McDonald: Horry All But Gone; Finley Still Listening

[exstatic]

We HOPE Mason is a better shooter and we HOPE he has the ability to hit the shot off the dribble and penetrate, but wildbill2u's assertion isn't "completely unfounded".

Mason has had one decent shooting year, and really a good 10-game stretch where he started and was extremely productive. Spurs fans, most of which never heard of Mason before he signed with the team, are HOPING that he can recreate that production....but it's not a given.

If Mason does falter (let's hope not!) early and Udoka struggles to be consistent, the Spurs will need SOMEONE to pick up the slack. If it's Finley, the Spurs are screwed. But let's be honest, if it's anyone else....the Spurs are screwed.

Re-creating or even besting Finley's production from last year isn't that high a bar to hit, and really, that's Mason's target. I think Mason will do fine, probably much BETTER than Finley if he's given Fin's opportunities. To me, the BIG plus of Mason is that he's already played in a motion offense (the Princeton) with Washington, something most new Spurs struggle to learn in year one. I also expect the usual year two bump in productivity from Udoka this year.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Why aren't the Mavs trying to bring Finley home?

Because he's old and he sucks.

As others have mentioned, the Spurs had to sacrifice defense, the flow of their offense, and touches for other players just to even get Finley going in a game.

It's really pretty sad Pop even wants to bring the guy back as a reserve. I don't mind having a vet or two on the squad that can produce in limited time, but how can you count on him off the deep bench when the only way he showed a pulse in games last year was if you sacrificed the entire offense to get him some shots and dealt with the reality of playing defense 4 on 5?

[AFBlue]

Re-creating or even besting Finley's production from last year isn't that high a bar to hit, and really, that's Mason's target. I think Mason will do fine, probably much BETTER than Finley if he's given Fin's opportunities. To me, the BIG plus of Mason is that he's already played in a motion offense (the Princeton) with Washington, something most new Spurs struggle to learn in year one. I also expect the usual year two bump in productivity from Udoka this year.

Udoka's year-two bump is really what I'm looking for this season.