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Mason evolving from just a spot up shooter to a slasher/cutter has been tremendous for the Spurs, whoever taught this to Mason/Bonner/Hill deserve some type of award
Jefferson holds his own against bigger foes
By Mike Monroe - Express-News
With power forward-center Matt Bonner on the shelf with a broken bone in his right hand, Spurs small forward Richard Jefferson has found himself matched up defensively with power forwards for significant stretches recently.
The list of big men Jefferson has banged with in the post includes Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge, Milwaukee's Hakim Warrick, New York's Al Harrington and, on Tuesday night at the AT&T Center, Minnesota's 6-foot-10, 250-pound Kevin Love.
It is not always the physical mismatch it appears. Jefferson on Tuesday more than held his own against Love. He also blocked a shot by 6-10, 265-pound Wolves center Al Jefferson early in the second quarter, then swatted another by Love a few minutes later. The official statisticians ruled the ball had slipped out of Love's hand before Jefferson knocked it aside, turning it into a turnover on Love, rather than a block for Jefferson.
Though only 6-7, Jefferson said he has had plenty of experience defending bigger players.
“No, blocking the bigs' shots isn't part of my defensive game,” Jefferson said, “but I'm long enough and athletic enough, and it's just a matter of being in the right spot to help out Timmy (Duncan).
“I played center in high school, and I know how to block shots. I jumped center in college, and I've played some big-man roles.”
Jefferson also had one of his most efficient offensive games, scoring 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting that included four 3-pointers on seven attempts.
He's No. 2: At halftime, it was hard to say which of the Spurs' backup guards had asserted himself more: Manu Ginobili or Roger Mason Jr.
By the time the Spurs had put the finishing touches on their 117-99 victory, their third straight, Ginobili's near triple-double had focused him squarely in the spotlight.
That was fine with Mason, content that he is re-establishing himself as a key contributor after ceding his starting role to Keith Bogans.
Mason continues to show he has ability beyond being a spot-up shooter from long range. He finished with 18 points, making four of seven 3-point shots.
“I'm just continuing to evolve as a player and realize I can get past my guy a lot of times and try to make the extra pass,” he said. “It's contagious. When one guy does it, then another guy wants to do it, and the next thing you know, one guy almost has a triple-double, like Manu tonight.”
Mason evolving from just a spot up shooter to a slasher/cutter has been tremendous for the Spurs, whoever taught this to Mason/Bonner/Hill deserve some type of award
Jefferson looked more comfortable out there tonight than he has looked in any game this season. He did a good job of staying out of foul trouble and even played really good help defense. Now we all have to hope that Pop doesn't fall in love with the idea of playing him a ton of minutes at PF.
All the Jefferson critics back into hibernation after that performance.
^don't worry first loss and RJ poor game bashing will be back
Mason Jr D is also better. His D in the first month was TERRIBLE, now he's doing fine
Okay for now but it won't work against all the bigs from LA.
That's when we bring out Theo (hopefully).
Love, 18 points, 12 rebounds.
Close to career high.
Mason evolving from just a spot up shooter to a slasher/cutter has been tremendous for the Spurs, whoever taught this to Mason/Bonner/Hill deserve some type of award
I agree. The staff have really added a key component to these guys games. I would say Hill already had it, but he also has been improving in both ball handling and confidence.
LOL!!! hardly. He still hasn't accomplished anything against a quality team other than one home game against dallas.All the Jefferson critics back into hibernation after that performance.
Minnesota is bad enough to make anybody look good.
This, although I'm enjoying watching some of the homers acting like this games shows that the Spurs are back in championship contention.
I'm looking forward to seeing him bring some good efforts against the top dogs too, but I'm willing to be patient. All the signs are there that he's starting to fit in.
Every game isn't going to be perfect like this one, but even a simple 14 point / 7 reb / 4 assist + good defense + a little 3 point shooting + a few throwdowns in 30 minutes of action is really all the spurs need to augment their big 3 enough to contend for a championship.
smallball that's all I have to say.
First and foremost, Manu has to continue to excel up to his all star capabilities on a consistent basis, and Jefferson, Mason and Blair have to continue to grow and give consistent efforts from here on in. It's just one game and the opponent is the lowly Wolves but this is a trend that is continuing and winning gves the guys confidence and contributes to on the court trust which builds chemistry. The most impressive thing about Jefferson tonight was his help defense on the bigs and I believe that this will help against any team even the Lakers.
rj is looking good recently
there's no way jefferson is only 6'7...i always thought he was closer to 6'9. am i wrong?
he's 6'7.25 without shoes, making him around 6'8.5 with shoes. he also has like a 7 feet wingspan.
Kinda wondering about that "held his own against Love" statement myself. Good game from Jefferson, no doubt, but he hardly shut Love down defensively.
This TEAM hasn't accomplished anything against a quality team. Hoping they start limiting the turnovers and sloppy play. It works against sub .500 teams but not against the elite. Gotta start gelling here shortly. Hopefully the rodeo trip does just that.
He should have marketed himself as 6'9" early on in his career and probably command a higher price.
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