duncan228
01-15-2009, 03:32 AM
Edit: This was written before the Lakers game.
Spur of the moment: Roger Mason (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2009-01-14-in-the-paint-west_N.htm)
By Jon Saraceno
He was more of a slasher in college. In the NBA, Roger Mason Jr. mostly slays teams with his outside shooting, a notion that leaves the long-distance San Antonio Spurs sniper laughing aloud.
"Actually, when I first came into the league (out of Virginia in 2002), I remember that the scouting report on me was to let me shoot," he said. "I always thought that was funny because, in my mind, I always thought I was a shooter."
Signed as a free agent in the offseason, the 28-year-old guard was second in the NBA in three-point shooting (46.9%), just behind teammate Matt Bonner (47.5%), entering Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Spurs, who were No. 1 from beyond the arc at 40.3%, rely on accurate long-range shooting. That marksmanship makes it problematic to double-team power forward Tim Duncan and penetrating guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. When the latter two were injured early this season, Mason started and picked up the scoring slack.
"He kept us afloat," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "As the year has progressed, he has been a quick study on both ends of the court. I didn't realize he was as skilled at the point as he is."
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford, familiar with Mason because of summer-league work, signed him to a two-year, $7.3 million contract after his breakout 2007-08 season in Washington. He averaged career highs in minutes, points and assists after injuries to Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels, who invented a nickname for Mason: "Mas-on."
"They miss him tremendously," Wizards radio analyst Glenn Consor said. "He surprised a lot of people because he's more than a shooter — he can also handle and pass the ball. He started to understand the NBA. He's smart. The other valuable thing about him is that he doesn't try to do things he can't do."
Former teammate Antawn Jamison said, "When we needed him, he showed up. He brought a certain professionalism to the game that we needed."
Mason ranked 20th in long-range attempts, but only five players had made more than his 82 three-pointers. He made a season-high seven against the Utah Jazz in November, but his most dramatic moment came Christmas Day.
Against the Phoenix Suns, Mason launched one from the corner, a buzzer-beater for a 91-90 Spurs win. The play worked because the Suns' Jason Richardson tried to "cheat" by leaving Mason to help defend Parker. Bad move.
Injuries when he played in Chicago and Toronto, and shifting management choices, stunted Mason's development. By 2005, he was playing in Jerusalem and earning more than $1 million. Mason signed with the Spurs because he said playing with Duncan, and for Popovich, would improve his game.
"I loved playing in Israel," Mason said. "Financially, it was great. Basketball-wise, it put the ball back in my hands and (let me) be a leader again. Honestly, I always believed that if somebody gave me the opportunity, I would succeed.
"It would have been one thing had I averaged 20 minutes a game my first three years and I couldn't (perform). But nobody gave me a chance. In my mind, I was going to prove everyone wrong."
He has another opportunity next month if he is chosen for the three-point shooting contest at All-Star weekend in Phoenix. If Mason is chosen, it will be a special moment.
"When you're a kid and people say, 'You're a shooter,' you start believing it," he said of his days growing up in metro Washington, D.C. "The three-point contest is one of those things I've always watched. I remember Larry Bird shooting that last money-ball three and turning his back before it went in" en route to capturing the 1988 contest.
Swish.
It is the same sound Mason's high-arcing shots are making this season, much to the chagrin of the opposition.
Spur of the moment: Roger Mason (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2009-01-14-in-the-paint-west_N.htm)
By Jon Saraceno
He was more of a slasher in college. In the NBA, Roger Mason Jr. mostly slays teams with his outside shooting, a notion that leaves the long-distance San Antonio Spurs sniper laughing aloud.
"Actually, when I first came into the league (out of Virginia in 2002), I remember that the scouting report on me was to let me shoot," he said. "I always thought that was funny because, in my mind, I always thought I was a shooter."
Signed as a free agent in the offseason, the 28-year-old guard was second in the NBA in three-point shooting (46.9%), just behind teammate Matt Bonner (47.5%), entering Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Spurs, who were No. 1 from beyond the arc at 40.3%, rely on accurate long-range shooting. That marksmanship makes it problematic to double-team power forward Tim Duncan and penetrating guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. When the latter two were injured early this season, Mason started and picked up the scoring slack.
"He kept us afloat," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "As the year has progressed, he has been a quick study on both ends of the court. I didn't realize he was as skilled at the point as he is."
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford, familiar with Mason because of summer-league work, signed him to a two-year, $7.3 million contract after his breakout 2007-08 season in Washington. He averaged career highs in minutes, points and assists after injuries to Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels, who invented a nickname for Mason: "Mas-on."
"They miss him tremendously," Wizards radio analyst Glenn Consor said. "He surprised a lot of people because he's more than a shooter — he can also handle and pass the ball. He started to understand the NBA. He's smart. The other valuable thing about him is that he doesn't try to do things he can't do."
Former teammate Antawn Jamison said, "When we needed him, he showed up. He brought a certain professionalism to the game that we needed."
Mason ranked 20th in long-range attempts, but only five players had made more than his 82 three-pointers. He made a season-high seven against the Utah Jazz in November, but his most dramatic moment came Christmas Day.
Against the Phoenix Suns, Mason launched one from the corner, a buzzer-beater for a 91-90 Spurs win. The play worked because the Suns' Jason Richardson tried to "cheat" by leaving Mason to help defend Parker. Bad move.
Injuries when he played in Chicago and Toronto, and shifting management choices, stunted Mason's development. By 2005, he was playing in Jerusalem and earning more than $1 million. Mason signed with the Spurs because he said playing with Duncan, and for Popovich, would improve his game.
"I loved playing in Israel," Mason said. "Financially, it was great. Basketball-wise, it put the ball back in my hands and (let me) be a leader again. Honestly, I always believed that if somebody gave me the opportunity, I would succeed.
"It would have been one thing had I averaged 20 minutes a game my first three years and I couldn't (perform). But nobody gave me a chance. In my mind, I was going to prove everyone wrong."
He has another opportunity next month if he is chosen for the three-point shooting contest at All-Star weekend in Phoenix. If Mason is chosen, it will be a special moment.
"When you're a kid and people say, 'You're a shooter,' you start believing it," he said of his days growing up in metro Washington, D.C. "The three-point contest is one of those things I've always watched. I remember Larry Bird shooting that last money-ball three and turning his back before it went in" en route to capturing the 1988 contest.
Swish.
It is the same sound Mason's high-arcing shots are making this season, much to the chagrin of the opposition.