Mathieu

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WilliamsArenaGuy

WilliamsArenaGuy

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With all the (deserving) criticism of King, the biggest issue with this team not living up to its potential is Mathieu. He has been less than half the player he was last year. If he returns as good or better, things are very different. He has more impact than almost every other player. He's only shown it in flashes. And I honestly don't remember one positive thing he contributed today. I can name about 6-7 terrible plays right off the top of my head. And his body language ain't helping. He complains more than even Elliot I think right now. If he turns it around we might be OK. But we can't win with performances like today.
 

Strong point. Whatever happened to him, he needs to get back his mojo. He didn't even get in serious foul trouble today and played unsatisfactorily on both ends of the court.
 

He's been a bigger disappointment than Dre, since I think the injury had more to do with that than we know. I don't know what it is? His kid? Other distractions? Talking about Mason starting, it probably should be at PG. He'll be the PG next year, so let him play at this point.
 

Way too much discussion about Andre Hollins and Joey King and not nearly enough about Mathieu. He was arguably the team MVP last year. He scored 0 points today and had multiple baffling turnovers. I hate to rip on the kid, but he's the #1 reason this team has regressed this season. It's strange how bad he has looked at times.
 

I think Mathieu is confused about his role now. He even admitted Coach wanted him to worry less about scoring and to concentrate on assists and steals. So that basically limits what Mathieu can do. Coach has successfully turned little Dre into Al Nolen.
 


He commits stupid fouls that limit his minutes and he turns the ball over at a rate higher rate than I would prefer.
He is one of the best 3 players on the team and he is pretty average.
 

Agree with this thread. Mathieu has been very disappointing this year.
 

RolGnav said:
I think Mathieu is confused about his role now. He even admitted Coach wanted him to worry less about scoring and to concentrate on assists and steals. So that basically limits what Mathieu can do. Coach has successfully turned little Dre into Al Nolen.
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Actually no, at least I heard it differently. The coach told him to stop worrying about stats- particularly about trying to get so many assists- and instead just play the game. He told him to take the opportunity that is in front of him rather than thinking assist or score.
 

RolGnav said:
I think Mathieu is confused about his role now. He even admitted Coach wanted him to worry less about scoring and to concentrate on assists and steals. So that basically limits what Mathieu can do. Coach has successfully turned little Dre into Al Nolen.
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I would have to disagree about this. Coach previously said that lil Dre was overly concerned about assists and steals. When the assists/steals are not there, you have to play the game. Meaning, lil Dre has to be more aggressive driving to the rim and taking more shots. Having said that, lil Dre does seem to be much less aggressive in the last 4 games. The team psyche certainly is frightfully delicate.
 



howeda7 said:
He's been a bigger disappointment than Dre, since I think the injury had more to do with that than we know. I don't know what it is? His kid? Other distractions? Talking about Mason starting, it probably should be at PG. He'll be the PG next year, so let him play at this point.
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Dorsey will play the point next year. I think Mason will be the 2 and switch over for Dorsey.
 

I have a serious lack of faith in this staffs player development. If mason and morris take steps backwards next year I think the writing is on the wall.
 

Either way, start Mason and bench Mathieu. I think he will play better if he's a little pi$$sed off.
 

rivergopher said:
I have a serious lack of faith in this staffs player development. If mason and morris take steps backwards next year I think the writing is on the wall.
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I think Pitino is making a mistake not having a veteran head coach on staff. Monson's best year was when he had Mo with him.
 



bga1 said:
Actually no, at least I heard it differently. The coach told him to stop worrying about stats- particularly about trying to get so many assists- and instead just play the game. He told him to take the opportunity that is in front of him rather than thinking assist or score.
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Well that's pretty confusing then because at the beginning of the year, little Dre said something, in an interview, to the effect of Coach Pitino or his dad, said that if he wanted to get to the next level, that he should worry less about scoring and more about steals and assists. (from my memory). I know he said something like that, I just don't remember the exact words.
 


I enjoy him driving wildly to the hoop and then throwing the ball somewhere/anywhere 100 mph regardless of if there is a teammate in the area.
 

Mathieu is a small player with an attacking style so you have to live with the times when he penetrates and gets in trouble. In general he's been ended up on the positive side of the ledger. That said, his misfires today were astoundingly bad. I don't think it was a matter of the other players being out of position. It looked like he just was panicky misreading the play.

The dumb fouls are the other big deficiency. He is still doing some positive things out there (steals and getting to the rim) but that part is just unacceptable.
 

I like Deandre, but he needs to think before he passes. He plays too fast for even himself, and it leads to all these wild passes. When he's calm and collected everything opens up for him and he makes excellent reads. He needs to get back to that and stay more under control.
 

GameDay said:
I like Deandre, but he needs to think before he passes. He plays too fast for even himself, and it leads to all these wild passes. When he's calm and collected everything opens up for him and he makes excellent reads. He needs to get back to that and stay more under control.
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I am very surprised with this thread. I don't think he has regressed at all.

Statistics bear this out. He is essentially playing the same minutes per game. His rebounds, assists and steals are all higher per game, per minute, per half, however you want to measure it then last year. Turnovers are lower. Point are down quite a bit but there are more shooters on this team this year. I wouldn't exactly grade his game an A plus, but he is an improved senior.
 

macgopher said:
I am very surprised with this thread. I don't think he has regressed at all.

Statistics bear this out. He is essentially playing the same minutes per game. His rebounds, assists and steals are all higher per game, per minute, per half, however you want to measure it then last year. Turnovers are lower. Point are down quite a bit but there are more shooters on this team this year. I wouldn't exactly grade his game an A plus, but he is an improved senior.
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I should qualify what I wrote, he may drift more toward last years averages with more Big Ten games, but he may not, can't be certain yet. But I would be very surprised if his stats by the end of the year are worse then last year.
 


howeda7 said:
Talking about Mason starting, it probably should be at PG. He'll be the PG next year, so let him play at this point.
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I would bet against that if the two point guard recruits arrive. I think he slides to the 2 spot.
 

Frink said:
Mathieu is a small player with an attacking style so you have to live with the times when he penetrates and gets in trouble. In general he's been ended up on the positive side of the ledger. That said, his misfires today were astoundingly bad. I don't think it was a matter of the other players being out of position. It looked like he just was panicky misreading the play.

The dumb fouls are the other big deficiency. He is still doing some positive things out there (steals and getting to the rim) but that part is just unacceptable.
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Yes, on the whole, he's had a decent year, but today was his worst game of the year and maybe his worst game in his time with the program (the Arkansas game last year was pretty bad as I recall).
 

1000 mph is ok if the passes at the end are 6-9 feet in height, not 15-20 high.

And being available for a jumper set up by a swarmed teammate is also part of the job description.

PG is a tone setter; set a tone of toughness not tension!
 

Mathieu was terrible today, but lets not forget he played a very good game against tOSU. I think the zone gave him a lot of trouble and really limited his opportunities to score. The two turnovers during the meltdown were maddening. Mathieu's Senior year reminds me a lot of Vince Grier's right now in terms of a guy with a somewhat unique game that has obvious strengths and flaws struggling to be as dynamic as he was his first trip through the conference. That said, it's an absolute crime that Mathieu won't play with an athletic 4 or 5 during his tenure at the "U". If we had a Mbakwe type to throw lobs to or follow Mathieu's misses when gets to the rim, he'd be infinitely more effective. He's a race car playing with a bunch of sedans (some of the economy version).
 

macgopher said:
I should qualify what I wrote, he may drift more toward last years averages with more Big Ten games, but he may not, can't be certain yet. But I would be very surprised if his stats by the end of the year are worse then last year.
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His Big Ten stats through 4 games this year are significantly worse than his Big Ten numbers last year. Just 8 assists and 17 turnovers this year so far. I know he has time to get back on track but so far in the conference he has been bad.
 

Mathieu poor decision making. How many times can you leave your feet to make passes and throw them away.

Defenses know Mathieu is pass first when he gets in the lane and jumps defenses are playing the passing lane because they know he is not likely to shoot.

Last possession against Ohio St sums it up he wanted no part of it... 5.6 secs left the defense did not have time to set up so Ohio St is playing tight man to man....rest is history..

His dribble is so loose it seems this year in Big 10 play. He is stealing the ball from himself.
 


Matthieu shares the blame in all of this. He's not performed to the level we expect from him. With his stat line yesterday it's a miracle we were even in this game.

0 pts
5 to's
5 rebs
3 assts
2 stls
 

If we had the Matthieu of last year we would be in fine shape. He does have other responsibilities this year.
 

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