As we all know, Wesley Matthews is undoubtedly a very important part of this season's Bucks. After becoming a free agent and with the goal of returning to the league, the veteran only wanted to play for the Bucks, and finally fulfilled that wish after signing a no-guarantee deal with the defending champion Bucks in early December, which also gave Wesley Matthews a chance to prove himself.
In nine games for the Bucks in December, Wesley Matthews averaged 16.5 minutes per game and averaged 6.2 points and 1.8 rebounds from 4.2-of-4 (52.6 percent shooting), including 3-of-1.4 from the three-point line (48.1 percent three-point shooting).
During this time, Wesley Matthews was able to help the Bucks hit the crucial three points in the final moments against the Celtics, which also helped the Bucks win the game. This, without a doubt, is largely the biggest highlight of Wesley Matthews' playing for the Bucks so far this season.
After an impressive performance for the Bucks in December, it makes sense that Wesley Matthews finally received contract protection from the Bucks in early January. Considering Wesley Matthews' overall performance after joining the Bucks, this is still a very correct decision for the Bucks, but after the hot December, Wesley Matthews is already in trouble, which is one of the problems the Bucks are currently facing.
How struggling was Matthews' performance after December?
After proving himself to be a good rotation player and getting the Bucks a guaranteed contract, Wesley Matthews should theoretically get more playing time in the Bucks, compared to averaging 22.5 minutes per game in December compared to averaging 16.5 minutes per game in December. However, in terms of personal data performance, Wesley Matthews's efficiency performance has declined significantly.
In 14 games in January, Matthews averaged just 5.7 points per game, and in total he shot 30-of-75 (40 percent from the field) and 17-of-53 (32.1 percent three-point range) from outside the three-point line.
Although Wesley Matthews was in poor form overall in January, given his very good performance in his first month with the Bucks, it has also made many fans optimistic that he will continue to help the Bucks for the rest of the season.
In fact, Wesley Matthews had a chance to regain his form in February. So far, Wesley Matthews has not been able to play well enough, even in some games since joining the Bucks.
In seven games for the Bucks so far in February, Matthews averaged just 1.6 points per game, only 4-of-20 (20 percent shooting) and 3-of-17 (17.6 percent three-point shooting) outside the three-point line. Put simply, Today's Wesley Matthews is almost entirely the player behind the Bucks on the offensive end.
In a game that averaged 16 minutes of playing time per game, Wesley Matthews simply could not provide the Bucks with a stable enough form performance. As a veteran player, being able to perform only this way also largely means that he is likely to lose his rotation role in this championship-winning team.
The bigger problem is that Wesley Matthews' struggling form in February came at a time when the team desperately needed him to perform on the pitch. With Pat Connaughton, George Hill and Grayson Allen all sidelined by injury, and the Bucks pushing for trades involving Dante DiVincentzo and Rodney Hood, the Bucks backcourt definitely needs veteran players like Wesley Matthews to perform and fill the void, and it's a great opportunity for Matthews, who is already on the bench.
Unfortunately, since February, Wesley Matthews has not been able to take advantage of these opportunities well, and he has not been able to play well enough on the court and give the Bucks enough help.
What is the problem with Matthews' state struggle?
In fact, wesley Matthews has struggled with performance over the past period of time for the simplest reason, mainly because he can't hit the three-pointers that should have been in fully empty positions the most (at least 6 feet from the nearest defender).
Statistically, Wesley Matthews has made as many as 72.9 percent of his shots outside the three-point line so far this season, and he has accounted for 60.9 percent of his total shots (1-of-2.7 shooting, 38.3 percent three-point shooting per game) and 57.1 percent of his shots in completely empty positions, which means that Wesley Matthews' only biggest role on the Offensive end of the Bucks is as a role as an outside point shooter.
Matthews has played as many as 312 minutes so far this season in the partner Alphabet Brother, to know that Matthews has only played a total of 576 minutes for the Bucks this season, plus this season alone Middleton and Alphabet Brother have given Matthews 12 and 6 three-point assists respectively, Matthews' more important strategic role in this Bucks team is still as a fixed-point catch and projector to open up space for Alphabet Brother.
Only since December, Wesley Matthews' shooting performance on the completely empty three-pointer has indeed shown a more obvious decline. In December, Wesley Matthews was able to shoot 13-of-24 (54.2 percent) from fully empty three-point range, which is enough to prove his consistency in outside shooting.
By January, Wesley Matthews was still able to shoot 16-of-40 from three-point range in a completely empty position (40 percent from three-point range), which was also a very stable performance, although there was a significant decline in efficiency compared to December. However, Wesley Matthews' efficiency slipped sharply by February, with he only 3-of-12 from the field on fully empty three-pointers (25 percent three-point shooting).
That said, the type of player who can't hit a three-pointer even when he's completely free, that's sure to affect his role on the Bucks.
Wesley Matthews still has the opportunity to be a key part of the Bucks rotation for the rest of the season, and while his solidity on the defensive end is indeed much less than before, he still has the player who plays strong on the defensive end and can also shoulder the task of defending the opposing core player at key moments in the game. But the problem is that if the Bucks coaching staff can't trust Wesley Matthews' three-point projection after getting an empty opportunity on the perimeter, it's estimated that the team will have a hard time keeping him on the court at key moments in the game, especially in the playoffs.
Write at the end
For the Bucks, All-Star Weekend is a much-needed break for the team, as the team faces more serious injuries. Although a key bench player like Pat Connaughton will need more rest time after All-Star Weekend, after all, he does need enough to recover after hand surgery (the news is that he can come back before the playoffs).
But after the All-Star Weekend holiday, the Bucks still have a chance to return to several other core role players as soon as possible, but before that, the Bucks will still need veteran players like Wesley Matthews to give Alphabet Brother and Middleton enough help on the court, especially in the outside projection.
With Pat Connaughton still needing to be absent for the next few weeks, the Bucks will have more of a way to let Wesley Matthews provide outside firepower on the bench, even if his stats so far in February are really bad, after all, for a player like Wesley Matthews, who has a foothold in this league as a veteran goalscorer, he is perfectly capable of quickly getting out of the current slump after All-Star Weekend and becoming a key part of the Bucks bench again.
So for Wesley Matthews, he still has a chance to get a chance in the Bucks after All-Star Weekend, but Matthews needs to take that chance. The Bucks have had a lot of problems on the bench so far this season, and in the absence of Pat Connaughton, the Bucks really need veteran players like Wesley Matthews to continue to contribute to the bench.