More effective Mason Jr

[Marcus Bryant]

There's no reason to deal Mason (absent a trade that makes the team better). Yes, if he's just called on to back up the 2 spot I expect him to have a great season. Having a guy who can knock down shots like he can is important in the Spurs' offense. With the arrival of Jefferson, the return of a healthy Manu, and someone else as the backup point, a lot of pressure will be off Mason.

It makes a lot more sense to package Bonner with Finley (assuming he stays) if the Spurs look to acquire a starting caliber big via trade. The Spurs do still need some shooters on this team.

[bless1187]

i get the feeling that some Spurs' fan here tend to overrate R. Mason. after the season was over, i was very unimpressed by R. Mason's performance, and the majority of the Spurs' fan here tend to blame his poor performance on Pop.

1.) when the season begun, i was impressed like many other by how well he could shoot the ball, but after team started scouting him "giving him no space", he really begun to struggle. i felt that this is the major reason for his struggle vs pop playing him at the backup PG role "since he still play 3/4 of his game at SG"

2.) his game is extremely one dimensional. people say he could put the ball on the floor and create for him self and others, but from what i saw, every time he put the ball on the floor, its either a turnover or a miss layup. he is not explosive by any stretch and he doesn't hit contested jumper as well as M. Finley does; so when team began trapping him and playing him physically, he really struggled. As far as defense goes, he does not have a strong or long body, nor does he moves his feet well.

3.) he can't play off the bench; after E. Ginobili returned to the lineup last season, there were few games where he came off the bench and he absolutely struggled, even putting in a few 0 points performances.

4.) he choked big time last playoff. no one on the roster choked more than R. Mason; after E. Ginobili went out, he was supposed to be our third option, except he went on to average 6 points per game while shooting 35% from the field, and repeatedly getting burned by J. Barea.

it's really hard for me to argue that R. Mason is the better player than M. Finley even with there age differential; but the fact that he's 29 and M. Finley is 36 warrants that R. Mason should be our starting SG once the season starts, but though he's starting i would assume he only get about 25 minutes per game. that's why i'm also hoping that M. Finley returns in a backup 10-20 minutes per game role, since he was honestly still our 3rd best performer in the playoff last year, and the backup role should fit him perfectly.

[MaNu4Tres]

There's no reason to deal Mason (absent a trade that makes the team better). Yes, if he's just called on to back up the 2 spot I expect him to have a great season. Having a guy who can knock down shots like he can is important in the Spurs' offense. With the arrival of Jefferson, the return of a healthy Manu, and someone else as the backup point, a lot of pressure will be off Mason.

It makes a lot more sense to package Bonner with Finley (assuming he stays) if the Spurs look to acquire a starting caliber big via trade. The Spurs do still need some shooters on this team.

Bonner and Finley would not bring back anyone worth cracking the rotation.

[Ice009]

Jackson wouldn't fit here at all anymore..he needs shots..he would have been a pretty good option without RJ, but now that Jefferson is here, Jackson is pointless..Mason is a better shooter with less of an ego, so he's a better role player..

No way man. Stephen Jackson is a proven playoff performer. RMJ is not, or has not proved that thus far.

When I was thinking of this trade I was barely even thinking about offense. You know Stephen is a pretty good defender these days right? He is waaaaaay better than RMJ at Defense and I'd love to have him starting for defensive reasons. Our defense would be a lot better with Sjax than RMJ. You're telling me you would pass up a guy that can hit big shots and also be able to guard a guy like Dirk to keep RMJ around?

[TJastal]

No way man. Stephen Jackson is a proven playoff performer. RMJ is not, or has not proved that thus far.

When I was thinking of this trade I was barely even thinking about offense. You know Stephen is a pretty good defender these days right? He is waaaaaay better than RMJ at Defense and I'd love to have him starting for defensive reasons. Our defense would be a lot better with Sjax than RMJ. You're telling me you would pass up a guy that can hit big shots and also be able to guard a guy like Dirk to keep RMJ around?

Agree. SJack would be a big improvement or Roger. I'm not sure why people keep talking about RMJ in a starting role this year. RMJ's flaws of being 1 dimensional spot up shooter make him more suited for bench play.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

Empirically, Spurs shooters tend to do everything better (i.e. shoot, pass, defend, etc.) in their second season.

Barry, Finley, Horry, Jackson--all these guys did way better after their first season here.

I expect RMJ to play way better this year (and far more consistently) than last year.

[mingus]

i've been saying while people have bashed Jr. that expectations were waaaay to high for him. He'll thrive in a reduced role. i honestly always felt that the best he could be is Eddie House + the clutch factor. a hybrid of Horry and Eddie House . people wanted him to fill in for Manu last year, and he just doesn't have the talent. this year hopefully Manu stays healthy and we see Roger Mason be the best player he can be on this team and in this system, which is knock down threes.

[Marcus Bryant]

Bonner and Finley would not bring back anyone worth cracking the rotation.

Yeah, just like Bowen, Thomas, and Oberto.

[nkdlunch]

completely agree to give Mason another chance.

I also agree that the role last year might have been too overwhelming. Isn't it only his 4th year in the league?

Keep him, you don't find clutch shooters like him

[Capt Bringdown]

You can't look at the Mason situation in isolation. Pop didn't trust Hill to develop, so he tired to shoehorn Mason into a role he's not suited for.
So, mainly due to Pop's miscalculations, we've got two players who are not as far along in the Spurs system as they perhaps could and should be.

What really pissed me off about these moves is that Pop kept playing the same card over and over again, even when it was pretty obvious that it wasn't working.

Kinda like that Einstein quote from the Finley thread, i.e., it's crazy to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results.

[SpuronyourFace]

Mason was playing out of his mind before he got moved to backup point, if Pop leaves him at the 2 and let's him shoot the ball then i'm not worried.

I do not want to see him at backup point this year. Stick with Hill there and let him learn.

[coyotes_geek]

You can't look at the Mason situation in isolation. Pop didn't trust Hill to develop, so he tired to shoehorn Mason into a role he's not suited for.
So, mainly due to Pop's miscalculations, we've got two players who are not as far along in the Spurs system as they perhaps could and should be.

What really pissed me off about these moves is that Pop kept playing the same card over and over again, even when it was pretty obvious that it wasn't working.

Kinda like that Einstein quote from the Finley thread, i.e., it's crazy to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results.

I don't buy into the "Pop didn't trust Hill" arguement. I think Pop wanted to find more minutes for Mason, especially once he knew Manu wouldn't be there. Knowing that he'd be using Bowen more in the playoffs than he had during the regular season those extra minutes for Mason would have to come from the PG spot. Obviously the move backfired.

[z0sa]

I don't buy into the "Pop didn't trust Hill" arguement. I think Pop wanted to find more minutes for Mason, especially once he knew Manu wouldn't be there. Knowing that he'd be using Bowen more in the playoffs than he had during the regular season those extra minutes for Mason would have to come from the PG spot. Obviously the move backfired.

Yeah, there was never really a reason for Pop to reduce Hill's minutes and remove him from the backup PG role. What sucked about this move is that Hill never got big time in the playoffs until G3/4, so Mason ended up guarding Barea and Terry at times, both of which destroyed him.

Pop needs to make better personnel decisions this season, put simply. He's great and all, but Mason at backup PG even after it didn't work for 15 games at the end of the season is one of his all-time boneheaded decisions. There's literally no reason Hill should be anything but the backup PG on offense.

[z0sa]

I don't buy into the "Pop didn't trust Hill" arguement. I think Pop wanted to find more minutes for Mason, especially once he knew Manu wouldn't be there. Knowing that he'd be using Bowen more in the playoffs than he had during the regular season those extra minutes for Mason would have to come from the PG spot. Obviously the move backfired.

Yeah, there was never really a reason for Pop to reduce Hill's minutes and remove him from the backup PG role. What sucked about this move is that Hill never got big time in the playoffs until G3/4, so Mason ended up guarding Barea and Terry at times, both of which destroyed him.

Pop needs to make better personnel decisions this season, put simply. He's great and all, but Mason at backup PG even after it didn't work for 15 games at the end of the season is one of his all-time boneheaded decisions. There's literally no reason Hill should be anything but the backup PG on offense, with spot minutes at best at the 2.

[coyotes_geek]

Yeah, there was never really a reason for Pop to reduce Hill's minutes and remove him from the backup PG role. What sucked about this move is that Hill never got big time in the playoffs until G3/4, so Mason ended up guarding Barea and Terry at times, both of which destroyed him.

I won't say Pop didn't have a reason. Mason was the only guy on the team who had a prayer's chance at replacing the scoring Manu provided. But clearly Mason wasn't up to the task. In the end it didn't matter though because Hill wasn't a difference maker in the series even when he played. The problems the Spurs had in their matchups against dallas went far beyond Mason and Hill.

Pop needs to make better personnel decisions this season, put simply. He's great and all, but Mason at backup PG even after it didn't work for 15 games at the end of the season is one of his all-time boneheaded decisions. There's literally no reason Hill should be anything but the backup PG on offense, with spot minutes at best at the 2.

By no means is Pop perfect, but personnel decisions always seem to be "better" when you're holding more cards than your opponent is. The mavs exposed the Manu-less Spurs as a team that was undersized, lacking in offensive firepower and incapable of sustaining Spurs level defense. Pop made a bad call, but doing something different wasn't going to give him a winning hand.

[Marcus Bryant]

Mason going from being expected to be the 3rd best offensive player and backup point to being the 5th best (at most) and solely the backup 2 should result in an improvement in performance. I think you want the backup 2 in the Spurs' offense to be someone who comes in and knocks down shots.

[Spurs Brazil]

Mason going from being expected to be the 3rd best offensive player and backup point to being the 5th best (at most) and solely the backup 2 should result in an improvement in performance. I think you want the backup 2 in the Spurs' offense to be someone who comes in and knocks down shots.

Agree.

Mason Jr just need to make his outside shots. Last season everybody expected more but the true is he's just a role player and this season a role player he'll be.

I hope he can play better D, especially on pick and rolls