Life as a Mountaineer - Emmitt Matthews Jr.
February 19, 2021 11:12 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Nobody playing today on West Virginia's 13th-ranked men's basketball team has a better highlight reel than Emmitt Matthews Jr.
The Tacoma, Washington, resident brings back memories of former Mountaineer Pervires "P.G." Greene the way he so effortlessly gets to the rim before unleashing the fury.
Emmitt has had all kinds of dunks … two-hand rip slams on the fast break, baseline tomahawks, follow-ups, you name it.
Not only do they look good, but they also serve a valuable purpose of getting his teammates fired up, especially when the basketball ends up landing on top of someone else's head.
"When you are in the moment and you try and dunk on somebody, you don't really pay attention to all that," Matthews Jr. says. "You're just more focused on the rim so you are kind of looking through them and once you think that way you catch more of them so that's what I kind of do these days."
Matthews Jr. says his goal for every game is to have at least one dunk, but don't think for one minute Matthews is only about dunking.
He says there is a lot more to his game than just that.
"Obviously, we have guys that can go score 20 points. We have guys that can go and get 10 dunks and we have guys that can make 10 3s, but I don't think that way," he says. "I might not be the best at all those things, but I can do all those things. If I've got a shot I'm going to try and knock it down. If I've got a dunk I'm going to dunk it and if I can get to the basket and get and and-one I'm going to do that.
"I try to look at basketball at all aspects and not try and limit myself to one thing. I try and do everything I can to affect the game," he says.
Matthews Jr. says simply reading the stat sheet doesn't necessarily tell the whole story of what he brings to the team on a nightly basis.
Quite often the best things are not contained there.
"The stats that don't show up on the stat sheet are the ones that count the most," he admits. "For me, that's getting loose balls and taking charges; little stuff like that is what changes the game.
"You are going to have a guy that goes out and scores his 25 points or a guy that scores his 15, but I could have had two points and done all of this extra stuff on the floor that people can see or not see," he says. "I don't play basketball for stats. I don't play basketball for any of that stuff. My focus is on winning, and I think that's just what the whole team wants to do."
So far, so good. West Virginia is up 14 in the win column and down six in the loss column with a crucial three-game-in-five-day stretch of games coming up in Texas, beginning with Saturday afternoon's game at 12th-ranked Texas on Saturday.
This week's Life as a Mountaineer was produced by Sean Merinar and presented by our great friends at Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.
The Tacoma, Washington, resident brings back memories of former Mountaineer Pervires "P.G." Greene the way he so effortlessly gets to the rim before unleashing the fury.
Emmitt has had all kinds of dunks … two-hand rip slams on the fast break, baseline tomahawks, follow-ups, you name it.
Not only do they look good, but they also serve a valuable purpose of getting his teammates fired up, especially when the basketball ends up landing on top of someone else's head.
"When you are in the moment and you try and dunk on somebody, you don't really pay attention to all that," Matthews Jr. says. "You're just more focused on the rim so you are kind of looking through them and once you think that way you catch more of them so that's what I kind of do these days."
Matthews Jr. says his goal for every game is to have at least one dunk, but don't think for one minute Matthews is only about dunking.
He says there is a lot more to his game than just that.
"Obviously, we have guys that can go score 20 points. We have guys that can go and get 10 dunks and we have guys that can make 10 3s, but I don't think that way," he says. "I might not be the best at all those things, but I can do all those things. If I've got a shot I'm going to try and knock it down. If I've got a dunk I'm going to dunk it and if I can get to the basket and get and and-one I'm going to do that.
"I try to look at basketball at all aspects and not try and limit myself to one thing. I try and do everything I can to affect the game," he says.
Matthews Jr. says simply reading the stat sheet doesn't necessarily tell the whole story of what he brings to the team on a nightly basis.
Quite often the best things are not contained there.
"The stats that don't show up on the stat sheet are the ones that count the most," he admits. "For me, that's getting loose balls and taking charges; little stuff like that is what changes the game.
"You are going to have a guy that goes out and scores his 25 points or a guy that scores his 15, but I could have had two points and done all of this extra stuff on the floor that people can see or not see," he says. "I don't play basketball for stats. I don't play basketball for any of that stuff. My focus is on winning, and I think that's just what the whole team wants to do."
So far, so good. West Virginia is up 14 in the win column and down six in the loss column with a crucial three-game-in-five-day stretch of games coming up in Texas, beginning with Saturday afternoon's game at 12th-ranked Texas on Saturday.
This week's Life as a Mountaineer was produced by Sean Merinar and presented by our great friends at Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.
Players Mentioned
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