Let's not forget why coach Self started Mason in the first place. And let's not forget what Mason has brought to this team.
It is always interesting the ebb and flow of the narrative. A few weeks ago, Mason was the "bulldog" and the one player on this team that would take charge. He was the most impressive player. He was nails vs. Duke. He reminded Self of Chalmers -- Self's words.
The only thing that changed was our horrible performance against zone defenses. That had just as much to do with coaching and preparation (particularly in the Villanova and Florida games) as the performance by the players.
And though coach Self says that Tharpe is better vs. zone defense, which appears to be correct, it is important to remember that Tharpe wasn't a star in Atlantis, at Colorado, or at Florida vs. zones. And Tharpe is not a savior vs. the zone. I recall Tharpe passing the ball to Ellis in the corner, he was immediately trapped; Ellis then barely escaped and got the ball back to Tharpe, who then passed it right back to Ellis, where he was immediately trapped again. I recall Tharpe throwing lazy passes. I recall Tharpe dribbling directly into traps. He's a junior, Mason a freshman.
Tharpe played well on Saturday vs. UNM. Tharpe may be the better fit for this team in the long run -- emphasis on may.
But I don't want to lose sight of what Mason brought to the table, and what he will bring to the table. Mason was shaky with his three point shooting early, but he was 2 for 3 from three point range vs. Florida and seemed to be finding his range.
Mason's overall performance vs. Florida was very poor. No doubt. But we were not prepared to handle Florida's 1-3-1. "We", meaning the team. And Self is in charge of getting the team prepared. They were not ready. That's on Self. We can say "young team" or whatever, but this is Self's baby.
The team was flat out not prepared for the half-court 2-2-1 and 1-2-1-1 vs. Villanova. Heck, we came directly out of a timeout vs. Villanova and Selden dribbled right over half court into a trap (after we had just been trapped doing the same thing moments before). We didn't have guys flashing to the proper spots. We didn't attack at all. That's lack of preparation. Then we were probably worse a few games later vs. Florida's half court trap.
I guess my main points are that 1) Mason is still the player we thought he was -- let's not forget that with the sudden change in the narrative, 2) Tharpe didn't play appreciably better vs the zone than Mason did prior to UNM, and 3) our struggles vs. the zone have had as much to do with preparation and coaching, as with performance.
And is it too far fetched to think that as the season progresses, and Mason cleans up some of the concerns Self might have with his play, that Mason reassumes the starting role? I don't.
