the official Roger Mason defensive watch thread..

[HarlemHeat37]

I feel like this thread should be made so we can observe Mason from a defensive standpoint..he's been absolutely horrible defensively for a few weeks now..his individual D is passable, but his team D has been atrocious since Parker-Ginobili returned..

hopefully he can make some progress, because we'll need it..he's getting lost on rotations way too often, and it's costing us defense at the 3-point line..

[2centsworth]

I was so disappointed in this guy today. He made Jacque Vaughn look athletic.

[Chris]

I think you're overreacting. His defense on Kobe is remarkable.

[Ditty]

yah his defense aint that bad and he didnt play that bad tonite missed some 3's to put the game in the bag in the 4th

[thekingrobert]

his help D is bad and the refs call him out all the time, he hasnt earned his stripes yet

[Spurologist]

can someone tell Gary Payton that Mason is a starter

WTF

[2centsworth]

he's playing like he's arrived. I love that he's exceeded expectations so far, but he can easily find himself at the end of the bench.

[m33p0]

overreaction thread.

[urunobili]

typical 1st year with the spurs syndrome... he should get better because if the amounf of minutes he has got and will get...

[Solid D]

Defense and Watch should be used together in the same sentence when talking about Mike Finley's D. With Fin this year, Defense = Watch.

Mace has been spotty and he goes underneath screens way too much but maybe he's learning the system. Hopefully, he'll get there.

[porscha]

I thought mason was sucks on D when he came in to town, very lazy.
and now is getting better a bit.

[2centsworth]

Defense and Watch should be used together in the same sentence when talking about Mike Finley's D. With Fin this year, Defense = Watch.

Bruce is looking like a much better option.

[timtonymanu]

remember this is Mason's first year as a Spur,although he's already made a lot of contributions that it looks like he's been here for a while. anyways it's not easy to adjust from one team system to another.

[timvp]

What's weird is Mason started off playing pretty damn good defense and looked way ahead of schedule. He has taken a step back over about the last two or three weeks but it's mostly just not knowing exactly where to be. When isolated against or in straight up man-on-man situations, he's showing good potential.

Fighting around off the ball screens is where he's struggling right now and teams have recognized that and have been going to it early in often. I think it was Larry Brown who first really started to milk it first.

[HarlemHeat37]

I obviously realize it's due to lack of chemistry in the system..that's why it's a Mason "watch", since he obviously has potential to get better..

it's not an overreaction at all..our main problem defensively has been the perimeter this season..we need our perimeter D to step up, especially with Bowen on the bench, and Bonner as one of our starting big men..the less penetration and open 3s, the better..

[Solid D]

Fighting around off the ball screens is where he's struggling right now and teams have recognized that and have been going to it early in often. I think it was Larry Brown who first really started to milk it first.

Spot-on, timvp. It was crackin' me up when the Suns came down and ran Jason Richardson and Steve Nash special the first four trips of the game and Mace went under the screen every single time.

[StoneBuddha]

Spot-on, timvp. It was crackin' me up when the Suns came down and ran Jason Richardson and Steve Nash special the first four trips of the game and Mace went under the screen every single time.

This is a soft defensive tendency Mace probably picked up from his days in Washington. It takes time to unlearn these bad habits.

I thought I saw Bowen walking to the score's table a minute or two into the game. I assumed he was checking in for Mason for this very reason but he never subbed in.

The good thing is team defense is probably an easier problem to fix than bad individual defense (i.e. Steve Nash syndrome).

[timvp]

Spot-on, timvp. It was crackin' me up when the Suns came down and ran Jason Richardson and Steve Nash special the first four trips of the game and Mace went under the screen every single time.Yeah, that was almost as funny as the time Mason went under a pick at the FREE THROW LINE when Kobe was behind the three-point line.

[HarlemHeat37]

if you guys remember correctly, Mason was the reason we allowed the wide open 3 that angered Pop and led to him "giving up" on the game vs. LA..that was one of the worst missed assignments I've seen in a while..

also, vs. the Jazz he missed some rotations..at one time, Bowen had to actually tell him where to go, but it was too late, and we allowed the 3..

I love Mason, but he needs to work on this..he's shown too much potential to be a let down defensively..we've already seen he can be an above-average defender this year..

[Biggems]

Roger plays D at SG the way Dirk does at PF.

[TDfan2007]

Roger plays D at SG the way Dirk does at PF.

uhh...who cares? That's like saying Gary Payton is smarter than Amare Stoudemire. Not exactly something to write home about.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

The thing that has impressed me the most is when bigger guards have tried to post him up. He's not exactly a big dude, but manages to hold his ground surprisingly well.

[tp2021]

The thing that has impressed me the most is when bigger guards have tried to post him up. He's not exactly a big dude, but manages to hold his crowd surprisingly well.

I don't know...sometimes his chest looks pretty monstrous.

[timvp]

The thing that has impressed me the most is when bigger guards have tried to post him up. He's not exactly a big dude, but manages to hold his crowd surprisingly well.Good point. Rare is it that a player posts up on Mason and scores. Against Artest earlier in the season, RMJ held his ground. Even when he gets switched off onto bigs he doesn't give up.

That's part of the reason why Udoka hasn't been needed too much against the thick SFs ... because Mason is deceptively strong.

[xtremesteven33]

Parker
Mason
Bowen
Duncan
Oberto

will be our playoff starting 5...hopefully we will get that starting up soon....

[Manufan909]

Let's settle for Fab consistently getting minutes.

[FreeMason]

You've got to Free Mason for at least a full year on Spurs D for him to get good.