SEATTLE – Some think he is antisocial because he sits alone in an upper corner of the gym during games.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Steve Matzen is a friendly guy with a warm smile who enjoys discussing basketball.
It’s just that he’d rather not discuss it while watching his son Drew play for the Seattle Pacific University Falcons team.
“I tend to gravitate to the far end of the gym as far away from as many people as I can,” Steve said. “I find myself kind of coaching throughout the game.”
It’s not an unusual thing for a father to do, especially one who played the game himself. Steve Matzen played for Marv Harshman at the University of Washington from 1976-80, long before the Huskies began filling Hec Edmundson Pavilion for every home game.
Matzen wasn’t a superstar but he was a good, solid, intelligent player who worked hard and understood the game. Now in his mid-40s, he comes to every SPU home game in Royal Brougham Pavilion to watch his oldest son play, sitting up there alone, legs crossed, quietly and completely engrossed in the game.
He isn’t one of these fathers who thinks he knows more than the coach, nor does he harshly critique his son’s play. Most of his discussions revolve around the mental aspects of the game. “He’s pretty laid back and always positive,” Drew said. “He’s been a great inspiration.”
Like the father, the son has become a good, solid player, a starter for the second year in a row for a team that won four of its first five games and is ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Division II national coaches poll. A 6-foot-4 forward from Lynnwood High School, Matzen is averaging 12.2 points and shooting 54.5 percent.
“If there were any comparisons (between him and his son), I prided myself on my ability to understand the game and make the right plays,” Steve said. “As I watch Drew develop as a player, I see him taking on some of those same characteristics. In terms of running the offense, he seems to have a sense of that now, getting in sync with what his coach wants.”
The biggest differences between the father and the son as college players is that Drew is stronger and a much better jumper than his dad was. “He is pretty explosive,” Steve acknowledged, “surprisingly so. I couldn’t play like that.”
Just how good a jumper is Drew? In high school, off of one step, he could soar 38 to 39 inches. “I’m nowhere near that now,” he said. “I was 34, 35 at the beginning of the summer.”
Why the decline?
“Getting old,” he said with a laugh.
Getting older and better.
His dad and SPU coach Jeff Hironaka recognize that Drew is capable of some very good things on the basketball court, such as his career-high 21 points and 5-for-5 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc in an 84-65 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Nov.25. It’s Drew who sometimes lacks confidence in his skills.
“He can do that (score 20-plus) every night,” Hironaka said, “but I don’t think he always believes he can do that every night.
“He’s a good athlete, I just don’t think he ever believes he’s as good a player as he really is.”
Hironaka feels it comes down to Drew not being comfortable in the limelight. “I think he feels more comfortable blending in rather than standing out,” the coach said. “I just think it’s a mental makeup of being just a quiet guy who doesn’t say a whole heckuva lot.”
Drew goes along pretty much with what his coach says. That he leads by example rather than verbally. “I’m a pretty calm guy,” he said. “It’s not my nature to get in somebody’s face.”
What would it take for him to do that?
“I don’t know. It just doesn’t happen much.”
As one of the team captains, Matzen is looked to for leadership, and he provides it with his performance on the court, not always a sensational play, but little things, such as hustling on defense, making sure teammates are where they’re supposed to be on offense and defense, setting screens to free up shooters.
Just a quiet strength type of guy.
“I don’t like yakking,” he said, noting that Hironaka stopped a recent practice when too much pointless talk was going on between players. “That’s a chemistry thing.”
Matzen did his loudest talking last season in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II national tournament. In a 68-63 loss to Virginia Union, he made five 3-pointers and scored 19 points, 12 above his average.
Twelve to 15 points a game is the kind of production the Falcons need from him to be a big winner again this season, Hironaka said.
Matzen is capable of it, now he just has to have the confidence to go out and do it.
“It’s about him being more aggressive, seeking his shot out a little bit more,” Hironaka said. “Not being a support guy, but being one of the top three guys as far as scoring goes.”
The Falcons lost three players to graduation who combined for nearly 40 points a game, but retained four others who contributed more than 40 a game for a team that went 26-6. Then, in the first game this year, they lost point guard Jared Moultrie to a knee injury that will sideline him for the season. “He was the glue that kept us all together,” Matzen said.
Now someone else has to fill that role.
Might Matzen be the guy?
“He’s trying,” Hironaka said, “but it’s a tough role for him to do.”
“As far as being somebody to look upon for leadership,” Drew said, “I can do it.”
He can certainly do the job physically. “At times, he can literally dominate the game rebounding,” his coach said. “Just go up and get balls.”
One way to get better is to play against better players. Matzen did that last summer, going against guys from the UW, players such as Jon Brockman and Quincy Pondexter.
“That was a confidence builder,” Matzen said, “playing against guys like that and being fairly effective.”
He also went against Luke Ridnour, the SuperSonics’ point guard. “He’s quick. I don’t have the foot speed a player like that has. He can be a handful at times.”
Still, after guarding Ridnour, most anyone he faces in Division II will appear slow.
As much as he wants to win basketball games, Matzen aspires to excel in the classroom, and he’s done a good job of that so far, with a 3-plus grade-point-average. “Ultimately, the most important thing is getting an education that’s paid for,” he said. “That’s why we’re all here.”
To escape from the rigors of basketball and homework, Matzen often goes fishing. “That’s his passion,” his dad said at a game last Saturday night. “If he comes out to the house tomorrow, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him up on the Sky(komish River).”
That’s exactly where he was on Sunday. He didn’t catch anything, but didn’t seem to mind.
To just get away for a couple of hours was enough.
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