Milwaukee » After all the puzzled looks he's gotten walking out with the Jazz's starting five this season, Wesley Matthews will take the court tonight in a building where he needs no introduction.

A native of Madison, Wis., Matthews will return to Bradley Center, where he started for four years in college at Marquette, as the Jazz visit the Milwaukee Bucks. For one night, at least, the undrafted rookie can expect to be the center of attention.

"I've got a lot of love back in Milwaukee," Matthews said. "They've embraced me like that's my home. Madison's my first home, Milwaukee definitely is a close, close second. They've really embraced me and I'm just excited and hopefully we can get a win there."

The homecoming will represent another milestone in Matthews' improbable rise. Having made the Jazz's roster thanks in no small part to preseason injuries to C.J. Miles and Kyle Korver, Matthews now is starting for the Western Conference's No. 4 team.

The Jazz have gone 21-9 with Matthews in the starting lineup. Most remarkably, Matthews is on pace to make one more start as a rookie (48) than Deron Williams did in his first season playing for coach Jerry Sloan as a No. 3 overall pick.

Yet Matthews is adamant that despite his current role, he always will be the kid who watched 60 players get selected ahead of him in June's draft. Even the Jazz at first passed on Matthews, choosing Michigan State center Goran Suton in the second round.

"I think I play like the undrafted rookie that's got something to prove," Matthews said. "I mean, that's who I am. I pride myself on not really changing for anybody, for anything, for any situation. I'm still grinding, still working, still playing with my heart, playing with toughness."

"I mean, that's the only way I know how to do it. I might be a little bit more established, my name might be out there a little bit more as a starter on one of the top four teams in the West. But as far as who I am, I'm still the same me."

Matthews has averaged 10.0 points as a starter, ranks 11th among all rookies in scoring (8.6 points) and has earned praise from Sloan for his defensive effort, matching up against the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

He just brings a lot of toughness and lot of energy, a lot of intangibles, to the game," Williams said.

A window opens

There were no guarantees, though, when Matthews went to training camp with the Jazz last fall. The team already had 13 players under contract and a payroll pushing deep into luxury-tax territory. If he had any fears of a short stay, Matthews didn't show them.

"I knew I had a slight, slight window and I was going to try to force them to keep me, whether they wanted to or not," Matthews said. "My goal was to make it the toughest decision possible for whoever was making the decision. I wanted them to have to lose sleep over it."

Matthews' fortunes changed soon after Miles suffered a thumb injury on the Jazz's preseason trip to Europe. With Korver battling knee issues and Miles needing surgery, the Jazz faced the possibility of starting the season with just 10 healthy players.

"It was unfortunate that C.J. went out and Kyle was down," Matthews said. "It kind of made the window a little bit bigger. But even if those guys stayed, I would have kept the same mentality. Never once did I doubt making this team."

As distressing as it was to lose Miles and Korver at the time, the Jazz now can regard it as a blessing in disguise in giving Matthews a shot.

"Who knows if he would have been on the team, if those guys would've been out there, if he would have been given the opportunity?" Williams said. As for the future, Williams added, "I think he should stick on this team if it's up to me."

What it takes

Sloan said Matthews made an impression playing with the Jazz's summer-league team, never mind that Matthews averaged just 6.2 points and shot 34.8 percent in those five games in Orlando, Fla.

"You get guys that'll work," Sloan said, "they may not be top-line players like Kobe Bryant or somebody, but that's how you can build a team that's going to compete all the time."

Sloan didn't hesitate in answering whether he'd have any concerns starting Matthews in the playoffs in another month. "No, he's been around," Sloan said, citing Matthews' experience having played four years in college.

How Matthews went undrafted remains a mystery. He played alongside two other NBA prospects at Marquette in Jerel McNeal and Dominic James, but felt that should have helped him get attention from teams, not hurt him as far as standing out.

"The only thing that I really heard was I'm good at everything, but I'm not a specialist in one thing," Matthews said. "I guess that wasn't good enough."

Steve Collins, Matthews' coach at Memorial High in Madison, described seeing him with the Jazz as "surreal" but also not a surprise: "I knew Wesley would find a way just because of how hard he works and how he kind of looks to figure out what needs to be done."

Matthews has come across in Utah as mature beyond his years, which Collins said has been the case since his high school days. He shared a story from Matthews' freshman year, when he moved up to varsity late in the season.

"I remember him coming up and asking me what I wanted from him and what I expected," Collins said. "Usually, they're big-eyed. For him to be able to do that as a freshman ... was very mature for his age, and a lot of that has do with his mom."

A big deal

Having relinquished his starting spot in December after Miles' return, Matthews reclaimed it after the Jazz traded Ronnie Brewer to Memphis on Feb. 18. Brewer had been a full-time starter for 21/2 seasons, but the Jazz felt Matthews could help fill the void.

The Jazz have gone 8-3 since the trade and continued climbing in the conference standings. For his part, Matthews had mixed emotions about the whole thing, describing Brewer as an "older brother" of sorts and his initial reaction as "upset."

"It hurts me, and I'm the one who benefited the most from it," Matthews said. "Now I'm a starter and getting a lot more minutes because he's gone, but I'm still torn."

With the Jazz closing in on the playoffs, Matthews said he still can sense opposing players wondering who he is and where he came from.

"I don't expect anybody to know who I am," Matthews said. "I don't play for people to know who I am. It doesn't really bother me if they know who I am or not. It's a business and your name really isn't that big of a deal. It's 'Can you get stops, can you play this game?' "

rsiler@sltrib.com