Comments about ‘Utah Jazz: Wesley Matthews upbeat about guarding Kobe Bryant’

Mathews will get better on Kobe the more he guards him. He is doing pretty well already. If the Jazz can keep both Mathews and CJ somewhat fresh that will help them on Kobe. Having AK to cover Artest for a few minutes may help.

I wonder if there is any chance Millsap could cover Artest (for a few minutes) with Booz at C and AK at PF? That might max the rebounding? Who subs for Artest? Can Millsap cover them?

Matthews has one thing going for him that Kobe doesn't: he is not ugly and doesn't have to wear an ugly yellow and purple uniform. Oh... I guess that is two things.

Samwise, you forgot those four championship rings.

J.R. Those were bought rings. If they didn't live in LA, they probably wouldn't have as many championships. If Kobe hadn't thrown a tantrum, to inwhich the ownership caved, you would have a different team. Lets not forget when he got drafted, and his agent was telling teams not to pick him. Hmm. Yeah, they won some championships, but only a couple have character, and are good examples, others are just chumps. I don't remember Kobe guarding the elite on a regular bases, until a few years later. Matthews is doing it as a Rookie, tuff job, inwhich he is doing pretty well. He happens to be guarding a player that is pretty good. In time, it will pay off, if they keep him.

Who is matthews?

FINANCENCO-
You are one of those Jazz fans that give the rest of us a bad name. Always coming up with excuses, always thinking the Jazz get the short end of the stick and never giving credit where credit is due. As much as I don't like him, Kobe is arguably one of the top 10 players of all-time. Wesley Matthews is great but just because he's guarding the elite on a regular basis doesn't warrant a comparison between him and Kobe.

More bush league whining from Jazz fans! I may be wrong but I thought pro sports is about paying for championships. You can hate all you want, but I support owners/front office people who are committed to championships. P.S. don't tell the Clippers they are entitled to win just because they are from L.A.........I guess they didn't get that memo.

Uncle Darryl and J.R.

Thanks for being rational, intelligent Jazz fans with bigger backbones than tear ducts...

Maybe if more of us speak up we can start to salvage the image of Jazz fans.

The difference between Kobe and any of the other great players I've seen, including Jordan, is that Kobe is the best maker of BAD shots that I have ever seen. Even if stopped, he can rise up and score anyway.

Kobe's numbers are all up, meaning either he is getting healthier (knee, ankle, finger), or Matthews and the Jazz aren't as effective at slowing him down as the Thunder were.

I love Matthews, he's a great story, but if Kobe wanted to, he could abuse the rookie like a rental car.

@Bugoff

I enjoyed your post too, but Millsap shouldn't cover Artest at all. Artest would drag Millsap to the perimeter and way from rebounds, and lure Millsap into silly fouls.

AK47 is best on Artest so he can leave him to help keep Kobe in check... and leave the Jazz's two best rebounders (Boozer and Millsap) near the room to grab up Kobe's bad shots.

This is a great learning experience for Matthews, I'm not sure if Kobe can abuse of him or any one else at this time, don't get me wrong he is a great player and I would put him in the top 10 al time as well.

I hope we can keep Matthews for next season, he will be great, for now if he keeps playing Kobe this hard and the we can throw AK on him to close the game, we have a chance!!

Uncle Darryl and J.R.

Thanks for being rational, intelligent Jazz fans with bigger backbones than tear ducts...

Maybe if more of us speak up we can start to salvage the image of Jazz fans.

The difference between Kobe and any of the other great players I've seen, including Jordan, is that Kobe is the best maker of BAD shots that I have ever seen. Even if stopped, he can rise up and score anyway.

Kobe's numbers are all up, meaning either he is getting healthier (knee, ankle, finger), or Matthews and the Jazz aren't as effective at slowing him down as the Thunder were.

I love Matthews, he's a great story, but if Kobe wanted to, he could abuse the rookie like a rental car.

@Bugoff

I enjoyed your post too, but Millsap shouldn't cover Artest at all. Artest would drag Millsap to the perimeter and way from rebounds, and lure Millsap into silly fouls.

AK47 is best on Artest so he can leave him to help keep Kobe in check... and leave the Jazz's two best rebounders (Boozer and Millsap) near the room to grab up Kobe's bad shots.

Kobe is one of the top 5 current players in the NBA. Beyond that it is mostly myth carefully developed by his PR people. Being a marketing type I understand PR campaigns.

Kobe is very good to great on offense. He can be very inefficient at times when his ego gets the best of him. He can be an excellent defender.

Mathews is playing him very well but not nearly as well has he will in a couple more years.

I tend to agree about Millsap and Artest. They are close in size but Artest can be very quick when he wants to be and he loves 3s.

3s are consistently one of the biggest weaknesses of this years Laker team. Last year they were a potent 3 team. This year they are better defenders but traded or lost their 3 shooters.

It sounds like Sloan is happy with Mathews/CJ and AK will play at PF or even C for the most part.

I suspect that Sloan will bring him back slowly unless he is really playing well.

J.R., I know the rings are things Kobe has. I was saying that Kobe is ugly and Matthews is not, so Matthews has not being ugly going for him. But I was kidding about Kobe being ugly, except when a call is made against him. The face Kobe makes when he has any call made against him is quite ugly. Matthews doesn't have that ugly face. I wasn't kidding about the Lakers' uniforms, though. They are ugly (but maybe I only think that because I hate the Lakers?)