duncan228
03-07-2010, 01:07 AM
Trade goes through, and it’s Mason’s turn (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Trade_goes_through_and_its_Masons_turn.html)
Buck Harvey
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — They are saying six weeks, and that doesn’t count the time it takes to regain touch.
That floater in the lane doesn’t work as well with a brace or a bruise.
So do the math, and Tony Parker becomes this season’s Manu Ginobili. Nearly every Spur used the same word to describe a night when they won a game and lost a teammate.
“Devastating,” they said.
They were finally feeling better about their chances, and now they feel worse than ever. But of all of them, no one was more confused than Roger Mason Jr.
After all, no one stands to gain more now.
The box score stated that Saturday night. Mason played three minutes in the first half, and he was lucky to get that. He didn’t play a second in the previous game against New Orleans.
But then Parker went down in Memphis, on the last play of the first half. Parker shook his right hand as he left the floor.
The pain usually goes away. But just as this franchise has a way of finding charter jet trouble, they also do with fractured fourth metacarpals on the right hand. Matt Bonner and Parker should never high-five each other.
Some Spurs, such as George Hill, didn’t know the damage until after the game. Until then, he filled in for Parker, and the same Mason who barely sweated in the first half played nearly 19 minutes in the second while adding two fourth-quarter jumpers.
He never saw this coming. That’s why his agent asked the Spurs last month if they would consider a trade.
“It’s not a trade demand,” Mark Bartelstein said then. “It’s simply, if there’s an answer to the problem of not enough minutes, and everybody can come out good, they should look at that. That’s all that’s going on.”
The Spurs tried to accommodate Mason, as they later did Michael Finley. They also had motivation. Trading Mason would have saved the franchise money.
They had thought about this earlier in the season, too. Then, they considered sending Mason to Golden State for Raja Bell, a more defensive-minded veteran, until an injury shelved Bell for the season.
There’s a reason Mason’s minutes had fallen: Gregg Popovich had lost faith in Mason in last year’s playoffs.
So the Spurs looked around, and Miami was ready to package a second-round draft pick to the Spurs for Mason until the Heat let a trade exception expire.
With that, it appeared Mason was stuck with a career problem. His contract expires this season.
But things change in sports as quickly as a muscle tears or a bone breaks. Now Mason moves up on a roster suddenly without Finley or Parker; he will have every opportunity to win back Popovich’s trust.
Even better for him is the circumstance. With Hill a year older and with Ginobili healthy, Mason doesn’t have to do what he did a year ago.
Given that, is it possible the Spurs can absorb the loss of Parker better than they did Ginobili a year ago?
Mason nodded, and he reminded the Spurs had some success last season without Parker.
But he said this without much enthusiasm. He also wanted to make it clear he thinks the best the Spurs can do is hold on and hope Parker comes back.
“We’re not winning the championship without Tony, I’ll tell you that,” Mason stated.
That isn’t a startling prediction for an outsider to make. The seventh-seeded Spurs weren’t likely to win the title with Parker, either.
Still, athletes are always optimists, and here was Mason, caught in an uncomfortable position. He had gotten what he wanted, after all.
And he hadn’t at the same time.
Buck Harvey
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — They are saying six weeks, and that doesn’t count the time it takes to regain touch.
That floater in the lane doesn’t work as well with a brace or a bruise.
So do the math, and Tony Parker becomes this season’s Manu Ginobili. Nearly every Spur used the same word to describe a night when they won a game and lost a teammate.
“Devastating,” they said.
They were finally feeling better about their chances, and now they feel worse than ever. But of all of them, no one was more confused than Roger Mason Jr.
After all, no one stands to gain more now.
The box score stated that Saturday night. Mason played three minutes in the first half, and he was lucky to get that. He didn’t play a second in the previous game against New Orleans.
But then Parker went down in Memphis, on the last play of the first half. Parker shook his right hand as he left the floor.
The pain usually goes away. But just as this franchise has a way of finding charter jet trouble, they also do with fractured fourth metacarpals on the right hand. Matt Bonner and Parker should never high-five each other.
Some Spurs, such as George Hill, didn’t know the damage until after the game. Until then, he filled in for Parker, and the same Mason who barely sweated in the first half played nearly 19 minutes in the second while adding two fourth-quarter jumpers.
He never saw this coming. That’s why his agent asked the Spurs last month if they would consider a trade.
“It’s not a trade demand,” Mark Bartelstein said then. “It’s simply, if there’s an answer to the problem of not enough minutes, and everybody can come out good, they should look at that. That’s all that’s going on.”
The Spurs tried to accommodate Mason, as they later did Michael Finley. They also had motivation. Trading Mason would have saved the franchise money.
They had thought about this earlier in the season, too. Then, they considered sending Mason to Golden State for Raja Bell, a more defensive-minded veteran, until an injury shelved Bell for the season.
There’s a reason Mason’s minutes had fallen: Gregg Popovich had lost faith in Mason in last year’s playoffs.
So the Spurs looked around, and Miami was ready to package a second-round draft pick to the Spurs for Mason until the Heat let a trade exception expire.
With that, it appeared Mason was stuck with a career problem. His contract expires this season.
But things change in sports as quickly as a muscle tears or a bone breaks. Now Mason moves up on a roster suddenly without Finley or Parker; he will have every opportunity to win back Popovich’s trust.
Even better for him is the circumstance. With Hill a year older and with Ginobili healthy, Mason doesn’t have to do what he did a year ago.
Given that, is it possible the Spurs can absorb the loss of Parker better than they did Ginobili a year ago?
Mason nodded, and he reminded the Spurs had some success last season without Parker.
But he said this without much enthusiasm. He also wanted to make it clear he thinks the best the Spurs can do is hold on and hope Parker comes back.
“We’re not winning the championship without Tony, I’ll tell you that,” Mason stated.
That isn’t a startling prediction for an outsider to make. The seventh-seeded Spurs weren’t likely to win the title with Parker, either.
Still, athletes are always optimists, and here was Mason, caught in an uncomfortable position. He had gotten what he wanted, after all.
And he hadn’t at the same time.