So is Gary Neal the truth or what?

[TJastal]

I disagree with this. I was never a Mason fan, even when he was hitting shots his first year because of his horrible defense. It was pretty obvious then to a lot of people. That being said, after 2 games, Neal's defense looks more promising than Mason's ever did. I wouldn't even compare the two.



That was such a dumb cop-out excuse for his flame-out on so many levels. I don't have the time to get into it though.

Would you also claim it a cop out to say that Jefferson's poor play last year was exacerbated by having to play against power forwards almost every game?

[MaNu4Tres]

Would you also claim it a cop out to say that Jefferson's poor play last year was exacerbated by having to play against power forwards almost every game?

Jefferson wasn't streaky because he played power forward on occasion.

Jefferson didn't have a terrible month of January and February because he played power forward on occasion either.

So yes, whoever did blame Jefferson's streaky year last year on Pop playing him at power forward on occasion is wrong. IMO So that too is a dumb cop-out.

[SpurCharger]

Yeah hes Has Played well The last 2 Games.... Im Impressed, I hope he can keep it up.....His defense was good.... He was gettin some bull calls on him against Gordon..... But he Battled Through it...

[bigfan]

Im not gonna knock RMJ, he was a good teammate and seemed like a great guy. The jury is still out on Neal. Looks like he has the stuff as a player so far, lets just hope hes not some gangsta-type jerkoff.

[mingus]

Tjastal, you need to give it up on Mason's defense. last i checked, he's shooting 20% in NY. he clearly sucks.

[Obstructed_View]

Choo Choo was awesome. If he and Anderson can keep this up and improve, the Spurs will not have any problems with depth this season.

[koriwhat]

Tjastal, you need to give it up on Mason's defense. last i checked, he's shooting 20% in NY. he clearly sucks.

20%, ouch!

[mountainballer]

Choo Choo was awesome.

you guys are really obsessed with all the train stuff.

thank god his first name isn't Thomas.

[TJastal]

Tjastal, you need to give it up on Mason's defense. last i checked, he's shooting 20% in NY. he clearly sucks.

He's played a grand total of 21 minutes so far. Attempted like 4 shots. Hard to draw any conclusions based on that.

[rascal]

Neal has a picture perfect shooting stroke. I also like that he's aggressive with his trigger.

That said, it's early. We saw Roger Mason, Jr. come out of the gates on fire with the Spurs. But after defenses got a scouting report on him and took him out of his comfort zones, it went downhill fast.

Neal's challenge of making it in the NBA as a short and not-too-athletic shooting guard will be tough. His shooting stroke gives him a fighting chance, though.

I am more interested in how Anderson looked? He has the higher upside potential.

[MaNu4Tres]

He's played a grand total of 21 minutes so far. Attempted like 4 shots. Hard to draw any conclusions based on that.

I wonder why D'Antoni is hardly playing him.

[TFloss32]

I don't know if the Gary Neal experiment will last, but the dude is obviously talented and will hopefully provide us with a consistent spark off the bench. IMO, this team is going to be a lot more exciting than last year's. The transition game, ball movement and added youth is what already stands out.

[benefactor]

you guys are really obsessed with all the train stuff.

thank god his first name isn't Thomas.

That would be so epic.

[NASpurs]

you guys are really obsessed with all the train stuff.

thank god his first name isn't Thomas.

Way ahead of you...

[benefactor]

[DespЏrado]

oh god...

[Quiet Strength]

Neal has a picture perfect shooting stroke. I also like that he's aggressive with his trigger.

That said, it's early. We saw Roger Mason, Jr. come out of the gates on fire with the Spurs. But after defenses got a scouting report on him and took him out of his comfort zones, it went downhill fast.

Neal's challenge of making it in the NBA as a short and not-too-athletic shooting guard will be tough. His shooting stroke gives him a fighting chance, though.

Those are my exact thoughts. I hope he doesn't turn into mason.

[koriwhat]

Those are my exact thoughts. I hope he doesn't turn into mason.

he won't unless he throws a contest to win tickets and airfare to ny for xmas and renigs on that promise.

[ElNono]

I think he already has better handles than Mason. He has that floater in the lane working for him.

The problem with Mason was that everything was based off his shooting. His shot wasn't going in, and then his whole game came down to earth. I think there was something mental behind it.

I like Neal's toughness too. He defends with purpose, even if he makes mistakes. Fights through screens, and stuff like that. That's something Mason rarely did.

[ohmwrecker]

I think he already has better handles than Mason. He has that floater in the lane working for him.

I like Neal's toughness too. He defends with purpose, even if he makes mistakes. Fights through screens, and stuff like that. That's something Mason rarely did.

This shouldn't even be a debate. It's fairly obvious that Neal's skill are way beyond what RMJ had to offer. Ball handling, defense, shooting, awareness, spacing, etc. I'd like to see Neal spend some more time at the PG this season.

[yavozerb]

I think he already has better handles than Mason. He has that floater in the lane working for him.

The problem with Mason was that everything was based off his shooting. His shot wasn't going in, and then his whole game came down to earth. I think there was something mental behind it.

I like Neal's toughness too. He defends with purpose, even if he makes mistakes. Fights through screens, and stuff like that. That's something Mason rarely did.

agreed...even went down low and boxed out Jordan for a rebound. Its early in the season and just like every player he will have some good moments and not so good moments.

[redskinfan]

Who was the clown that said Neal isnt athletic? he seemed to move very well with and without the ball and has some quickness unlike Bonner who is not athletic.

[dbestpro]

Nope. Paul Pierce is "The Truth", but Gary Neal can be the "G-Train"..

Maybe "The Hammer" or "The Nail" or some other word that works with Neal. I really don't get Spur fans mocking their own player when he is doing so well. You don't see Laker fans calling Kobe "The Rapist".

[wunderkindepiphany]

Gary Neal is doing well, but still has quite a bit of room for improvement. Those who say he's built like a football player are off the mark. His trunk and his musculature are not characteristic of a football player. He is a more compact that RMJ, but he also gives up some height in comparison, so that is to be expected. His defensive rotations still need work, but he is aggressive and that bodes well. His shot is beautiful. He will need to continue to place his emphasis on defensive rotation and footwork, because he will constantly be placed in mismatch situations with bigger/heavier players who will attempt to post him up or use their size as an advantage. Overall, I like him on the second unit and his shot is falling so thats nice to see. I'd love to watch him, George, Blair, Dice, and Jefferson tear it up.

[TD 21]

The people that are saying Mason and Neal are nothing alike are using revisionist history..

Mason didn't show any major flaws during his great 1st half of the season in 08-09..he did mix mid-range shooting with his long range game..he was never great at driving to the basket, but he did mix some of that too..

His flaws as a ballhandler weren't exposed until defenses keyed in on him after a few months, like timvp said..

His defense wasn't exposed at all, there were actually people here talking about how he's a better defender than they thought he would be, just like they're saying about Neal right now..it wasn't until other teams started exposing his defense and going at him, where everybody here started calling him out for it, I was actually one of the first IIRC..

Also, Mason was going up against starting units most of the time, not bench guys like Neal has been going up against..Roger also didn't have any problems with confidence until the 2nd half of the season, and until Pop moved him to PG..

The bright side for Neal and what will help him out will be the fact that his role won't be as important as Mason's was during that 1st season..players like Mason and Neal should have strict roles as spark plugs, and Neal could fit into that minor role very well..he also won't have to guard SFs and bigger SGs, which Mason actually had to do at times..

I like what I'm seeing from Neal, but we'll see when teams adjust to him..a lot of revisionist history here..

You make some valid points, but the difference is, in Mason's first season with the Spurs, he was the third option offensively. Neal is so far down the list of concerns for teams and will continue be, no matter how well he plays. If he's a 40% 3 point shooter by mid season, I'm sure they'll be a brief mention of him on scouting reports, but teams aren't going to make him a priority or key on him against this team.