Terry Stotts is to resist such cautious temptations and stick with the blueprint he laid out at his introductory news conference Wednesday, as covered by Jason Quick of The Oregonian:

These Blazers, Stotts says, will favor the three-point shot. They will play at a fast pace. They will be given the freedom to create, as long as they show trust in teammates to pass. And over-dribbling will be frowned upon.

Of course, all this will be attempted with a young and largely unproven roster outside of cornerstones LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews, so nobody on Wednesday was making any grand predictions about the playoffs or win totals.

Instead, the Midwestern son of teachers, and the longtime NBA assistant and head coach, predicted a season of instruction, and the successes will be judged not so much by wins and losses, but by the learning and the improvement.

“I think they are going to play an exciting brand of basketball,” Stotts said. “And the young players will improve. I think we will be better in April than in November. That will be the measuring stick. There’s not a player on this roster who is not going to try and make the playoffs this year … but my concern with this team, and especially the young players, is getting them better every day, and every month.”

(more…)

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Veteran Matthews Leading Youngsters

July 17, 2012  ·  10:41PM


LAS VEGAS – This became his proving ground of a different kind soon after the regular season, before the ugly images had a chance to fade. The Trail Blazers had a “debacle” of a 2011-12, an opinion that in Portland is accepted more as a fact, prospects would be a big part of the recovery, and so Wesley Matthews decided he would play in summer league at nearly 26 years old and with 230 games of real NBA experience.

Matthews was so insistent on being here that he stayed after he finished playing, as was the case Tuesday night on the bench inside Cox Pavilion as the Trail Blazers lost to the Rockets 99-89, a game halted with 42.9 seconds remaining after Portland guard Nolan Smith suffered a head or neck injury. Matthews’ statistical impact for summer league was seven points in 15 minutes Sunday against the Hornets, the one and likely only appearance. But the plan is for his real impact to be much more and impossible to measure.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys, and the season didn’t finish the way we wanted to,” Matthews said. “We didn’t make the playoffs. A debacle of a year, and I’m vowing never to have that again. I’m just trying to be a leader and play basketball. I was going to play basketball anyway, so I might as well do it with my team.”

Several Blazers here may be in the rotation in the regular season, if not the starting lineup: returnees Luke Babbit and Nolan Smith, rookies Damian Lillard, Meyers Leonard and Will Barton.

“He’s a gym rat, so he wants to be out here as much as he can,” said Kaleb Canales, who finished the regular season as interim coach and is running the bench here as the search for a permanent coach continues. “And he knew what it would do to our team dynamics. We had a mutual conversation, but he’s the one that wanted to be out here.

“We talked to Wes about it at the end of the year in our meeting about his leadership, some about his leadership vocally and leadership by actions. And I think his actions are speaking many words right now about him coming out and having training camp with us and wanting to play here with the young guys, developing that chemistry that we’re going to need going forward.”

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Posted in 2012 Summer League / Comments (4) /

Rick’s Tips: Waiver Watching

April 16, 2012  ·  2:59PM




Welcome to championship week! Congratulations for climbing the mountain and cementing your status as fantasy elite.

Just one more thing to do: leave YOUR flag on top of that mountain. Just one problem: the league’s best players are dropping like bass at a Disco Biscuits show.

That noise you hear is the fantasy collective — or at least what’s left of it — scrambling for the waiver wire in search of replacements for Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, David Lee, Marc Gasol, and the list goes on and on.

Is it fair for the injury bug to strike with such might just as you’re reaching the mountain top? No, but as your mom said when you first cried about not getting your every wish: “Life ain’t fair kid, get over it.”

So let’s not sulk and pout about it (insert L.O. joke here). Let’s hit up the only place you can find help this late in the season: the waiver wire. Here’s a few names to ponder as we approach title week.

Kenneth Faried

With Marc Gasol healing a bone bruise in his knee, I need a big man replacement for the NBA TV fantasy finals. I’m going with Faried, who was the second best PF across eight cats last week. Believe it or not, he was still on waivers in our 20-team league!

Three things I love about The Manimal: defensive stats, his non-stop motor, and the Nuggets facing blood games every night.

Faried is thriving under the pre-playoff pressure, averaging 11.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.1 steals in only 26.4 minutes in eight games in April. (more…)

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Rick’s Tips: Waiver Watching

March 20, 2012  ·  5:08PM





It’s time to hit up the waiver wire during the best part of the fantasy season as the playoffs are upon us. I haven’t been with y’all for a couple weeks, so I’m doubling your pleasure with 10 names that could come to the rescue for your team.

Ramon Sessions

In separate moves on deadline day, the Lakers shipped Derek Fisher to Houston and brought in Ramon Sessions from the Cavaliers to solidify the point guard position.

Ramon isn’t starting yet, but he averaged 8.5 points and 5.5 assists in 22 minutes in his first two games in Purple and Gold. Lakers coach Mike Brown recently told reporters Steve Blake may keep the starting job for the remainder of the season, but I’m not buying it. You don’t ship out Five-Ring Fisher and then not start his replacement. It may take another week or two, but when Sessions gets promoted, he’ll flirt with double-doubles on a nightly basis.

Klay Thompson

As soon as the Warriors selected this sharp-shooting two-guard with the 11th pick in the 2011 draft, the writing was on the wall regarding Monta Ellis’ future in Oakland. It was only a matter of time before Monta was dealt, which happened last Tuesday, opening the starting gig for Thompson.

In five games as a starter, Thompson is averaging 18.6 points, 3.2 assists and 2.2 3s in 36.2 minutes. The rookie is light on rebounds and steals, and he’s shooting just 40 percent since the promotion, but the points and 3s are a nice boost this late in the season. (more…)

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