Player evaluation: Roger Mason

by Mike Prada on May 22, 2007 12:24 AM EDT in Player Analysis

Everyone loves an underdog story, right? Everyone loves a local story too, right? In a certain way, Roger Mason was both.

I guess the underdog thing is a bit of a stretch. Mason went to Virginia for college ball, playing on the perpeptually underachieving Mason-Adam Hall-Donald Hand-Travis Watson-Pete Gillen teams. He left school after his sophomore year, which was probably a mistake, but still got drafted by the Bulls in the second round. Two years later, he was out of the league, but he made a name for himself overseas and came back hoping to make the Wizards roster out of training camp. He did so, and was actually a decently effective bench player for much of the season.

Mason's still an undersized combo guard, but he displayed pretty good defense and a nice outside touch. He had 10 points in Game 2 of the Cleveland series and thoroughly outplayed DeShawn Stevenson in that game. Certainly, he was more valuable this season than Donnell Taylor.

But the problem remains, how can you keep both of them? Taylor has more athleticism and upside; Mason is the smarter player. Both are free agents, and I can't see how the Wizards can justify keeping both. Mason fits in fairly well, but I don't think he's going to be any better than a 11th-12th man. I feel like the Wizards might as well keep the guy with more upside (Taylor) than Mason.

Disagree? Let me know. I'm not solid on my Taylor over Mason stance, but if neither will play much anyway, why not keep the more talented guy?

In fact, I'll make the defense easier for you. Just cite his pimp ride.

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Mason vs. Taylor

But Mason has one skill that Taylor doesn't. He can shoot. I think its important that the guys coming off the bench be able to hit the open jumper.

by hotplate on May 22, 2007 7:42 AM EDT reply actions

He can shoot?

33% from the field this year
32% from three
39% effective field goal percentage
45% true shooting percentage

Those aren't the percentages of a good shooter.

Here are Donnell Taylor's:

40% from the field
18% from three
41% effective field goal percentage
42% true shooting percentage

Not a huge difference.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on May 22, 2007 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions

shot selection

I can't buy into those stats. Most of Taylor's minutes came in utter garbage time. How many buckets did he hit when they meant anything? I can recall two, and that's because I remember twice saying out loud, "wow, Taylor actually hit a shot?!?"

Mason has the makings of an three-point threat. That can be very valuable for spacing and stopping opposing teams from cheating too much on the help defense when Gilbert is driving to the bucket. Taylor has no jump shot, and his drives to the basket only work out when it's third string against third string.

Unless the Wizards can bag Jason Kapono or something, I think there's definitely room on the bench for Mason.

by sierradave on May 22, 2007 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Disagree on your post

I have to disagree with you post on Mason on one aspect of the game - defense. Mason fits in perfect with the rest of the Wizards as a defender - he's awful. Taylor is much quicker and stays in front of his man better.

That being said, although Donell is a better ballhandler, Mason is clearly a better shooter, especially from three point range. But he is very one-dimensional, he's a bit of a chucker. Mason rarely drives to the hoop because he doesn't have the quickness or the handle to get there - not something you want from a point guard.

The one thing that always bothered me about Mason isn't his fault. Eddie Jordan played him over AD plenty of times this season when we needed AD's heady play and solid defense. Yeah, AD isn't going to win the Sixth Man of the Year award, but he showed in the playoffs this year that he can still play, despite getting the Brendan Haywood treatment from Eddie Jordan.

And yeah, that was a really long comment. Can you tell I'm at work?

by mamemimo on May 22, 2007 4:18 PM EDT reply actions