NATE MASON

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touchdownvikings

touchdownvikings

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You emerged as a warrior and a leader - in an undeniable way - at 6:46 in the second half of the Michigan game. You guys had been starting to gel in recent games; horrible losses from earlier in the season had begun to rot away and fertilize close, competitive losses. And the Michigan game looked no different, it contained the promise of a team to be reckoned with next year. Then, toward the end of the first half, it started slipping away and the team was down big, and the naysayers and skeptics crawled out of their (gopher)holes. At that moment, it would have been easy for you to crawl into your hole and give up. Instead, you sunk two free throws, came out like a maniac on D, got the steal going to the ground for the ball, and had the presence of mind to call time out. You inspired a furious comeback that fell *just* short - you guys weren't quite ready to win. What you did there - that was leadership, combat, and pure exercise of will. I remember that moment as the moment I knew you were a leader of this team. Come back strong next year, and don't let the bastards get you down. Learn, grow, don't look back, and be better than ever next year. He who laughs last laughs best, my friend.
 









touchdownvikings said:
You emerged as a warrior and a leader - in an undeniable way - at 6:46 in the second half of the Michigan game. You guys had been starting to gel in recent games; horrible losses from earlier in the season had begun to rot away and fertilize close, competitive losses. And the Michigan game looked no different, it contained the promise of a team to be reckoned with next year. Then, toward the end of the first half, it started slipping away and the team was down big, and the naysayers and skeptics crawled out of their (gopher)holes. At that moment, it would have been easy for you to crawl into your hole and give up. Instead, you sunk two free throws, came out like a maniac on D, got the steal going to the ground for the ball, and had the presence of mind to call time out. You inspired a furious comeback that fell *just* short - you guys weren't quite ready to win. What you did there - that was leadership, combat, and pure exercise of will. I remember that moment as the moment I knew you were a leader of this team. Come back strong next year, and don't let the bastards get you down. Learn, grow, don't look back, and be better than ever next year. He who laughs last laughs best, my friend.
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Interestingly, Mason actually regressed statistically this year. Shot much worse from 3, turned it over slightly more, lower steal %, lower block %, lower offensive and defensive rebounding %. He did shoot better from 2 and from the line, and his assists went up quite a bit. Net net, his ORtg dipped slightly.

Clearly the move to handling the ball forced him into more of a facilitator role, which affected his shooting. Will be interesting to see if he can regain 2015's shooting and maintain 2016's passing. I'm not sure why the role change would affect his steals, blocks, or defensive rebounding.
 


Mason seems like he's due to see a spike in the FG % if he has better guys around him. He has to take so many tough shots at the end of the shot clock that are low percentage. He's got a good stroke and he looks like a good offensive player.

At least that's how I'm going to rationalize it.

I think reasonable statistical expectations for Mason should be somewhere around 14 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 42% shooting, 36% from 3.
 

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