Reply With Quote
It's disappointing that this article isn't about Roger Mason Jr.'s favorite recipes.
Mason enjoys creating for mates
Mike Monroe
DALLAS — Roger Mason Jr. suffered through his worst shooting night of the season on Monday at Staples Center, a 1 for 9 clunker against the Clippers that was more minor annoyance than major concern.
Making a rare case of bricklayer's disease tolerable was the ease with which Mason transitioned back into a role as Tony Parker's primary backup at point guard, along with having grabbed a season-high nine rebounds.
Mason ran the Spurs' offense for three portions of Monday's 106-78 victory and exited the game happy with the number of open shots that had been created for his teammates during his turns at the point, especially during the second quarter, when the Spurs turned the game into a blowout.
“Honestly, I came into (the Clippers game) telling myself I wasn't going to worry about scoring the ball,” Mason said. “I wanted to do other things to help the team. I would have loved to have shot better, but I really wanted to focus in defensively.
“Coach told me I was going to be playing some backup (point guard), so I wanted to get other guys involved. It would have been nice to hit a few more shots, but it felt good to run a team again.”
Mason doesn't know if he will be asked to run the point more in the Spurs' remaining 23 games, with rookie George Hill sliding more to the shooting guard role.
“I have no idea about that,” he said. “I enjoyed it. I like it. I think we had a good thing going in the second quarter. We had some open shots, but I will do whatever they ask me to do.”
Back to normal: Power forward Tim Duncan said his right knee felt good, both before and after he scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against the Clippers.
Duncan, who missed three games last week with tendonosis of the right quadriceps tendon, said he regained most of his on-court rhythm in his 28 minutes of work on Monday.
“I feel good,” he said. “Just trying to get my rhythm and wind back and trying to feel good on the court.”
Duncan said the Spurs are aware that guard Manu Ginobili, battling a stress reaction in his right ankle, on Thursday will reach the two-week mark of his projected two-to-three-week absence with the injury.
“You come into every year, and the one thing I always say is that if we're healthy, we have a chance,” Duncan said. “Obviously, we've dealt with some injuries throughout the year. Luckily enough, if you look around the league, it's been minor, compared to some other teams.
“We're fighting through it and playing through it. We can't wait to get Manu back soon and try to make a run for it at the end of the year.”
It's disappointing that this article isn't about Roger Mason Jr.'s favorite recipes.
Could this be a sign that we keep Pops and let voughn became an assistent coach ?
If the play making options became permanently 1) Parker; 2) Hill; 3) Mason (and, in emergency or special situations, 4) Gino 5) Udoka)...that could be considered enough for retaining a guy with some skill set we didn't have and that we probably need more than a third string play maker...
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions