Are we just going to ignore the play of Garrison Mathews?

Clutchfans would've traded him for Evan Mobley (or, in 1996, Jermaine O'Neal "the big man that the Lakers passed on for Kobe") at that very point in time

 

I realize this is the Jalen Green and Kobe thread and all but I just want to say this Gmat is a real Gem.

 

I live in DFW and don't have league pass so watching these game clips are fun. Mathews' 3 point attempts from last night:

https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?C...r Season&TeamID=&flag=3&sct=plot&section=game

1. Dude is still automatic from left corner 3
2. His body control was better this game than the previous games. No more turning/leaning into his 3 point shot when it's not from the left corner 3.

He might be this year's Duncan Robinson

 

Missed the first 2, 3rd one was blocked then hit 4 straight.

LOVE this guy.

DD

 

Patrick ,

Go out today and get a buzzcut, take a crap load of HGH, join a gym, get a bunch of tatts and then you can look exactly like your idol ...... Garrison mathews

Just do it patrick..I think itd be funny.

 

Don't forget the scruffy Neck beard.

DD

 

Can someone post the article?

DD

 

Bruises and pain were but petty obstacles to Garrison Mathews. Throughout his high school basketball career in Franklin, Tenn., Mathews, who also played football, was notorious for putting his body on the line to draw charges.

His sacrifices on the court were made sweeter knowing the reward math teacher Tracy Harmon would bring him the next day: an extra large Hershey's bar.

Harmon, who is in her 25th year of teaching at Franklin High School and an avid supporter of the school’s basketball teams, started the tradition of handing out candy for drawn charges more than a decade ago, before Mathews was even in high school. Any basketball player, regardless of whether they are in Harmon’s class — Mathews was not — is eligible to receive the chocolate, which Harmon asks her fellow math teachers to help distribute.

By Mathews’ senior season, he was taking three or four charges each game. Which meant lots of candy bars.

“I was fat in high school,” he said, smiling ear-to-ear. Harmon disputes that; from what she remembers, Mathews was the most popular student in his class because he shared his candy with others.

“Garrison was just fun to watch on the court because he’s incredibly athletic, for one, but he puts his heart and soul into playing,” Harmon said. “For me, a charge is one of the most selfless acts one can do for your team. You sacrifice your body for your team and at the same time stop the opponent from scoring and get the ball back. He was selfless on and off the court, and that’s what made him a good player but also a good friend.”

No chocolaty rewards are at stake in the NBA, where Mathews is playing his third professional season on a two-way contract and has proved a valuable 3-and-D addition for the Rockets. In the absence of injured rookie lottery pick Jalen Green, Mathews carved out a starting role and co-authored the Rockets’ triumphant turnaround from a 15-game losing streak to their current four-game winning streak.

Mathews is averaging 11.3 points per game on 47.5 percent shooting for Houston and ranks second in the NBA with 0.63 charges drawn per game. In three games as a starter, he is shooting 54.8 percent from the field, including 51.8 percent on 3-pointers, while averaging 17.7 points and 35.3 minutes per game.

Mathews played his first two NBA seasons for the Wizards and was in training camp with the Celtics before the Rockets claimed him off waivers. He began this season in the G League, where in two games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers he averaged 19.5 points but shot just 36 percent overall and 27 percent on 3-pointers.

On Nov. 14, the Rockets called up Mathews to fill rotation minutes as a result of Kevin Porter Jr.’s bruised thigh. A few weeks later, Green’s hamstring injury incurred during the Rockets’ Thanksgiving Eve win over the Bulls cleared a spot for Mathews in the starting five.

The situation in Houston is similar to what Mathews experienced during his freshman season of college at Lipscomb. When the Bison lost star player Josh Williams to an ACL injury, Mathews assumed a starting role and over the next three years became Lipscomb’s all-time NCAA Division I-era leading scorer and a fixture in the Atlantic Sun Conference record books.

Mathews approaches every challenge armed with the same understated confidence and toughness that helped him put his body on the line in high school games. The same go-getter attitude that allowed him to transform from a lightly recruited high school player into a mid-major star into an NBA player.

When opportunity knocks, Mathews grabs it and does not let go.

Maturation process

Mathews’ senior season of high school hoops began not even two weeks after football season wrapped, but rather than take a break to recover, Mathews was among a handful of two-sport athletes who chose to participate in an early-season basketball game.

On one play, Mathews went down after he got boxed out and took a particularly hard shot to the side. Franklin coach Jamie Wilson immediately pulled him from the game, though a furious Mathews was adamant he wanted to keep playing. Minutes later, Wilson’s assistant coach brought Mathews over and told him to pull up his shirt, revealing a hematoma that stretched from the top of his hip up to the bottom of his ribs and around his back — a football injury Mathews had purposely hidden.

“It was purple, it was yellow, it was gnarly,” Wilson recalled.

He immediately chastised Mathews, saying: “Had you told me, I would have never let you play!”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you,” Mathews responded calmly.

At Franklin, Mathews developed a reputation for being willing to do whatever it took on the court. He was the Rebels’ best player, a multilevel threat tasked with scoring in double figures and rebounding at a high level every night. If the team needed a clutch shot or a defensive stop against a guard on a late-game possession, Mathews was the guy.

“His energy is probably the best energy of any kid I’ve ever coached,” Wilson said, “as far as not quitting, going after loose balls, willing to put his body on the line and take those charges, do whatever is asked and say, ‘Yes, sir.’”

Still, most people at Franklin thought Mathews’ future was in football. A wide receiver and tight end, he generated far more college interest as a football player than as a basketball player. Wilson said Mathews had the best hands he’d seen on a receiver. Harmon, the math teacher, said football coaches grumbled that Mathews was making a mistake by choosing to play basketball in college.

The summer before his senior year, however, he fell deeply in love with basketball. Mathews returned from a whirlwind July tournament schedule on the AAU circuit certain he wanted to pursue hoops at the next level. That same summer, then-Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander saw Mathews play and was intrigued by the wiry kid with uncanny shot-making ability.

But when Alexander eventually got in touch with Mathews, the coach was frank: Lipscomb had made an offer to another player and was awaiting his decision. Mathews would have to wait six weeks to find out whether Lipscomb would offer him a scholarship.

The other player ended up spurning Lipscomb for another mid-major program. Mathews, who held just three other Division I offers and a Division II offer, committed to play for the Bison in Nashville, just 20 miles from home. And that other kid — is he in the NBA now?

“Heavens, no,” Alexander said.

At that point, nobody projected Mathews as a future NBA player, either. Alexander said Mathews got off to a “mediocre start” as a freshman until Williams’ season-ending injury in early December thrust him into the starting lineup. From that point until the end of the season, Mathews led the Bison in scoring in every game.

That summer, he worked with Lipscomb’s nutritionist and packed on muscle in the weight room. Mathews finished his college career as the ASUN’s all-time 3-point field goals leader, earning conference Player of the Year honors as a senior while leading the Bison to the 2019 NIT championship game, where they lost to Texas.

Mathews’ biggest obstacle to growth existed inside his own mind. Both Wilson and Alexander say Mathews was hard on himself to the point that a missed free throw in practice could send him over the edge. He wasn’t short on confidence but lacked the anger management skills necessary to feed it in a constructive manner.

“He had to learn to redistribute his anger and energy,” Wilson said. “He hated to lose at anything; it didn’t matter if it was a free-throw contest. He didn’t want to miss shots, make turnovers. This was even in practice. I’ll be honest: That was probably his biggest weakness when he was younger, and he’s turned that into his strength.”

Alexander added, “I’ll give him a lot of credit. He’s never been one to worry about comparison or worry about what others think of him, almost to a fault. Some people would say that makes him disengaged or aloof even, but I think that was more of a strength than a weakness. Opponents, I’m sure, felt like he was pretty cocky. He had an edge, and he played so fearlessly it was like, ‘Get out of my way.’”

Once Mathews learned to keep his frustration from boiling over, he matured into the player whose expression does not flinch when he hears his name announced in the Rockets’ starting lineup.

Flashes of fire emerge occasionally when he scowls after taking a charge or pumps his fist after draining a corner 3. For the most part, Mathews remains matter-of-fact, even quiet. His impact for the Rockets is anything but.

 

Look who’s starting

Mathews was intended to be a stopgap, a way for the Rockets to paper over an inconvenient hole. Just as he once did at Lipscomb, he proved to be much more.

In his two seasons in Washington, where he signed a two-way contract after going undrafted out of college, Mathews established himself as a sharpshooter but was given limited opportunities to do much else. The Wizards deployed him as a catch-and-shoot weapon whose chief objective was to space the floor for primary scorers Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook. Mathews shot 41.3 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from deep in his two years as a Wizard, but despite starting 24 games in 2020-21 averaged only 15.4 minutes and 5.5 points on 3.6 field goal attempts per game in Washington.

In Houston this season, Mathews’ shot attempts have more than doubled to 7.6 per game. A 6-foot-5, 215-pound wing player, he has proved not just a 3-point marksman but also a capable driver and physical defender.

He elevates over defenders with his lightning-quick release, uncorks 3-pointers like champagne, sparks runs with falling shots, and stops runs by falling down.

“He is a lot more of a complete player with Houston, which is fun to see,” Alexander said. “He’s a lot more involved in the offense. He has learned what being ready on the defensive end can mean and the level of toughness required. … He can do the hard stuff. He’s anything but a prima donna. He didn’t have to be that type of player in college, but he knows it’s one way he can make his mark in the NBA.”

Mathews’ insertion into the Rockets’ starting five coincided with coach Stephen Silas’ decision to play smaller lineups against a bevy of similarly constructed teams. Mathews and his shooting are a suitable counterbalance to give center Christian Wood the space he needs to operate in the post. It certainly helps that the Rockets like to shoot a lot of 3-pointers, making Mathews a great fit. Everything else Mathews brings to the table, defense included, is an added bonus.

“His energy and effort he has been playing with, I’m happy for him,” Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate said. “A guy that comes onto a team a couple of weeks ago and finds his role and is succeeding in it.”

Mathews admitted he didn’t know what to expect when he arrived in Houston, though he was hopeful the team’s style of play would cater to his skills. (It has.) He shot 6 of 19 on 3-pointers in his first four games with the Rockets but in the four games since shot 16 of 31.

“I’m thankful it happened so quick,” Mathews said. “I know in the NBA it takes a lot to get a coach’s trust. When I was in D.C. for two years, I went through spells where I struggled for minutes. It takes a lot to gain a coach’s trust, and to be able to get it so soon, hopefully I’ll be able to continue to play well and continue to keep that trust.”

Two days after Mathews scored 12 points off the bench to help the Rockets snap their losing streak against the Bulls, he mistakenly referred to teammate Kevin Porter Jr. as Michael Porter Jr., the Denver Nuggets forward. Mathews sheepishly apologized, but the incident underscored how new he really was to playing with the Rockets. The following day, he earned his first start and scored a season-high 20 points in a 146-143 win over the Hornets.

“I know I had a rocky start when I first got here, the first four or five games,” Mathews said after scoring 19 points for the Rockets in a Nov. 29 win over the Thunder. “So them just accepting me and accepting the way I play and being able to build a little bit of chemistry, it’s meant a lot to me, and it’s helped for sure.”

In that same game, Mathews stepped into the path of a Thunder player and was knocked flat on his back, but the referee did not blow the whistle. Mathews bounced up and attempted to take another charge on the same possession. Still no whistle.

“I thought he got the first charge, and he didn’t, and he tried again, which is him,” Silas said, shaking his head in amusement. “I think this might be the first game he hasn’t gotten a charge. So he is tough, super tough, and not afraid to stick his nose in there, and everybody recognizes it. He has a big-time skill that we need.”

Back in Tennessee, Harmon watches Mathews and observes the same tenacity she first noticed at Franklin High a decade ago. He is bigger and stronger now, definitely, but still plays with the kind of heart and soul that, in the right town in the right gym, is worth its weight in chocolate.

 

He's quickly becoming my co-favorite alongside Tate. They make up part of the all-heart team.

 

Ok, WOW - We so needed a leader a guy who you can rally behind a guy who HATES TO LOSE......

Mathews and Tate - STEP UP YOUNG MEN - you are needed.

DD

 

Why hasn't he gotten a contract yet? Sign him now. He can be a cheaper version of Duncan Robinson with more to offer. DC went for almost $20 mil a year.

 

Kobe was 17 when he was drafted. JG was 19.

 

sounds like a tough-minded kid! I like!

 

A black Shane Battier. I like it!

 

It's a bit premature considering Gordon's played 529 minutes to Mathews' 204 minutes this year, but looking at their defensive numbers:

dRTG:
Gordon: 113
Mathews: 114

DBPM:
Gordon: -2.0
Mathews: -1.5

Box Score RAPTOR via fivethirtyeight.com
Gordon: -3.0
Mathews: +4.7

On/Off RAPTOR via fivethirtyeight.com
Gordon: +.6
Mathews: -.1

But...could GMat be a potential candidate to slide into the SF starting role when Green comes back? Just trying to debate/discuss and not say I'm advocating this just yet Mathews is taller than Gordon (6'5" vs 6'3") but both are listed at the same weight (215).

 

Well that is incredibly young. JG sort of acts 17, if that counts.

 

Mathews intangibles are off the charts.

Not just putting up great stats, but he plays with an edge.

Mathews is averaging 11.3 points per game on 47.5 percent shooting for Houston and ranks second in the NBA with 0.63 charges drawn per game. In three games as a starter, he is shooting 54.8 percent from the field, including 51.8 percent on 3-pointers, while averaging 17.7 points and 35.3 minutes per game.

Just hope CF cuts him slack should he have a clunker or three.

 

As long as he finds a way to get a left corner 3 off 3-4 times a game I won't be mad.