Desmond Mason Q and A
February 8, 2007
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Desmond Mason capped perhaps his finest two-game stretch of the 2006-07 season Thursday night, scoring 24 points and grabbing seven rebounds in a double-overtime win against one of his former teams, Milwaukee. Mason’s stellar performance came 24 hours after he dropped in the game-winning hoop in a 114-112 OT triumph at Denver – the first decisive basket of the small forward’s career, on any level.
Hornets.com caught up with the 29-year-old Oklahoma State product in the Hornets’ locker room to discuss his game-winner, the NBA slam dunk contest and his beloved OSU Cowboys’ defeat to the Oklahoma Sooners on Wednesday.
Eichenhofer: So which of your two former teams do you enjoy beating more, Milwaukee or Seattle?
Mason: I like ALL victories. [grins]
Eichenhofer: You’ve said that winning the NBA slam dunk contest as a rookie in 2001 was the most memorable moment of your career. Would you consider participating in the dunk contest again if the league asked you?
Mason: I don’t know. I think I might be getting a little too old for that. [laughs] Usually by this point in the season I have about 50 dunks. I think so far this year I only have about 15 or 20!
Eichenhofer: If they held a separate dunk contest in Las Vegas next weekend involving all of the former dunk-contest champions still active in the NBA, who would win? The choices are Brent Barry, Kobe, Vince Carter, you, Jason Richardson, Fred Jones and Josh Smith.
Mason: I’d have to go with Vince on that. I think I might (participate) if all of those guys were in it. [grins]
Eichenhofer: It was widely reported that your putback at Denver was the first deciding hoop you’ve ever made. You’re telling us that in all of the years you’ve played basketball, Wednesday was your first-ever game-winning basket? How is that possible? Should your past coaches have been drawing up more plays for you in close games?
Mason: Well, they drew up enough plays for me, man – I just missed them all. [grins] I had my chances, I just missed the shots!
Eichenhofer: Did your game-winning hoop at Denver help console you after you learned that the Oklahoma State Cowboys had lost to Oklahoma earlier that night Wednesday?
Mason: See, I didn’t hear that they lost until afterward. But you know what? It happens. The main thing is what team gets into the NCAA Tournament. When that happens, we’ll have another conversation.
Eichenhofer: Have you made it to any Oklahoma State games yet this winter?
Mason: Yeah, I’ve been to a few.
Eichenhofer: Was it a coincidence that when you helped get Houston’s Rafer Alston ejected from the game Saturday, it also allowed fellow OSU alum John Lucas Jr. to get a lot more playing time that night?
Mason: [grins] Yes. Honestly, I couldn’t care less if John played or not. And actually, it was Rafer who helped get ME tossed, not me helping get Rafer tossed.
Eichenhofer: You played much of this season without Chris Paul and David West and started facing double-teams frequently. How much easier is it for you on the floor with those two guys back?
Mason: It really hasn’t changed that much. Last night against Denver, it seemed like every time I touched the ball I was getting double-teamed. They’re still going to be using double-teams, but now we’re a lot more able to stretch the defense because of David’s ability to shoot the ball and Chris being back on the court. At some point, (opponents) are going to have to stop double-teaming because I can kick the ball out to those guys and they’ll beat you.
Eichenhofer: You mentioned in the summer that you were not content with how you performed in 2005-06, your first season as a Hornet. Do you feel more satisfied with how you’ve played this season?
Mason: The season’s not over. I think I’ll feel comfortable when we make the playoffs, if we can make it, then go out and compete and make some things happen. But right now, I don’t want to judge (this season).
Eichenhofer: One of your goals over the summer was to work on your shooting form. Do you feel more comfortable now with the way you are shooting the ball?
Mason: I am more comfortable in comparison to last season, but I’m still spending a lot of time on the post, so I haven’t really had the opportunity to play too much on the perimeter. As time goes on, it’s something that I’m going to have to try to get even more comfortable with.
It’s one of those things where I am going to go right back into the gym and do it all over again this summer. I’ve talked about it with Coach Scott. It’s going to take a while but I’m going to continue working on it.
