Matas Progress Tracker

[Infinity2152]

In Billy's opinion, Matas is just not better than the guys playing in front of him. They're all far more experienced and Billy sees these guys match up regularly in practice. In reality, most of the Bulls are better than Matas is at this point. Don't know what the rush is to get him in so fast right now is anyway. He does not have an NBA body yet and is still developing. If he was the 20th pick we would be content letting him develop and get stronger. usually in here, everybody is saying guys should earn their time, not be gifted minutes. One of the biggest complaints about Pat Will. An extra 5 minutes a game is not going to add up to a ton more actual experience, he plays against NBA players every practice. Would expect to see his minutes increase further into the season, but personally think there's a much higher injury risk if he plays more minutes now than once he gets into NBA shape. We have the rare opportunity to actually build and develop a guy, rather than throwing him straight into the fire against Giannis. Pat started damn near every game, help his development much? Actual game time is the smallest part of their development. Way more likely he gets better with an extra couple hours in the gym each week, working on skills, than getting an extra 5-10 minutes a game, at least right now.

[DASMACKDOWN]

In Billy's opinion, Matas is just not better than the guys playing in front of him. They're all far more experienced and Billy sees these guys match up regularly in practice. In reality, most of the Bulls are better than Matas is at this point. Don't know what the rush is to get him in so fast right now is anyway. He does not have an NBA body yet and is still developing. If he was the 20th pick we would be content letting him develop and get stronger. usually in here, everybody is saying guys should earn their time, not be gifted minutes. One of the biggest complaints about Pat Will. An extra 5 minutes a game is not going to add up to a ton more actual experience, he plays against NBA players every practice. Would expect to see his minutes increase further into the season, but personally think there's a much higher injury risk if he plays more minutes now than once he gets into NBA shape. We have the rare opportunity to actually build and develop a guy, rather than throwing him straight into the fire against Giannis. Pat started damn near every game, help his development much? Actual game time is the smallest part of their development. Way more likely he gets better with an extra couple hours in the gym each week, working on skills, than getting an extra 5-10 minutes a game, at least right now.

The counter argument is, are you saying Billy Donovan is smarter than all the other coaches out there? As I have stated, 24 other rookies are playing more than Matas.

For instance look at Tidjane Salaün for the Hornets. Same type scenario pn a team with the same record as us.

They have Grant Williams, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Cody Martin and yet they still find 16 mins a game for him.

So it sounds ridiculous to think Matas cant get minutes with our mid frontcourt.

[GoBlue72391]

In Billy's opinion, Matas is just not better than the guys playing in front of him. They're all far more experienced and Billy sees these guys match up regularly in practice. In reality, most of the Bulls are better than Matas is at this point. Don't know what the rush is to get him in so fast right now is anyway. He does not have an NBA body yet and is still developing. If he was the 20th pick we would be content letting him develop and get stronger. usually in here, everybody is saying guys should earn their time, not be gifted minutes. One of the biggest complaints about Pat Will. An extra 5 minutes a game is not going to add up to a ton more actual experience, he plays against NBA players every practice. Would expect to see his minutes increase further into the season, but personally think there's a much higher injury risk if he plays more minutes now than once he gets into NBA shape. We have the rare opportunity to actually build and develop a guy, rather than throwing him straight into the fire against Giannis. Pat started damn near every game, help his development much? Actual game time is the smallest part of their development. Way more likely he gets better with an extra couple hours in the gym each week, working on skills, than getting an extra 5-10 minutes a game, at least right now.

Player development isn't a one size fits all thing, it varies from player to player. Gifting a starting spot and 25 MPG to Pat right off the bat didn't help him meet expectations, but it definitely helped his development more than not playing at all like Matas basically is doing right now.

There's a big difference between gifting a rookie a starting spot/25 MPG compared to 12-15 developmental minutes off the bench and increasing that when other players get hurt like Pat and Craig are.

When you're a non-playoff caliber team, you don't draft a project player and then not play him. That's idiotic. It's not like he's playing some super complicated position like QB and needs to sit and learn for two years behind a vet.

Practice and G league can only do so much. Players develop by playing.

[Infinity2152]

Yeah, I just don't see Matas playing this few minutes all season. Most of these draftees are young enough to still be in college. I guess you could nitpick and say giving Matas 5 more minutes a game the first 20 games of the season is a big deal, but he's not the only young player we're evaluating. We have two older players (Zach and Vucevic) who play a ton of minutes and could be gone at any time. Lot of minutes will free up then. He's at the start of a 4 year rookie contract and we're showcasing two vets, evaluating Terry, Phillips and Giddey. Add Smith, another new young player. Matas minutes will rise. Pat gets injured, he might get to 20+.

If I'm not mistaken, he got in 14 out of 15 games, so we're really just talking about number of minutes. Everybody's opinion is different, but I think there's value in earning your minutes in practice. If he's the player we want him to be, he should beat out 6'5" Torrey Craig and whoever else plays backup PF (Phillips?). If he can't do that, what's the rush?

Tell you what, I bet when he does start getting real minutes, he'll appreciate them more. I know other coaches are playing rookies more, but just me personally, I don't think it will hurt him to slowly ramp his minutes up. Believe me, I want Matas to be great too.

[sco]

Yeah, I just don't see Matas playing this few minutes all season. Most of these draftees are young enough to still be in college. I guess you could nitpick and say giving Matas 5 more minutes a game the first 20 games of the season is a big deal, but he's not the only young player we're evaluating. We have two older players (Zach and Vucevic) who play a ton of minutes and could be gone at any time. Lot of minutes will free up then. He's at the start of a 4 year rookie contract and we're showcasing two vets, evaluating Terry, Phillips and Giddey. Add Smith, another new young player. Matas minutes will rise. Pat gets injured, he might get to 20+.

If I'm not mistaken, he got in 14 out of 15 games, so we're really just talking about number of minutes. Everybody's opinion is different, but I think there's value in earning your minutes in practice. If he's the player we want him to be, he should beat out 6'5" Torrey Craig and whoever else plays backup PF (Phillips?). If he can't do that, what's the rush?

Tell you what, I bet when he does start getting real minutes, he'll appreciate them more. I know other coaches are playing rookies more, but just me personally, I don't think it will hurt him to slowly ramp his minutes up. Believe me, I want Matas to be great too.

There's also the rookie wall issue. Most rookies aren't in the necessary physical shape to handle anywhere near 82 games anyway. Maybe it's smart to use the early season as a way to motivate without really impacting his develop over the course of a season that most rooks can't handle anyway.

[Infinity2152]

Yeah, I just don't see Matas playing this few minutes all season. Most of these draftees are young enough to still be in college. I guess you could nitpick and say giving Matas 5 more minutes a game the first 20 games of the season is a big deal, but he's not the only young player we're evaluating. We have two older players (Zach and Vucevic) who play a ton of minutes and could be gone at any time. Lot of minutes will free up then. He's at the start of a 4 year rookie contract and we're showcasing two vets, evaluating Terry, Phillips and Giddey. Add Smith, another new young player. Matas minutes will rise. Pat gets injured, he might get to 20+.

If I'm not mistaken, he got in 14 out of 15 games, so we're really just talking about number of minutes. Everybody's opinion is different, but I think there's value in earning your minutes in practice. If he's the player we want him to be, he should beat out 6'5" Torrey Craig and whoever else plays backup PF (Phillips?). If he can't do that, what's the rush?

Tell you what, I bet when he does start getting real minutes, he'll appreciate them more. I know other coaches are playing rookies more, but just me personally, I don't think it will hurt him to slowly ramp his minutes up. Believe me, I want Matas to be great too.

There's also the rookie wall issue. Most rookies aren't in the necessary physical shape to handle anywhere near 82 games anyway. Maybe it's smart to use the early season as a way to motivate without really impacting his develop over the course of a season that most rooks can't handle anyway.

This right here. This is not an important season for us to win. We don't need Matas to be a productive player this year, would be nice, but not needed. Phillips and Terry are both young players, right? They've hardly gotten any minutes over their tenure and nobody's complaining. Terry has actually become a helluva defender, think he's #2 in the league behind Caruso in opponents points when he's on defense. Phillips shows some skills and potential, but time's running out to evaluate those two first round picks. Would much rather Matas have a strong second half of the season than the first half because he hit a wall.

[Muzbar]

Yeah, I just don't see Matas playing this few minutes all season. Most of these draftees are young enough to still be in college. I guess you could nitpick and say giving Matas 5 more minutes a game the first 20 games of the season is a big deal, but he's not the only young player we're evaluating. We have two older players (Zach and Vucevic) who play a ton of minutes and could be gone at any time. Lot of minutes will free up then. He's at the start of a 4 year rookie contract and we're showcasing two vets, evaluating Terry, Phillips and Giddey. Add Smith, another new young player. Matas minutes will rise. Pat gets injured, he might get to 20+.

If I'm not mistaken, he got in 14 out of 15 games, so we're really just talking about number of minutes. Everybody's opinion is different, but I think there's value in earning your minutes in practice. If he's the player we want him to be, he should beat out 6'5" Torrey Craig and whoever else plays backup PF (Phillips?). If he can't do that, what's the rush?

Tell you what, I bet when he does start getting real minutes, he'll appreciate them more. I know other coaches are playing rookies more, but just me personally, I don't think it will hurt him to slowly ramp his minutes up. Believe me, I want Matas to be great too.

There's also the rookie wall issue. Most rookies aren't in the necessary physical shape to handle anywhere near 82 games anyway. Maybe it's smart to use the early season as a way to motivate without really impacting his develop over the course of a season that most rooks can't handle anyway.

This right here. This is not an important season for us to win. We don't need Matas to be a productive player this year, would be nice, but not needed. Phillips and Terry are both first round picks, right? They've hardly gotten any minutes over their tenure and nobody's complaining. Terry has actually become a helluva defender, think he's #2 in the league behind Caruso in opponents points when he's on defense. Phillips shows some skills and potential, but time's running out to evaluate those two first round picks. Would much rather Matas have a strong second half of the season than the first half because he hit a wall.

Phillips was a 2nd rounder.

[Infinity2152]

There's also the rookie wall issue. Most rookies aren't in the necessary physical shape to handle anywhere near 82 games anyway. Maybe it's smart to use the early season as a way to motivate without really impacting his develop over the course of a season that most rooks can't handle anyway.

This right here. This is not an important season for us to win. We don't need Matas to be a productive player this year, would be nice, but not needed. Phillips and Terry are both first round picks, right? They've hardly gotten any minutes over their tenure and nobody's complaining. Terry has actually become a helluva defender, think he's #2 in the league behind Caruso in opponents points when he's on defense. Phillips shows some skills and potential, but time's running out to evaluate those two first round picks. Would much rather Matas have a strong second half of the season than the first half because he hit a wall.

Phillips was a 2nd rounder.

Thanks. Fixed it.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Absolutely no reason why Matas cant play 10-15 mins a night. Glad he got to play 20 mins tonight.

[kodo]

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[HoopsterJones]

A bit early at this time but Dalton Knecht and Jared McCain looking mighty good. Hopefully Matas catches up to them soon.

[sco]

A bit early at this time but Dalton Knecht and Jared McCain looking mighty good. Hopefully Matas catches up to them soon.

He's a good 2 seasons behind those guys, if he can get to that level ever. I'll root for him, but he's got a long way to go.

[Stratmaster]

In Billy's opinion, Matas is just not better than the guys playing in front of him. They're all far more experienced and Billy sees these guys match up regularly in practice. In reality, most of the Bulls are better than Matas is at this point. Don't know what the rush is to get him in so fast right now is anyway. He does not have an NBA body yet and is still developing. If he was the 20th pick we would be content letting him develop and get stronger. usually in here, everybody is saying guys should earn their time, not be gifted minutes. One of the biggest complaints about Pat Will. An extra 5 minutes a game is not going to add up to a ton more actual experience, he plays against NBA players every practice. Would expect to see his minutes increase further into the season, but personally think there's a much higher injury risk if he plays more minutes now than once he gets into NBA shape. We have the rare opportunity to actually build and develop a guy, rather than throwing him straight into the fire against Giannis. Pat started damn near every game, help his development much? Actual game time is the smallest part of their development. Way more likely he gets better with an extra couple hours in the gym each week, working on skills, than getting an extra 5-10 minutes a game, at least right now.

Player development isn't a one size fits all thing, it varies from player to player. Gifting a starting spot and 25 MPG to Pat right off the bat didn't help him meet expectations, but it definitely helped his development more than not playing at all like Matas basically is doing right now.

There's a big difference between gifting a rookie a starting spot/25 MPG compared to 12-15 developmental minutes off the bench and increasing that when other players get hurt like Pat and Craig are.

When you're a non-playoff caliber team, you don't draft a project player and then not play him. That's idiotic. It's not like he's playing some super complicated position like QB and needs to sit and learn for two years behind a vet.

Practice and G league can only do so much. Players develop by playing.

I agree with all of this. Except that the Bulls can be a playoff team this season if they want to. That still doesn't mean they can't find Matas minutes.

[Stratmaster]

Absolutely no reason why Matas cant play 10-15 mins a night. Glad he got to play 20 mins tonight.

With Wiiliams out I figured he would start seeing more minutes.

Hey, for years the theme was that Williams was being held back by other players. Now look who is holding Matas back.

Difference being the players supposedley holding Williams back were actually good.

[GoBlue72391]

In Billy's opinion, Matas is just not better than the guys playing in front of him. They're all far more experienced and Billy sees these guys match up regularly in practice. In reality, most of the Bulls are better than Matas is at this point. Don't know what the rush is to get him in so fast right now is anyway. He does not have an NBA body yet and is still developing. If he was the 20th pick we would be content letting him develop and get stronger. usually in here, everybody is saying guys should earn their time, not be gifted minutes. One of the biggest complaints about Pat Will. An extra 5 minutes a game is not going to add up to a ton more actual experience, he plays against NBA players every practice. Would expect to see his minutes increase further into the season, but personally think there's a much higher injury risk if he plays more minutes now than once he gets into NBA shape. We have the rare opportunity to actually build and develop a guy, rather than throwing him straight into the fire against Giannis. Pat started damn near every game, help his development much? Actual game time is the smallest part of their development. Way more likely he gets better with an extra couple hours in the gym each week, working on skills, than getting an extra 5-10 minutes a game, at least right now.

Player development isn't a one size fits all thing, it varies from player to player. Gifting a starting spot and 25 MPG to Pat right off the bat didn't help him meet expectations, but it definitely helped his development more than not playing at all like Matas basically is doing right now.

There's a big difference between gifting a rookie a starting spot/25 MPG compared to 12-15 developmental minutes off the bench and increasing that when other players get hurt like Pat and Craig are.

When you're a non-playoff caliber team, you don't draft a project player and then not play him. That's idiotic. It's not like he's playing some super complicated position like QB and needs to sit and learn for two years behind a vet.

Practice and G league can only do so much. Players develop by playing.

I agree with all of this. Except that the Bulls can be a playoff team this season if they want to. That still doesn't mean they can't find Matas minutes.

I think our defense is far too horrid to be a legit playoff team, meaning being one of the top 6 that avoid the play-in. I think we could, and likely will, make the play-in and we could get string off a couple wins to take one of those final seeds, but IMO the most likely outcome is losing in the play-in and missing out on the playoffs.

Especially if we trade Zach and/or others at the deadline, the playoff hopes die completely.

[GoBlue72391]

A bit early at this time but Dalton Knecht and Jared McCain looking mighty good. Hopefully Matas catches up to them soon.

It's worth noting that Knecht is 23 and McCain is a lot less raw than Matas.

[DuckIII]

A bit early at this time but Dalton Knecht and Jared McCain looking mighty good. Hopefully Matas catches up to them soon.

He won't. He's a multi-year project but he has significantly more potential than both to be a high quality two way player. Not saying those guys don't end up better than Matas. They already clearly have useful floors as players. Just that if you are thinking Matas is going to make an impact like that as a rookie, it was never going to be that way no matter what team he's on. It will be process. But his ceiling is very high if he meets it.

[Stratmaster]

Player development isn't a one size fits all thing, it varies from player to player. Gifting a starting spot and 25 MPG to Pat right off the bat didn't help him meet expectations, but it definitely helped his development more than not playing at all like Matas basically is doing right now.

There's a big difference between gifting a rookie a starting spot/25 MPG compared to 12-15 developmental minutes off the bench and increasing that when other players get hurt like Pat and Craig are.

When you're a non-playoff caliber team, you don't draft a project player and then not play him. That's idiotic. It's not like he's playing some super complicated position like QB and needs to sit and learn for two years behind a vet.

Practice and G league can only do so much. Players develop by playing.

I agree with all of this. Except that the Bulls can be a playoff team this season if they want to. That still doesn't mean they can't find Matas minutes.

I think our defense is far too horrid to be a legit playoff team, meaning being one of the top 6 that avoid the play-in. I think we could, and likely will, make the play-in and we could get string off a couple wins to take one of those final seeds, but IMO the most likely outcome is losing in the play-in and missing out on the playoffs.

Especially if we trade Zach and/or others at the deadline, the playoff hopes die completely.

Agree on the trade, which is why I said "if they want to". As the team sits right now I think they have a strong chance at the 5 or 6 seed.

[Jello Biafra]

Start Matas at the 4 while Williams is injured (and maybe after). He's skinny but he gets a lot of blocks and rebounds. More than Pat did over his first three years. I know they are using Pat as their go to defender but he's still getting roasted. Besides, Matas can dunk and has a greater than zero shooting percentage at the rim.

[Stratmaster]

Start Matas at the 4 while Williams is injured (and maybe after). He's skinny but he gets a lot of blocks and rebounds. More than Pat did over his first three years. I know they are using Pat as their go to defender but he's still getting roasted. Besides, Matas can dunk and has a greater than zero shooting percentage at the rim.

The other things he brings... energy and enthusiasm. When something good happens he smiles. He isn't afraid of the moment. He has enough confidence to give a defender a little look after he scores on them. He actually looks like he is having fun out there versus what we are used to seeing from Pat. And it seems to be shared with and by his teammates.

I don't know how good he will eventually be, but just his attitude and vibe are upgrades.