Agreed, thought he was very good in the first half, if a bit quiet in the 2nd, but no complaints. He's averaging 6.7/3.5 in 22 minutes a game and plays great defense, as per his 2nd-on-the-team number of steals. Needs to improve his shooting though.
Mathis
- Thread starter RUSCFORMERLYRULOU
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My friends and I call him “Mike Williams but good.”
You can’t have (or even want) 5 go to scorers on a team. But Montez will give you 4–12 points depending on whether his shots are falling or not. His defense is lockdown, and he often Hs a good sense of the game in when he needs to try and make something happen from nothing.
He reminds me of Geo last year a bit in that his confidence and body language sometimes wanes if he’s not putting the ball in the basket. I think another year of maturity and he will be the clear stud role player on this team.
To be fair, he is only a sophomore. Players develop at different rates. Check the college stats of a couple of those Wisconsin guys in the NBA, and you will see they were not very good and played little as freshmen; better but still not standouts as sophs.
agree...sorry, but this is a horrible take from the OP
suggestion: watch what happens on the court away from the ball. then report back.
MM is a big piece of this team. and is a TRUE SOPH for God's sake...
This is also a great point and one that I think we easily forget. None of these players came out of HS as a one and done candidate. Most of us expected improved play this year but not the kind of success we are seeing. It is easy to watch the Cole Anthonys and Vernon Careys and expect out 2nd year players to be finished products. It's a awesome thing to think that we will have this core getting better and better for the next 2-1/2 seasons.
Mathis has had some good moments and his decision making has improved, but his body language is terrible (he seems to mope and he doesn't seem like he's having any fun) and btw his defense is not as "lockdown" as some of you think.
Montez Mathis: Synergy Sports also grades him as the team’s second worst defender with 101 points allowed on 121 defensive possessions.
He's the fifth most valuable guard on the team after Geo, Caleb, Young, and Paul and can't be in at the end of the game due to his FT shooting, lack of a jumper, and ball handling. That limits Pike. I hope Mathis gets it together, but it's disappointing that he didn't develop his game better during the off season.
Montez Mathis: Synergy Sports also grades him as the team’s second worst defender with 101 points allowed on 121 defensive possessions.
He's the fifth most valuable guard on the team after Geo, Caleb, Young, and Paul and can't be in at the end of the game due to his FT shooting, lack of a jumper, and ball handling. That limits Pike. I hope Mathis gets it together, but it's disappointing that he didn't develop his game better during the off season.
Mathis had the beginnings of a nice little diving floater or a drive and spin to a floater earlier but has seemed to go away from that. I kind of like that a bit more than a straight pull up jumper mid range from him since he's not a good shooter. That is what I would work on if I was Montez when he can't get all the way to the rim
I am guessing Synergy Sports doesn't adjust their numbers based on who a player is guarding.
Any Rutgers fan crapping on Montez is clueless. He is a player that gets no plays called for him and has to find his offense on rebound baskets and fast breaks while playing lockdown defense on the other team’s best offensive threat. You want to criticize his not smiling , give me a break. The one area that improvement can be shown and he is only a sophomore is his open court full length drives to the basket. He has to be taught to use his body, protect the ball, and create the contact on on angle to avoid the charge, getting swatted at the rim, or losing the ball going up. Brandin Knight was great at creating contact and finishing the drives and creating and one opportunities and should be working with him the rest of this year and all summer. I find it hard to believe that instead of using him to hand off at the top of the weave, plays aren’t run for him coming off curls and giving him a path to the rim or an easy lob to Myles. Montez has shown he is a very willing and effective passer . We need him as much as any other player on the team. Ray’s negative comments trying to minimize his defense is just clueless.
Our defense is winning our games for us, and Montez puts so much pressure on the other team's guards and frequently the other team's starting PG. When Montez is tired Jacob Young takes the other team's PG, and it is a combination that is wrecking other teams' flow on offense. Montez can rebound, too, and tries to get to the rim on occasion so he has to be accounted for by the other team. This is truly a team concept that we're running here, a concept in which nobody is a star but everybody (the nine men in rotation) is a contributor. We are not nearly as effective without Montez getting minutes. I think Pike may have sat him last night because Tez was pissed at the flagrant he was called for when the dude elbowed him in the jaw, and then Tez pulled the guy down as they were falling out of bounds. He was pissed the entire rest of the game about that, though not sure if that was why he sat as much as he did in the second half.
Just a couple of more comments and then I'll give it a rest. First, insofar as guarding a particular player, Mathis started the game guarding Durham, not Phinesee (their best guard) and I assume Coach had a reason for that. Second, Synergy seems to be a coaches tool that uses a lot of analytics (the statistic I cited is from an IU beat writer who probably subscribes to the site). Third, I take the statistic with a little grain of salt since defense has team concepts as well. Mathis rebounds well and runs the court well, but he is limited and is not the incredible defender that many seem to think he is.
We are the 4th best defensive team in the country. He is our top perimeter defender. He took Myles Powell out of the game....until someone else did
Your eyes must be better than mine because I don't see him mope at all. Also, does Synergy Sports count the shots that aren't taken because the guy he's covering can't get open?
By the way, if you paid attention to last night's game, you would have seen that Montez was key in every one of the first 12 points we scored. Every one. A rebound and put-back for our 1st 2 points, a pass to Yeboah for a 3, a pass to Miles for a score, a long pass to Yeboah for a bucket and 1, and a dunk for 2.
Was thinking the same thing. A guys numbers may dip when always on the best perimeter players
According to synergy, Kiss has given up way less points than Mathis
He's a valuable member of the rotation. With his game, if he was two inches taller, it would make a world of difference.
It's tough to be an undersized 2-guard who can't really shoot. He has to make up for it in other ways. He's a good defender, but not nearly as good as some people believe. He doesn't really have a left hand either, and although he can hit an occasional three, he really can only drive to the basket. You can actually see defenders plant themselves early to try to take the charge.
He gets tough rebounds he almost has no business getting. He brings energy but IMO has to be used with a certain combination of players. I also don't think he's a starter on this team. I like Johnson, Harper, Yeboah, McConnell and Baker to start. I think Mulcahy might start as some point moving Baker to the 2.
Mathis and Young are high energy guys with specific skills sets that lend themselves to come off the bench, IMO.
It's tough to be an undersized 2-guard who can't really shoot. He has to make up for it in other ways. He's a good defender, but not nearly as good as some people believe. He doesn't really have a left hand either, and although he can hit an occasional three, he really can only drive to the basket. You can actually see defenders plant themselves early to try to take the charge.
He gets tough rebounds he almost has no business getting. He brings energy but IMO has to be used with a certain combination of players. I also don't think he's a starter on this team. I like Johnson, Harper, Yeboah, McConnell and Baker to start. I think Mulcahy might start as some point moving Baker to the 2.
Mathis and Young are high energy guys with specific skills sets that lend themselves to come off the bench, IMO.
Montez has had important rebounds in many games including last night that some seem to overlook.
he had a few wild drives to the hoop. Montez is a mixed bag. Great defender, can be a tough offensive weapon. When he is in control he is at his best. However when he is bad, he is bad. Last night Pike did the right thing but severely limiting his minutes and I have seen Pike do that in other games as well.
Not exactly sure why the OP is getting so much flak. Montez needs to become more consistent because he is an X Factor, I think GRFig and I have been saying that for 2 years now. He is very important to RU..see those first few minutes of the game where he was all Big 10. but like Justin Young its about eliminating those trying to be the hero moments
First of all he is getting flak, because we are finally winning and closing out another win Togo 12-0 and he has to be a Debbi Downer . This is a team that doesn’t rely on one guy but on any given night someone else steps up. Do you see threads and criticisms of Ron, or Geo or Myles , or Akwasi or Caleb when they have a bad night.? Montez gets heat when he tries to drive too much. If you have never played ball, it might be hard to explain, but if a player busts his butt on defense, gets no plays called for him on offense, has to manufacture his offense, then you have to understand why he would take off on drives. Especially for a 4 star kid like him. He is only a sophomore and will get better at it as I mentioned above. The Op was misinformed, and his thread as I’ll timed and frankly inappropriate . Go defend someone else, there is no defending this Op.
For some of our more negative posters.........Mathis is the new Young..........until of course he's not, then another player will become the new Mathis.
Don't understand why it's so difficult for people to understand that progression is not linear. There are ups and downs.....and what makes this team so great is that they have a roster full of guys who do different things well and have the ability pick each other up when another guy may be down.
Don't understand why it's so difficult for people to understand that progression is not linear. There are ups and downs.....and what makes this team so great is that they have a roster full of guys who do different things well and have the ability pick each other up when another guy may be down.
He's a major contributor on a good B1G team as a sophomore that is 100% deserving his minutes.
The guy is a warrior who has become a team first player, a spark on offense and an in-your-grille defender who rebounds and can run with the best of em. Put me down as a Tez fan.
People who don't understand Tez and his importance, don't understand the game well enough. If it was up to them, Caleb and Jacob would have never made it off the bench. I trust Pike and the coaching staff whatever they do.
He defends hard, seems high character, and is a great teammate. Love MM
Our boy has killed it so far. Seems like a great kid who has worked hard. He deserves a game like this
I said the other day he never smiles but that grin on the floor was priceless!!
A classic RU moment. They need to bottle that up and let the marketing department run with it.
Let's keep bumping this thread for the clueless haters...
Go Tez!!
Again...TRUE SOPH!!
Go Tez!!
Again...TRUE SOPH!!
I;ve always loved Tez, beast on D, gets in there for boards. Dude is a beast and there will be more days on offense like this ahead.
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