Just came home from watching St. Rita's visit Providence Catholic in New Lenox, Illinois. Charles Matthews is as good as his ranking from last season, when he was a top 20 player. There's no way in hell there are 44 players better than him throughout the country. Here are some of the highlights from team's 63-43 win.
- Really improved shooting form. During shoot-around he was taking threes from 24-25 feet out, and making a good deal of them. Although he wasn't hitting them during the game (0-3 from three), his release point is solid and his form is actually better than Aaron Harrison's in my opinion. He gets off the ground for great elevation.
- Loves to go to his left, even though he's right handed. He can shoot layups with either hand, but he seemed to prefer going to his left as he almost exclusively attacked the left side of the court in the first half.
- Moves well without the ball. Providence threw a junk zone at St. Rita, begging Matthews to keep chucking the three (he was 0-2 in the first quarter but only took one three the rest of the way). Matthews didn't take the bait, instead moving on the baseline and catching two baseline passes that he finished with ease. Matthews was also doing a great job reading the zone coverage and flashing middle when he was off the ball. Once he caught the ball at the top of the key, he looked to attack or pull up. He buried four mid range jumpers, including one in Notre Dame football commit Miles Boykin's face. Matthews midrange jump shot is polished and will be utilized over the next few season's in Lexington because he gets it by starting off with a legitimate drive attack, wherein he breaks midway and pulls up. It was smooth. For a kid who was knocked last season for his limitations on the midrange pull-up, it appeared to me that Charles has drastically improved.
- Incredibly active defensively. He blocked a shot to end the first half that seemed to be off his elbow. He deflected four passes, and has three steals. He doesn't hound the ball relentlessly ala Liggins, but Rita alternated a zone and man-to-man, and when in man coverage, Matthews played off the ball, and completely locked up his man. When Matthews turned it on, his long arms made life miserable for Providence all night. If Cal wants to sick him on the opponents, Matthews has the ability to be a elite lock down defender. I think he would play for the current team at times because his defense is better than Booker's and Harrison's and he's not an offensive liability like Hawkins.
- Much better athlete than advertised. Matthews was everywhere. He stole one pass, went the length of the court, split the defense and dunked it as the defense was attempting to regroup. He also blocked two shots, one of which was on a double jump wherein he knocked the ball toward midcourt the start a fast break. He tracked one loose ball down to the corner where he went flying above the out of bounds line only to throw the ball back to a teammate to maintain the possession.
- He looks stronger than Liggins with the same type of length in terms of apparent wingspan. He's every bit of 6'6", as I ended up congratulating him after the game and saw how tall he is up close. He played through contact all night, and had a chip on his shoulder (the right kind). He's also smart. Although he had 3 turnovers, he didn't force the action in the second half when Providence went with a trapping zone and begged Matthews to pass it or shoot it. Matthews started the game 0-5 from the field, but ended up shooting 7-14 from the field, all but ending his three point shooting when it was clear he was not hitting. He had two and-ones, four midrange jumpers, and an incredible half-court bounce pass to a streaking teammate for the layup. Simply put, Matthews took over the second and third quarters and took the Providence crowd completely out of the game.
I kept track of Matthews' stats on my phone:
7-14 from the field (including 0-3 from three point range)
7-11 from the free throw line
3 steals
2 blocks
4 rebounds
2 assists
4 deflections
This post was edited on 1/23 6:39 PM by Son_Of_Saul
- Really improved shooting form. During shoot-around he was taking threes from 24-25 feet out, and making a good deal of them. Although he wasn't hitting them during the game (0-3 from three), his release point is solid and his form is actually better than Aaron Harrison's in my opinion. He gets off the ground for great elevation.
- Loves to go to his left, even though he's right handed. He can shoot layups with either hand, but he seemed to prefer going to his left as he almost exclusively attacked the left side of the court in the first half.
- Moves well without the ball. Providence threw a junk zone at St. Rita, begging Matthews to keep chucking the three (he was 0-2 in the first quarter but only took one three the rest of the way). Matthews didn't take the bait, instead moving on the baseline and catching two baseline passes that he finished with ease. Matthews was also doing a great job reading the zone coverage and flashing middle when he was off the ball. Once he caught the ball at the top of the key, he looked to attack or pull up. He buried four mid range jumpers, including one in Notre Dame football commit Miles Boykin's face. Matthews midrange jump shot is polished and will be utilized over the next few season's in Lexington because he gets it by starting off with a legitimate drive attack, wherein he breaks midway and pulls up. It was smooth. For a kid who was knocked last season for his limitations on the midrange pull-up, it appeared to me that Charles has drastically improved.
- Incredibly active defensively. He blocked a shot to end the first half that seemed to be off his elbow. He deflected four passes, and has three steals. He doesn't hound the ball relentlessly ala Liggins, but Rita alternated a zone and man-to-man, and when in man coverage, Matthews played off the ball, and completely locked up his man. When Matthews turned it on, his long arms made life miserable for Providence all night. If Cal wants to sick him on the opponents, Matthews has the ability to be a elite lock down defender. I think he would play for the current team at times because his defense is better than Booker's and Harrison's and he's not an offensive liability like Hawkins.
- Much better athlete than advertised. Matthews was everywhere. He stole one pass, went the length of the court, split the defense and dunked it as the defense was attempting to regroup. He also blocked two shots, one of which was on a double jump wherein he knocked the ball toward midcourt the start a fast break. He tracked one loose ball down to the corner where he went flying above the out of bounds line only to throw the ball back to a teammate to maintain the possession.
- He looks stronger than Liggins with the same type of length in terms of apparent wingspan. He's every bit of 6'6", as I ended up congratulating him after the game and saw how tall he is up close. He played through contact all night, and had a chip on his shoulder (the right kind). He's also smart. Although he had 3 turnovers, he didn't force the action in the second half when Providence went with a trapping zone and begged Matthews to pass it or shoot it. Matthews started the game 0-5 from the field, but ended up shooting 7-14 from the field, all but ending his three point shooting when it was clear he was not hitting. He had two and-ones, four midrange jumpers, and an incredible half-court bounce pass to a streaking teammate for the layup. Simply put, Matthews took over the second and third quarters and took the Providence crowd completely out of the game.
I kept track of Matthews' stats on my phone:
7-14 from the field (including 0-3 from three point range)
7-11 from the free throw line
3 steals
2 blocks
4 rebounds
2 assists
4 deflections
This post was edited on 1/23 6:39 PM by Son_Of_Saul
