Chris Jans evaluates Cameron Matthews' offensive confidence

Mississippi State is a defense-first team. First-year head coach Chris Jans constructed this roster to be tough, physical, and athletic — but not great shooters and just not tremendously skilled on offense throughout the lineup. The result: a top-10 defense in the country and an offense that’s been just good enough to get the Bulldogs on the bubble.

As MSU barrels down the stretch of the season and is in an outright brawl with other bubble teams for one of those final NCAA Tournament spots at the moment, the offensive emergence of Cameron Matthews has been a huge boost. He only scored in double-figures twice in his first 20 games, but has now done so in five of his last seven contests, capped off by a season-high 17 in a crucial overtime win at Ole Miss this past weekend.

At his press conference this week previewing the upcoming Missouri game, Coach Jans discussed what’s lead to the breakout streak from Matthews on the offensive end:

Chris Jans praises Cameron Matthews’ offensive progress

“He’s playing with a lot of confidence. He plays the four for us, some three, and goes between more the four than the three. When you have forwards that can push the break and being that big and strong, and make decisions and not have to outlet it, that’s a luxury. I know when you put your defensive cap on, it’s no fun to defend that. The grab and go guys and he’s become one of those guys for us.

“Now it’s even gotten into the half-court where he’s learned how to play against teams that are gapping him, meaning they’re not guarding him for the 3s so they are playing off him. If you are smart and know how to do it, you use it to your advantage and Cam has done that. He’s taken the slack off and gotten right into their bodies. He’s learned how to dribble at defenders and pitch, and help his team and use the defensive alignment to his advantage.

“At the end of the day it’s always about confidence. At times, players like Cam can get over-confident and try to do too much and get himself in trouble, kind of put his head down and try to bully his way to the basket or jump to find a pass and there’s nobody there. But he does way more good than bad when it comes to him in all aspects of the game. Even in his decision making, especially of late, he’s become a force for us offensively.”