Per game stats: 10.8 min, 4.4 points, 1.6-3.7 FGM-A (4.47%), 0.3-0.9 3PM-A (37%), 0.7-1.0 FTM-A (76.9%), 1.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.3 steals, 0.4 turnovers
Advanced stats: 12.2 PER, 49% eFG, 53% TS, 103 ORtg, 109 DRtg
Season Synopsis
Matt Carroll made his triumphant return to Charlotte during the offseason in the Tyson Chandler trade to join Gerald Wallace as the only remaining original Bobcat. The unusual thing about this is that Matt Carroll is in no sense the type of player that Larry Brown usually prefers. Matt is no defensive mastermind and is strictly a jump shooter. To his credit, he's done his best to adjust, taking his offense more into the paint than ever before and playing much tougher on defense.
Playing time was hard to come by for Matt in the early goings...and the middle goings. Not many minutes were left with Stephen Jackson getting somewhere in the vicinity of 40 minutes per game spent mostly at the shooting guard, and the rest of the scraps going to Gerald Henderson.
But he would get in here and there, drop a couple buckets, make his entry into ugliest reverse layup of the year, and go back to the bench.
It wouldn't be until Gerald Wallace was traded that Carroll would start playing significant minutes again. Moving Jackson to the 3 and starting Gerald Henderson would open up the minutes for Matt Carroll to move back into the backup shooting guard spot, especially with Shaun Livingston out with a lower back injury.
Minutes would still be spotty, ranging from in the single digits to the mid-to-high twenties. Though not getting many shots, he would continue to shoot pretty efficiently. He also had a few renaissance games, dropping 19 points against Denver on 11 shots and 26 points against Washington on 16 shots.
And so we enter the penultimate year of Matt Carroll's albatross contract (though technically this could be Carroll's last season if he chooses to turn down his player option, for some stupid reason). He is due $3.9 million next season and $3.5 million the following season (if he takes the player option).
General Analysis
He's basically the homeless man's Kyle Korver.
In his effort to fit into Larry Brown's system better, Matt Carroll now drives into the paint more than I can ever remember, which may have come at the cost of his outside spot up shooting. In his last two seasons on the Bobcats, Matt was 41.6% and 43.6% from behind the arc, while this season he was 37%. But he still is an above average shooter, especially off of screens. And now he's even become a surprisingly good cutter, scoring on 72.7% FG on cuts according to MySynergySports. However, he still can't create his own shot very well.
As for defense...well, he tries hard! ...But Matt's still a bad defender. His opponents shot 51.3% FG against him last season. He doesn't close out very well on shots and tends to overplay his man on defense. He's also not quite quick enough and can be beat off the dribble. It's just flat out not good.
The Official Rufus on Fire Unofficial Fresh Prince Season Grade
