Portland Trail Blazers Guard Wesley Matthews Flourishing in Role

Dane Carbaugh of the Sporting News (and occasional guest columnist on this site) has penned an article on Wesley Matthews. Carbaugh gives an inside look into Matthews' mindset, his views on his role, and his effect on the game.

On Matthews' background:

Hunger has always been a part of who Matthews is. He went undrafted in 2009 and signed with the Utah Jazz that September. His solid play for a playoff team led to a deal in Portland just 10 months later. In less than a year, things went from famine to feast for Matthews, which prepared him for Portland better than he could have imagined.

On his style:

Matthews connected on 41 percent of his threes, impressive considering the long ball accounted for roughly half his 12 field goal attempts per game. He also debuted a stronger post presence, something Matthews learned from longtime teammate LaMarcus Aldridge.

"I learned by watching him," Matthews said. "How he picks and chooses his spots - when to be aggressive, when to go and make a play and when to make a play for others. I'm starting to get in that niche."

On his contract:

"It's hard to believe that we're going into year five," Matthews said. "When I signed the contract I was so excited, but after I signed it I was like, ‘Man, five years is a long time'. It's crazy to think that we've reached that point."

You can read much more about Matthews at SportingNews.com.

--Dave blazersub@gmail.com / @DaveDeckard / @Blazersedge