Can Someone Explain Mason Plumlee to Me?

[RoxSteady]

On the one hand, his per 36 minutes stats and advanced stats are really good. On the other hand, his career MPG (22) is pretty limited and he's the butt of a few jokes.

Is it his FT%? Poor offense? Undeserving spot on Team USA? "Hating?"

[Collymore]

He is a beast in disguise.

[TGW]

He's a good player. Does the little things well.

[The_Hater]

On the one hand, his per 36 minutes stats and advanced stats are really good. On the other hand, his career MPG (22) is pretty limited and he's the butt of a few jokes.

Is it his FT%? Poor offense? Undeserving spot on Team USA? "Hating?"

Not sure how he’s going to get more mpg than that when his best position is Center and Jokic plays on his team?

He’s somewhat limited on offense although he’s an underrated passer, and he’s a solid defender but far from elite. Seems about right for 22 mpg but you generally don’t see career backups playing for the US national team not once, but twice. That’s where the jokes come in.

[Pattycakes]

He’s the “raw stiff” 99% of 7 footers get called with no offensive game whatsoever, but the difference with Mason is he has an extremely high bbiq and is very solid every minute he’s on the court bringing energy and hustle to the defensive end and boards. Basically hustle, the grand separator from mediocrity to the “success” of a Mason Plumlee.

[Alfred]

The reason he only plays 22 minutes a game is because he can’t stretch the floor and he plays behind Jokic. He does basically everything else you want though, like pass, hustle, play defense, grab boards, etc. so he’s an asset to any team he’s on.

The reason he gets invited to play for the National team is that he’s a complementary player who does the dirty work, makes smart plays and doesn’t demand the ball.

[RoxSteady]

The reason he gets invited to play for the National team is that he’s a complementary player who does the dirty work, makes smart plays and doesn’t demand the ball.

True. And he played for Coach K at Duke.

[Wigginstime]

Mason Plumlee is the ultimate role player who does the little stuff amazing but can't really do any of the big stuff. He is efficient because he has a strong understanding of his strengths and weaknesses.

Offensively
Weaknesses:
He doesn't have a a good post game and can't create his own shot.
He doesn't have a jump shot and shoots less than 20% when more than 3ft from the basket
Strengths:
Elite at moving without the ball. Exceptionally good at following the shots of other players. He is the type of center who has the perfect timing to make himself wide open the moment his defenders steps up to challenge a driving guard. He is also great at following the guard to tip in missed shots. This gets him a lot of easy wide open looks

Defensively
Weakness:
Poor 1v1 Defender - He will get slaughtered by any elite big in the league
Not a shot blocker or rim protector
Strengths:
Great court awareness and solid help defender.
Does this little things such as double teaming at the right time, good rotations, good decision making on pick and roll defense.
Willing to make the hussle plays such as diving for loose balls etc

Summary
Mason Plumlee - Can't score, create floor space, or defend the opposing teams best player. But does a lot of little things absolutely amazing. Hard works and good character also help him earn his time on the floor.

[Ree4erMadness]

He’s the “raw stiff” 99% of 7 footers get called with no offensive game whatsoever, but the difference with Mason is he has an extremely high bbiq and is very solid every minute he’s on the court bringing energy and hustle to the defensive end and boards. Basically hustle, the grand separator from mediocrity to the “success” of a Mason Plumlee.

Also, Mason is VERY athletic. But he really only gets to show this in the offseason when he's playing at different basketball camps.

[LastNameEver]

Wrong era of basketball. Hed be Birdman if this was 2005

[Jody Smokz]

He's fine as a player. Sometimes I think fans have a hard time understanding that there is nothing wrong with a guy being a role player by default. He's flawed just like any role player but he's solid at what he's asked to do.

Wrong era of basketball. Hed be Birdman if this was 2005

[The Rebel]

Wrong era of basketball. Hed be Birdman if this was 2005

The only ways that Plumlee and Andersen are similar is that they are white and neither one has a jump shot, other than that explain how he would be Birdman.

[The Rebel]

He is a good passer, solid at help defense and solid at man to man. His big issues is that he does not have a jump shot at all and he gets overpowered by big offensive Centers (Kanter and Boban always have a field day against him.)

He could start for some teams and was a starter in Portland for a while, but due to his lack of jump shot his minutes are always going to be limited behind Jokic.

[Duke4life831]

Mason is a prime example of a very good role player. He knows the role he is asked to play and he excels at it. Come in play 20-25 minutes of high energy smart basketball. He's not a high enough impact player on either side to be a starting big on a good team. But is the ideal 1st big off the bench for a good team. I'm sure coaches love him because he never tries to do more than what is asked, which means he rarely makes mistakes out on the court.

[flow]

Very good, underrated player.

High energy level. Major hustle. Near Rodman level on those fronts.

Great screen & roll setter. His game fit Portland better than it does Denver, but he's making it work. Portland is glad to have Nurkic, but they miss Plumlee at the same time. Can't shoot, but can do everything else.

.

[mitrandil20]

always thought of him as a great passer for a center too.

[Bergmaniac]

His brother Miles is the real mystery to me. Specifically how the hell he managed to get a 52 mln. contract. I know this happened in the summer of the massive cap spike, but still, 52 mln. 4 year contract for a guy who averaged 14.3 MPG, 5.2 PPG and 3.8 RPG on a 33 wins team and was 2 months shy of his 28th birthday is just bonkers.

[antonac]

The most important thing to Denver is that he knows his role, makes smart plays (I wouldn't say he has high BBIQ, he doesn't have some abnormally good feel for how a play will develop, he just doesn't make bad decisions) and plays hard.

Denver are so reliant on their bigs for how the whole team operates that pulling one of them out and replacing him with someone more inconsistent would be mean playing a whole different way.

Would still do the Nurkic deal every time even if the Blazers did end up with the much better player.

[Dacost]

Denver fans seem to like him however I'm so glad he is not playing with my team.

Dude a boring role player should be a spurs player.

[Scalabrine]

The reason he gets invited to play for the National team is that he’s a complementary player who does the dirty work, makes smart plays and doesn’t demand the ball.

True. And he played for Coach K at Duke.

Bingo.