2019-20 Three B’s - Wesley Matthews

Welcome to the Brew Hoop’s entirely subjective and emotionally-driven 2019-20 Milwaukee Bucks season player evaluations! Similar to last year’s series, we’ll take a look at each current Buck and ask three questions: what do they do that helps (Boon), what do they do that hurts (Bane), and whether they ought to be on this team (Belonging).

Today we look at Wesley Matthews and see how another season in a Bucks uniform could shakeout for the Iron Man.

Wesley’s Boon: Bringing the energy

While it sounds cliche, it is what Wes did best for the Bucks in his first season with the team. His role is plain and simple...hit three-pointers and play suffocating defense on opposing players. What I find most admirable about Matthews is that he guarded the opposing team’s best player for the majority of the 2019-2020 season. What stood out like a sore thumb was how well he played defensively in Milwaukee’s two postseason series. He made Orlando Magic guard Evan Fournier disappear in the first round and made Jimmy Butler work hard for every bucket in the second round. I don’t want to give anyone flashbacks, but the disparity when other Bucks players guarded Butler instead of Matthews was...massive.

Offensively, Wes got off to a rocky start to his first campaign with the Bucks but he righted the ship. He finished the season shooting 36.4% from deep on four attempts which is just under his career average of 38.1%. I am a little surprised at the number of attempts since he has averaged 5.5 tries from deep over the course of his career.

Wesley’s Bane: Overaggressiveness

While I am a Wesley Matthews “stan,” he was a little too overaggressive at times on both ends of the floor. There were countless times where he would overcompensate defensively or take an unnecessary gamble on a steal. While I admire the effort, sometimes the best gamble you make is the one you don’t make at all! Furthermore, he picked up a decent amount of silly fouls over the course of the 2019-2020 season which gave away points to Milwaukee’s opponents. I don’t know about you, but it seemed like the Bucks opponents all throughout the season got into the bonus very quickly.

Does Wesley Belong?

Yes, absolutely. I believe Matthews can play an integral role down the road for the Bucks because of his veteran savviness and ability to make it rain from downtown. He is not gonna wow you with athleticism or take an opponent off the dribble, but he makes a ton of plays that do not show up in the stat sheet whether it is deflecting passes, diving for loose balls, and picking up defenders at half court. You know you are going to get 100% whenever he steps on the floor.