I want to start of by saying that I think that Jordan Mathews will be a good college player...but last night's performance brought memories of Brandon Smith:

Here is his line: 18mins, 1-7 shooting, 0 rebs, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blks...4 fouls.

It's his first Pac-12 game, and i'm sure this won't happen again...

The best thing about freshman is that they become sophomores

sheki;842254754 said:

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I want to start of by saying that I think that Jordan Mathews will be a good college player...but last night's performance brought memories of Brandon Smith:

Here is his line: 18mins, 1-7 shooting, 0 rebs, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blks...4 fouls.

It's his first Pac-12 game, and i'm sure this won't happen again...

The best thing about freshman is that they become sophomores

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Ya he's still figuring out his game. That was a nice cut for his one bucket though.

Tunnel vision on drives. Sometimes laying it off to a vig is the correct play.

He will be a very good player for Cal by his Junior and Senior year.

Don't like this thread. Why do you have to start a new thread calling out not only Matthews but also Brandon Smith, a great Bear who gave everything he had and actually helped us win a few games and thereby make postseason play while he was here?

Whatever, we won the damn game against the hated farm boys!

He was frustrated, but kept fighting. Every player has these games. It is how you keep pushing that makes the greats greater than the not so greats.

A) Mathews is a VERY talented player.
B) He is a freshman. Freshmen make mistakes
C) If you watched the game you know JUST how hard he was on himself about his struggles.
D) Brandon Smith's challenges speak a LOT more to the failures in recruiting during the early MM era than about a walk on's ability to play at an elite Pac-12 level.

CALiforniALUM;842254795 said:

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He was frustrated, but kept fighting. Every player has these games. It is how you keep pushing that makes the greats greater than the not so greats.

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yes, i like JM's heart -- i predict he will listen to his coach and help us wins games this year

I didn't like his attitude. Pouting on the bench and blaming teammates when he couldn't handle a pass. Him and jabari need to be a little more even keeled.

concernedparent;842254830 said:

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I didn't like his attitude. Pouting on the bench and blaming teammates when he couldn't handle a pass. Him and jabari need to be a little more even keeled.

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They're 18 years old. I don't know many even keeled 18 year olds. Come on, you are a concernedparent. Or you are concernedparent.

socaltownie;842254805 said:

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A) Mathews is a VERY talented player.
B) He is a freshman. Freshmen make mistakes
C) If you watched the game you know JUST how hard he was on himself about his struggles.
D) Brandon Smith's challenges speak a LOT more to the failures in recruiting during the early MM era than about a walk on's ability to play at an elite Pac-12 level.

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This.

Mathews will improve just as Solo and Kravish were able to after their first year.

He just had a bad day, more than anything. He was feeling the pressure. One of the things I like about him is that he is gutsy and aggressive for a freshman, so you hate to see him take it so hard. I bet if he had made his first 3 he would have had a better performance. That is bs about him having a bad attitude, IMO.

Bearprof;842254871 said:

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He just had a bad day, more than anything. He was feeling the pressure. One of the things I like about him is that he is gutsy and aggressive for a freshman, so you hate to see him take it so hard. I bet if he had made his first 3 he would have had a better performance. That is bs about him having a bad attitude, IMO.

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+1

there is a lot I like about Jordan:

His good shooting
His fearless warrior attitude
His quick first step
His always on motor

Once he reins all those good things in, figures out what he can and can not do at this level, and gains some confidence, then he will be a very good player for us

I have a hard time being critical of any of our freshman . I prefer to sit back and let the coaches figure out hiow to show them the light at the end of the tunnel. Remember we are not there at practices. its a long season with a lot of ups and downs fot these kids...

Agree with many of you. There are frustrating things about his play but he doesn't play like a freshman. He seems determined and plays hard. He made a lot of mistakes but doesn't look lost out there like most freshman. Eventually he will become more consistent and even bigger contributor than he is now. When was the last time we had two freshmen that could go off and give you 20+ on any given night. Really happy Jordan is a Golden Bear.

He had a bad game, but I love his confidence and attitude. He'll be fine (and the Bears won).

Monty was pretty pissed off at him after the elbow foul and furd took the lead. He walked towards him and yelled something at him towards the end of the bench. Monty has also stated that he is mentally tough and can take the tough love. It was a rough night. He'll bounce back. I bet right after the game an assistant coach started building him back up. They'll need him on the oregon trip.

89Bear;842254939 said:

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Monty was pretty pissed off at him after the elbow foul and furd took the lead. He walked towards him and yelled something at him towards the end of the bench. Monty has also stated that he is mentally tough and can take the tough love. It was a rough night. He'll bounce back. I bet right after the game an assistant coach started building him back up. They'll need him on the oregon trip.

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He is a coach's son. Anything that Monty said probably was mild compared to dad's phone call. He will go off on the Oregon trip. Bank it.

+1. His dad's USF teams had "WE PLAY HARD" on the backs of their warm-up jerseys -- and it was the truth. Phil probably had a few choice things to say to Jordan after the game.

Tough game for Jordan, and I am glad his poor play didn't result in a loss for the team. His body language was poor, but he was just getting down on himself (something Solo has suffered from through the years). Jordan will get the ship righted. I look forward to his sharp shooting as the season progresses.

He is used to taking coaching criticism, given that his dad is the former head coach at USF. IIRC, Coach Mathews was a little of a hard azz...
:gobears:

KoreAmBear;842254839 said:

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They're 18 years old. I don't know many even keeled 18 year olds. Come on, you are a concernedparent. Or you are concernedparent.

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There are different ways to get frustrated, and that attitude regarding that pass was bad enough that the color guy called him on it. I expect it won't continue.

He tries too hard right now, and gets out of control. Good on spot up shooting, not so hot on driving the ball and making decisions. But he has talent and he'll learn.

I'm betting he's a much improved player the second time around in conference.

Bearprof;842254871 said:

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He just had a bad day, more than anything. He was feeling the pressure. One of the things I like about him is that he is gutsy and aggressive for a freshman, so you hate to see him take it so hard. I bet if he had made his first 3 he would have had a better performance. That is bs about him having a bad attitude, IMO.

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+1

I thought he had some tough calls go against him. He had some good shots that didn't fall. One of those nights.

Looperbear is right.

MSaviolives;842255000 said:

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Tough game for Jordan, and I am glad his poor play didn't result in a loss for the team. His body language was poor, but he was just getting down on himself (something Solo has suffered from through the years). Jordan will get the ship righted. I look forward to his sharp shooting as the season progresses.

He is used to taking coaching criticism, given that his dad is the former head coach at USF. IIRC, Coach Mathews was a little of a hard azz...
:gobears:

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Any criticism he gets, he'll use to get better. His dad is one of the more celebrated JC coaches in the state, now at Riverside JC. I'm surprised he wasn't more successful at USF.

If you truly believe this: "... I think that Jordan Mathews will be a good college player...", why get into this: "...but last night's performance brought memories of Brandon Smith: Here is his line: 18mins, 1-7 shooting, 0 rebs, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blks...4 fouls."?

59bear;842255119 said:

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If you truly believe this: "... I think that Jordan Mathews will be a good college player...", why get into this: "...but last night's performance brought memories of Brandon Smith: Here is his line: 18mins, 1-7 shooting, 0 rebs, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blks...4 fouls."?

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No, memories of Gary Franklin. Under-sized 2, not a great athlete, just a shooter, bad form on his shot, and the shots don't go in. I was at the game last night, and the shots missed in all directions. A good shooter when they are off should be off in a consistent manner. Shooting 32% on the year and 27% from 3. No longer a small sample size. Bird and Kreklow cannot return soon enough.

Now three years later Franklin has improved, and I would like to think Mathews will as well, but there is no reason to think he will get better right now as the competition is getting more difficult.

Sluggo

89Bear;842254939 said:

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Monty was pretty pissed off at him after the elbow foul and furd took the lead. He walked towards him and yelled something at him towards the end of the bench. Monty has also stated that he is mentally tough and can take the tough love. It was a rough night. He'll bounce back. I bet right after the game an assistant coach started building him back up. They'll need him on the oregon trip.

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+1

I think he'll be a fine player. He's already done some very good things. But I did not like and did not understand that elbow. He did it out of frustration I guess. I'm sure he'll learn not to act out like that again, that it can be extremely costly to yourself and your team. I thought at the time, what a terrible way to lose. Thank goodness Cobbs and company bailed him out.

sluggo_Cal;842255145 said:

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No, memories of Gary Franklin. Under-sized 2, not a great athlete, just a shooter, bad form on his shot, and the shots don't go in. I was at the game last night, and the shots missed in all directions. A good shooter when they are off should be off in a consistent manner. Shooting 32% on the year and 27% from 3. No longer a small sample size. Bird and Kreklow cannot return soon enough.

Now three years later Franklin has improved, and I would like to think Mathews will as well, but there is no reason to think he will get better right now as the competition is getting more difficult.

Sluggo

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For crying out loud, he's a freshman who had a bad game.

I was at the game sitting behind the Cal bench.

- First, Bird and Kreklow's injuries but Jordan and the Cal team in a tough spot having to start him on the road in his first Pac 12 tilt
- He was struggling to keep his poise and confidence. He had his head buried in his hands on the bench and his body language on the court spoke of frustration and a lack of confidence. Perhaps it was a teaching moment for Monty but I was really surprised he played Jordan as much as he did in the 2nd half. He was mentally and emotionally toasted which led to his almost game killing foul

Long term, Jordan will be fine. I suspect his mental make up is such that he will bounce back quickly.

That foul on Powell could have lost the game and was totally unnecessary.
Not to mention it was his responsibility to guard the shooter who made a wide open three at a critical juncture. Fine. But the foul was a real dumb move and then he complained like somehow it wasn't a foul. It was a flagrant. No question. Obviously intentional. Lucky they didn't give him a 2.
Guys can have bad nights but this was beyond that.
Monty knows what he is doing but I am nervous with that guy on the court. Don't see the upside.

Watching the game again. Right after this, when Cal went down by two, Justin Cobbs just took over the game. Went coast to coast for a basket plus one.
Jarron Collins of course said how Cobbs drive was an "excellent opportunity for Aaron Brown to get a charge" but he didn't stop the ball (handler). Boy, talk about viewing the game from the Stanford point of view! It was a fantastic play by Justin. Aaron Brown and the other Stanford defenders were caught flat footed.
On the subsequent Stanford possession, Cobbs knocked the ball away and initiated a fast break that basically said "We are going to win this game." Really impressive.

Wow. That is harsh. I am sure 18 year old you was perfect and never made any mistakes. I know I never f'ed anything up at 18.

#blamelessandcastingthatstone

Jordan reminds me a bit of Gary Franklin. When the ball is in his hands, I anticipate that he'll shot it more often than pass it. But, unlike Franklin, he has plenty of sense and a support group that will keep him grounded. He brings to the team a scoring mentality that's needed when the offense gets stagnant.

I haven't watched multiple replays of the flagrant foul, but my initial view was that he knew he was late getting out to the shooter, started raising his left arm to contest the shot while jumping out, but ran into Powell while he was lowering his arm, hitting him in the chin and neck with his elbow. Nothing intentional, but clearly within the definition of a flagrant 1.

He will continue to make positive contributions while having some freshman moments.