DeAndre Mathieu

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Block M

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This kid might be the best point guard we've had in 20 years...or longer. Love his attitude and effort, not to mention his skills and athleticism. Fastest end-to-end player we've ever had.

Its really too bad we have no athleticism in the front court. Would love to see him dishing to an Mbakwe or Williams-like player.
 

I agree with you on Mathieu. When you're a PG you dish to who you have. Give him and EE some more time playing together.
 

Block M said:
This kid might be the best point guard we've had in 20 years...or longer. Love his attitude and effort, not to mention his skills and athleticism. Fastest end-to-end player we've ever had.

Its really too bad we have no athleticism in the front court. Would love to see him dishing to an Mbakwe or Williams-like player.
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Forgetting about Eric Harris much?! Nonetheless, I get your point. He's the point guard we've need for so long. Defense, speed, distribution, ball handling, running plays, penetration, finishing around he rim, mixed in with some shooting. He's an all around true point guard!
 

Eric Harris was awesome those last two years. How aboud DeAndre's stat sheet from tonight? 9/11 FG (degree of difficulty for several=ridiculous); 8/10 FT; 4 Ast. 0 TO. Unbelievable given the pace.
 

Block M said:
Eric Harris was awesome those last two years. How aboud DeAndre's stat sheet from tonight? 9/11 FG (degree of difficulty for several=ridiculous); 8/10 FT; 4 Ast. 0 TO. Unbelievable given the pace.
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That's incredibly efficient work. The best play he had tonight IMO was when he drove all the way down the floor at high speed, but was in control the whole time and leaned into UNO's 6'7, 230 lb power forward and finished with a kiss of the glass.
 


GameDay said:
Forgetting about Eric Harris much?! Nonetheless, I get your point. He's the point guard we've need for so long. Defense, speed, distribution, ball handling, running plays, penetration, finishing around he rim, mixed in with some shooting. He's an all around true point guard!
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Eric Harris. Seriously???
 

I realize it is still early with Deandre but if he keeps it up Eric Harris will not belong in the same conversation with him.
 

Mathieu really impressed me at the game tonight - he is fearless going to the rim and has a great feel for the game. I look forward to watching him play against some of the better guards in the Big Ten.
 

Love this kid... He's so unselfish... I'm glad he knows when to take control and when to dish it. Dre Hollins is a great player, but some times he seems to just sit back. Like Pitino said, he needs to be fearless. Love how Smith and Mathieu can spark the team also. Smith is scary... some of his shot selections you go "noooooooooooooooooooo" but they go in... I don't doubt him anymore, he's got a great shot. Even better than Dre.
 



Pitino gives the guys a long leash compared to the choke leash Tubby used. Too bad that Austin couldn't have played his full career with RP. Andre #1 has to notice what Little Dre #4 does but he lacks the foot speed.
 

My first time seeing him this year and I was impressed. Maybe it was the size of the UNO guards, but he also looked a little bigger than I had pictured in my mind. Nice, fast, under control point guard. He can play.
 

Wow, someone has no clue what kind of PG Harris was. HE WALKED the ball down the court. Eric was a solid player, but he had zero skills compared to this kid.
 

nasa35 said:
Wow, someone has no clue what kind of PG Harris was. HE WALKED the ball down the court. Eric was a solid player, but he had zero skills compared to this kid.
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Agreed--I too said Eric Harris? Harris had no where near the motor that Mathieu does.
 



Oh come on, Eric Harris was a great point guard for the system Clem ran. He was a tough nosed player who fit that team. Would he have done well in Pitino's system? Who knows but DeAndre is a perfect player for what Pitino runs. Apples and oranges as far as I am concerned. Two great dishes that work best with different meals, if you will.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
 

MDGopherFan said:
Oh come on, Eric Harris was a great point guard for the system Clem ran. He was a tough nosed player who fit that team. Would he have done well in Pitino's system? Who knows but DeAndre is a perfect player for what Pitino runs. Apples and oranges as far as I am concerned. Two great dishes that work best with different meals, if you will.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
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From what my memory serves up, Eric Harris was obviously one of our better point guards ever, but he couldn't shoot very well. He was very good defensively, but no where near as fast as Mathieu. Harris was taller (my memory says) and better built (bigger guards will post Mathieu up). Mathieu, for sure, is the better shooter especially from deep. Glad I got to see both play, and I like what I'm seeing from our first year guys. I hope we get a few more Malik Smith's as well.
 

Harris was a big guard who played lock-down defense and facilitated an offense that wasn't point guard-oriented. Yes, apples and oranges.

Deandre is special. How did Richard find him?!?!?
 

He's a huge addition. Glad to have him.

Want to see how he plays D (and O for that matter) vs. Big 10 quality competition before I put him in Eric Harris territory. Harris (circa Jr/Sr seasons) was pretty darn good.
 



When he is not on the floor everything seems to be down-shifted one gear...at both ends of the floor. He importance should not be underestimated. Eric Harris was also very important in '97 but the are different players. To be fair, Mathieu has yet to play a B10 game.
 

Block M said:
This kid might be the best point guard we've had in 20 years...or longer. Love his attitude and effort, not to mention his skills and athleticism. Fastest end-to-end player we've ever had.

Its really too bad we have no athleticism in the front court. Would love to see him dishing to an Mbakwe or Williams-like player.
Click to expand...


How would you compare him to Al Nolen or Lawrence Westbrook? Those two had some great moments as Gophers. I don't honestly have the basketball acumen to compare them however.
 

Block M said:
This kid might be the best point guard we've had in 20 years...or longer. Love his attitude and effort, not to mention his skills and athleticism. Fastest end-to-end player we've ever had.

Its really too bad we have no athleticism in the front court. Would love to see him dishing to an Mbakwe or Williams-like player.
Click to expand...

By the way, speaking of point guards, and admitting I don't have the acumen to evaluate players against each other, last year I went to watch Tyus Jones play at Apple Valley. When I think of someone like Trey Burke, I just don't see Tyus hanging with someone like Trey. Tyus looks really smooth and "Joe Cool" like, but when he goes up against a guy with an 8 cylinder engine and a muscular frame, do you think he'll fare very well? Tyus' shot doesn't seem that great either. Knowing me I'll be wrong, but I don't think Tyus Jones will end up being as successful as everyone thinks. Then again, I'm still blown away that Jordan Taylor became an All-American. How high was Jordan regarded coming out of high school?
 

I've been impressed with his 3 point shooting as well. I don't know the numbers, but it seems to me that he is shooting a pretty high pct. from behind the arc, and many have been timely.

edit: I checked and he is 7-13 (.538).
 

I am really thrilled with Matthieu's improvement. Before he was complete drive and shoot player.

Now he is mixing dish out looks in the mix and it has really made him more dynamic -- less predictable -- and WAY more effective.

His turnover rate is much improved too.
 

Comparisons

BreakTheGopherCurse said:
How would you compare him to Al Nolen or Lawrence Westbrook? Those two had some great moments as Gophers. I don't honestly have the basketball acumen to compare them however.
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Westbrook wasn't a point guard. He was a streaky 3pt shooter and a great driver for his size. He had mental toughness, great confidence and a strong build. However, he didn't make anyone better, had a questionable attitude, and was a bit undersized playing the 2.

Nolen was a stud on defense. He was great in the open court getting people the ball. He rarely sent in a post pass in the halfcourt though. He was a bad shooter. If he was an average shooter he may be on an NBA bench somewhere. Great anticipation on defense.

Joseph was a scoring combo guard. He had a great step back jumper. He had only average quickness.

Mathieu reminds me of Dee Brown from Illinois. He is probably 5'11" and probably a bit heavier than Dee Brown. Both had superb quickness and were relentless both attacking the basket and on defense. Mathieu actually shoots really well from long range and needs to shoot more there (53%)! He can beat the other team to the other end even after a made basket! He is averaging 4.8 ass to 1.9 to in his first year at a big time school. Shooting 51% on 2FG, 81% at the line! If he can average close to these numbers in the big ten, we will have 3 guys in DRE, Austin, and Mathieu who will be hard to match up with. The only thing he needs to work on is deciding to pull back the one man fast break when there are multiple defenders back, especially in the big ten.

Mathieu is a ton better than I expected!
 

Tyus, Burke, and Taylor

Tyus was a junior in high school when you saw him. Burke is now in the NBA. Tyus needs to get a lot stronger for sure. Neither player had great quickness. Burke wasn't even on the NBA radar until his soph year when he started nailing 30ft shots and the crazy NCAA run. He wasn't a top 40 player as he had "average quickness" comming out of high school. Tyus can shoot it, he changes speeds well on drives, and he has the Rubio feel to setting up others. His ceiling is limited because he doesnt have elite athleticsm or a muscular frame. Thus his dropping from #1 overall to 4th or 5th on ESPN by athletic guys.

Taylor was the same as far as not having elite atheltism. Taylor had a very muscular frame. He played in a very strict system. Wisconsin was perfect for him. He may have been a borderline top 100 player depending on where you looked.



BreakTheGopherCurse said:
By the way, speaking of point guards, and admitting I don't have the acumen to evaluate players against each other, last year I went to watch Tyus Jones play at Apple Valley. When I think of someone like Trey Burke, I just don't see Tyus hanging with someone like Trey. Tyus looks really smooth and "Joe Cool" like, but when he goes up against a guy with an 8 cylinder engine and a muscular frame, do you think he'll fare very well? Tyus' shot doesn't seem that great either. Knowing me I'll be wrong, but I don't think Tyus Jones will end up being as successful as everyone thinks. Then again, I'm still blown away that Jordan Taylor became an All-American. How high was Jordan regarded coming out of high school?
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march madness said:
Westbrook wasn't a point guard. He was a streaky 3pt shooter and a great driver for his size. He had mental toughness, great confidence and a strong build. However, he didn't make anyone better, had a questionable attitude, and was a bit undersized playing the 2.

Nolen was a stud on defense. He was great in the open court getting people the ball. He rarely sent in a post pass in the halfcourt though. He was a bad shooter. If he was an average shooter he may be on an NBA bench somewhere. Great anticipation on defense.

Joseph was a scoring combo guard. He had a great step back jumper. He had only average quickness.

Mathieu reminds me of Dee Brown from Illinois. He is probably 5'11" and probably a bit heavier than Dee Brown. Both had superb quickness and were relentless both attacking the basket and on defense. Mathieu actually shoots really well from long range and needs to shoot more there (53%)! He can beat the other team to the other end even after a made basket! He is averaging 4.8 ass to 1.9 to in his first year at a big time school. Shooting 51% on 2FG, 81% at the line! If he can average close to these numbers in the big ten, we will have 3 guys in DRE, Austin, and Mathieu who will be hard to match up with. The only thing he needs to work on is deciding to pull back the one man fast break when there are multiple defenders back, especially in the big ten.

Mathieu is a ton better than I expected!
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I don't think Mathieu will end up being half the scorer Dee Brown was. In one game yeah 'Dre poured in the buckets, but Dee was a scorer for that Illinois team. Averaged 12+ pts/game for 4 years at Illinois. I do not expect 'Dre to score 10/pg, I imagine him as more of a facilitator once big 10 starts.

Not to mention that Dee Brown was 6' tall and 185 where Mathieu is per ESPN 5'9" 165....

I'll happily be wrong though....
 

Dee Brown is a good comparison. I'd add that he needs to work on his aggressiveness when going for the steal. He too often reaches when he shouldn't which is why he is in foul trouble more than a PG should be.
 

march madness said:
Westbrook wasn't a point guard. He was a streaky 3pt shooter and a great driver for his size. He had mental toughness, great confidence and a strong build. However, he didn't make anyone better, had a questionable attitude, and was a bit undersized playing the 2.

Nolen was a stud on defense. He was great in the open court getting people the ball. He rarely sent in a post pass in the halfcourt though. He was a bad shooter. If he was an average shooter he may be on an NBA bench somewhere. Great anticipation on defense.

Joseph was a scoring combo guard. He had a great step back jumper. He had only average quickness.

Mathieu reminds me of Dee Brown from Illinois. He is probably 5'11" and probably a bit heavier than Dee Brown. Both had superb quickness and were relentless both attacking the basket and on defense. Mathieu actually shoots really well from long range and needs to shoot more there (53%)! He can beat the other team to the other end even after a made basket! He is averaging 4.8 ass to 1.9 to in his first year at a big time school. Shooting 51% on 2FG, 81% at the line! If he can average close to these numbers in the big ten, we will have 3 guys in DRE, Austin, and Mathieu who will be hard to match up with. The only thing he needs to work on is deciding to pull back the one man fast break when there are multiple defenders back, especially in the big ten.

Mathieu is a ton better than I expected!
Click to expand...

Nailed it.
 

Shot selection and adjusting to the competition will be important when he gets against the B1G completion, as long as he doesn't try to force things like he did against Florida St he is going to be pretty good, penetrates and passes in the lane better than anyone the Gophers have had for awhile.
 

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