Roger Mason Jr. was acquired by the Spurs mainly because of his shooting touch and his accuracy from behind the arc. Though he had a good run with the Spurs last season, this year has been struggle for Mason.
Last year he averaged 11.8 points per game as a starter. This season he is only averaging 6.5 points while coming off the bench so far. For that reason, some suggested that he should be placed into the starting lineup because it might help him get his confidence back and find his shooting stroke in the process.
But besides confidence, Mason is lacking consistency to his game. He is slowly coming back from an injury and coming off the bench could be affecting his numbers. It goes without saying, he needs to realize for the Spurs to be a better team, he should start hitting his shots and provide a boost from the bench.
In other words he should not be worried about his role or affected by who is he playing with on the floor. Even with new guys in the current Spurs lineup he must blend in and just do his thing.
It could be a mental thing and this might be the key for Mason, he definitely can shoot and he knows it. Think of it this way, “The more shots you make, the better you feel”.
To be fair, Mason had a five game stretch wherein he averaged 11.4 points per game when Manu was out. And then he played a good game scoring 19 points in 34 minutes against the Suns. Maybe he just needs more time to get back to his comfort zone.
With the way things are going for the Spurs lately, they will need every bit of help from their role players to start beating quality opponents and to catch up with the league’s elite.
Mason is one of those players, let’s hope that the help that the Spurs are looking for doesn’t come a little too late.
What do you guys think? Does Mason need to start to bring his confidence back and play better? Will he finally play good consistent basketball given more minutes even coming off the bench? Or will he continue to struggle either a starter or coming from the bench?
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