Each week the fans at RipCityTwo.com, home of the official message board of the Portland Trail Blazers, submit questions for players past and present to answer. Kicking things off is none other than Portland's Iron Man, Wesley Matthews.
Your addition of a post game has been a delightful surprise from last season, what do you plan on adding to your arsenal next year?
Huh, haven't decided yet. I haven't assessed the end of the year. I'll get back and watch a little bit of film in my downtime immediately after the season and then pick apart where I can best attack defenses next year.
Of the 3rd string bench players, which guy would you say is better than fans think even though he's not playing much?
I would say Vic. Vic has a lot of stuff to his game. He's 6-9, 6-10, strong, athletic, can shoot it better than he's shown. He just knows the game of basketball.
Who is the best card player on the team? (Poker or Bourre)
Me, that's simple. The numbers back that up at the moment …
Have you noticed a big change in the physical training philosophy under the new leadership?
Yeah, a lot of our philosophy now is preventative stuff, making sure that we are always healthy in our minds and in our bodies, everything in one. Our sleep, going into more in-depth details about us as people.
Do you think you'll ever coach at some level of basketball: high school, NCAA, or NBA?
Absolutely not. You know, I'll only coach under two conditions. First, that I coach my high school team or I'm coaching for Earl (Watson, who is sitting within earshot). Under Earl, that's it. That's the only way I'll coach basketball: head coach for my high school team or coaching under Earl Watson. Too many knuckleheads.
Who wins between you and Batum 1 on 1?
Me. Because I'm better than him. He doesn't want to see me one-on-one. This ain't no European thing. You know how me and Earl get down. We don't play. No foul calls, all that. You're going to have to earn every bucket.
Portland is dead last in the entire league in steals per game. Yet you, Batum and Lopez are all widely regarded as good defenders, and Aldridge was DPOY in his conference in college. Does Portland need to change that? How? Do you think steals per game is an important statistic?
I think it's an important stat only if that's the only way you can play defense. If you can't defend without stealing the ball, then it's not very good. We would like to get more steals, but at the same time, we're more in the business of forcing tough shots and defensive rebounding the ball, making them take the shots that we want them to take and not putting ourselves out of position trying to get steals. A couple years ago the Packers were No. 1 in the NFL in takeaways but their defense was terrible. So if you're not taking the ball away, they're scoring. I'm not a Packer fan. Make sure you add that I'm not a Packer fan.
Have you become one of the first calls a player makes when he goes undrafted and what advice do you give them?
My advice never changes, whether you're drafted or not drafted: you've got to be hungry. Every year, 60 guys get drafted. Every year, roughly 45 make a team, so every year you're fighting for your life. That's just how I approach it, that's how I continue to, that's how I'm always going to and that's how I approach everything, because everything is a blessing. I tweet out "Another day, another blessing" and it's true because you don't know what's next.