Player Review 2024: Bennedict Mathurin
Player Review 2024: Bennedict Mathurin Bennedict Mathurin, the Pacers' top one-on-one scorer, has been named Player Review 2024. He improved significantly in his second season, scoring 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game, improving his overall field goal percentage from 43.4 to 44.6 percent compared to his rookie year and knocking down 37.4 percent of his 3-pointers compared to 32.3 percent the previous year. Despite a shoulder injury in March, Mathurins found positives in his performance and growing closer with his teammates. He credits his growth to trusting his teammates more and expressing himself more to them.
发表 : 10 个月前 经过 Indiana Pacers 在 Sports
Mathurin, perhaps the Pacers’ top one-on-one scorer, drained more corner threes than the year prior, often opted to make extra passes instead of going for tough, contested shots, and reduced his turnovers while willing to play with any group on the floor.
At the midway point of the season, Mathurin’s improvements shined on the national stage. During All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, as he was named MVP during the Panini Rising Stars event in a field loaded with young talent and won the Skills Challenge with teammates Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner.
On March 5 in Dallas, his 59th appearance of the season, Mathurin collided with P.J. Washington while going after a loose ball and tore the labrum in his right shoulder. In true Mathurin fashion, he finished the game, recording 19 points, in a 147-120 victory against a team now playing in the NBA Finals.
During his season, Mathurin averaged 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. He improved his overall field goal percentage from 43.4 to 44.6 percent compared to his rookie year and also knocked down 37.4 percent of his 3-pointers compared to 32.3 percent the year prior. His free throw shooting stayed at 82 percent, turnovers slightly decreased and assists increased.
One of the main points Mathurin said he wanted to focus on in his second year was trusting his teammates more. Before going pro, Mathurin said he had never played on a team where he wasn’t the best player, and it was a bit of an adjustment early on with the Pacers since he wasn't the team's focal point.
"Just playing along with the team, just buying in and doing what's right for the team. That was the main thing for me this season, just to be able to play through the system, having fun with my teammates and just competing at the highest level,” Mathurin said. “I feel like I've done a good job, obviously better than my rookie season. It's all about adjusting."
“It was hard. I think it was harder than expected,” Mathurin said. “Watching the playoffs, watching the guys have fun and just being out there and competing at the highest level was hard for sure. I think, as a positive side of it, just seeing the guys out there hooping...I feel like it definitely builds fire into me going into next season.”
Mathurin said he did find personal positives in the postseason run, as his injury provided him with an opportunity to see the game from a different perspective and grow closer with his teammates in a way he hadn’t before. In addition to socializing and other team-building events, Mathurin would bring homemade baked goods to the team on numerous occasions.
“That has been the biggest emphasis, and I would say the biggest growth for me, just expressing myself a little bit more to my teammates,” Mathurin said. “I think they know about me on the court, I’m super competitive, sometimes overly competitive...It gave me the opportunity to connect with them a little more.”
话题: Basketball, NBA, Indiana Pacers