Spurs Brazil
10-06-2008, 06:04 PM
Jeff McDonald: Mason wants to be like Bruce
Once upon a time, NBA players wanted to Be Like Mike. Spurs guard Roger Mason Jr. just wants to Be Like Bruce.
As in, Bruce Bowen.
Mason and Bowen don't play the same position, per se, but they possess many of the same skills. More than that, Mason -- the Spurs' keynote acquisition of the offseason -- is striving to pattern his career arc after Bowen's.
Bowen arrived in San Antonio in 2001 as a 30-year-old journeyman relatively unaccomplished in his basketball career. It was only after he joined the Spurs that Bowen began to receive consistent playing time, and blossomed into what he is today -- one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA.
At age 28, Mason is, like Bowen, a late-bloomer who hopes to ignite his career by joining the Spurs. So far in camp, Mason has been amazed by the Spurs' 37-year-old iron man.
"Tony Parker said to me, 'You're the same way Bruce was,' " Mason said after the Spurs' workout Monday. "When he came here is when he first started really playing. For me, last year was really my first year playing."
"I want to play until I'm 37 or 38, at least, because I don't have a lot of miles."
Mason is entering his fifth NBA season, but didn't play in more than 60 games or average more than 12 minutes until last season in Washington. His hope is that, with the uptick in minutes he is likely to receive in San Antonio, he can finally establish himself as an NBA player.
Mason already has a head-start on Bowen. He is two years younger than Bowen was when he first arrived in San Antonio.
***
Rumors of Kurt Thomas' and Salim Stoudamire's full return to practice were a bit premature. Yes, the pair of injured players did practice Sunday, but it was a light day that ended in, of all things, a yoga session.
Thomas (hamstring) and Stoudamire (groin) have been cleared only for non-contact work, and are still a few days away from being full participants in training camp. At this point, it would be somewhat surprising to see either in the Spurs' preseason opener at Houston on Thursday.
***
Speaking of the Spurs' Sunday yoga session, coach Gregg Popovich is toying with the notion of making such an event a regular part of training camp.
"Concentrating on the flexibility, relaxation, lowering of anxiety -- that sort of concept is what we're looking at," Popovich said. "It's something that's new for us this year. We're going to do it for a while and see what we think."
Though some Spurs, notably resident wise guy Matt Bonner, cracked jokes about the team's new new-age bent, Sunday's yoga session drew rave reviews among most players. Many -- like Bowen, Stoudamire, and Ime Udoka -- have long been proponents of the art of yoga.
"It's very relaxing," Udoka said. "It's something to get our minds off basketball."
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/
Once upon a time, NBA players wanted to Be Like Mike. Spurs guard Roger Mason Jr. just wants to Be Like Bruce.
As in, Bruce Bowen.
Mason and Bowen don't play the same position, per se, but they possess many of the same skills. More than that, Mason -- the Spurs' keynote acquisition of the offseason -- is striving to pattern his career arc after Bowen's.
Bowen arrived in San Antonio in 2001 as a 30-year-old journeyman relatively unaccomplished in his basketball career. It was only after he joined the Spurs that Bowen began to receive consistent playing time, and blossomed into what he is today -- one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA.
At age 28, Mason is, like Bowen, a late-bloomer who hopes to ignite his career by joining the Spurs. So far in camp, Mason has been amazed by the Spurs' 37-year-old iron man.
"Tony Parker said to me, 'You're the same way Bruce was,' " Mason said after the Spurs' workout Monday. "When he came here is when he first started really playing. For me, last year was really my first year playing."
"I want to play until I'm 37 or 38, at least, because I don't have a lot of miles."
Mason is entering his fifth NBA season, but didn't play in more than 60 games or average more than 12 minutes until last season in Washington. His hope is that, with the uptick in minutes he is likely to receive in San Antonio, he can finally establish himself as an NBA player.
Mason already has a head-start on Bowen. He is two years younger than Bowen was when he first arrived in San Antonio.
***
Rumors of Kurt Thomas' and Salim Stoudamire's full return to practice were a bit premature. Yes, the pair of injured players did practice Sunday, but it was a light day that ended in, of all things, a yoga session.
Thomas (hamstring) and Stoudamire (groin) have been cleared only for non-contact work, and are still a few days away from being full participants in training camp. At this point, it would be somewhat surprising to see either in the Spurs' preseason opener at Houston on Thursday.
***
Speaking of the Spurs' Sunday yoga session, coach Gregg Popovich is toying with the notion of making such an event a regular part of training camp.
"Concentrating on the flexibility, relaxation, lowering of anxiety -- that sort of concept is what we're looking at," Popovich said. "It's something that's new for us this year. We're going to do it for a while and see what we think."
Though some Spurs, notably resident wise guy Matt Bonner, cracked jokes about the team's new new-age bent, Sunday's yoga session drew rave reviews among most players. Many -- like Bowen, Stoudamire, and Ime Udoka -- have long been proponents of the art of yoga.
"It's very relaxing," Udoka said. "It's something to get our minds off basketball."
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/