Wes Matthews of the Lakers takes advantage of the night of discovery by adapting to the role of bank – Orange County Register

LeBron James said it best this fall: “What I learned as a Laker is that the Laker’s faithful don’t give a damn what you did before … until you become a Laker, you have to do it with them, too. ”

In that sense, the 1,663 3-point baskets Wesley Matthews made in his career mattered little to fans of his new team before the six he hit next Wednesday night. But Lakers fans should remember: The fact that Matthews scored up to 10 points in a game in his career is important to him. When the season began in free fall, the 34-year-old’s experience kept his confidence burning.

“I feel like I can get hot,” he said. “I feel like I have to do every shot I shoot, so I’m not going to say it’s unusual.”

It took five games and a 0-8 start, but Matthews finally managed to beat the San Antonio Spurs. The learning curve has been steep for everyone with a shortened preseason and, compared to his teammates who have already played good games, Matthews seemed to face the steepest, not finding his kick in the attack and looking slow in defense where he it was expected to be one of the safest parts.

But in his 18-point performance, Matthews showed a little more than the Lakers had expected when he signed him this offseason – and perhaps some things he did not do. Matthews was the hottest sniper on the ground at times on Wednesday night, including fake jumpers that passed through the net.

“We don’t care about Wes: we know what he has done throughout his career,” said coach Frank Vogel. “He is a knockdown sniper and a great defender. I’m really excited that he’s wearing a Lakers uniform and the kind of things he’s going to give us over the year. ”

What contributed to the slow start? Consider Matthews’ new role: In a career spanning 796 games, Matthews started 729 of them. In the past eight seasons, he has only been off the bench twice, and is now averaging eight minutes less per game than he did last season, while leaving the bench each game.

It is difficult to explain how important the start is for NBA players, especially those who started earlier, but that desire to start has already had a profound impact on the Lakers this season. Dennis Schröder expressed how he wanted to go “forward”, returning to the starting lineup after two seasons off the bench in Oklahoma City. Kyle Kuzma spoke earlier about how he would be a starter on most other teams in the league and, although the Lakers imagine him as a sixth player, he will also be elevated to starter whenever James or Anthony Davis lose games.

The balance of wings between Schröder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, as well as the desire to start a real pivot, took Matthews out of the role he had for most of his 12 NBA seasons. And as great as Matthews is, he acknowledged it was a difficult fit.

“It’s just a different way to get mentally excited, a different way to get involved in the game. And obviously this is a new group, a new style of play and just a strange season, just a strange off-season. Therefore, nothing was really capable of being any kind of normal resemblance. ”

What helped, said Matthews, is support. He received tips from Markieff Morris, a former NBA starter who made a comfortable transition to his bank position at the Lakers. While beginners get their energy from being on the court from the start, reserves need to self-generate the same level of intensity and focus, which can be tricky while watching from the bench.