THE GAZE name is the most famous in Australian basketball history, but Mason seems to be thriving with the weight it brings, enjoying a strong start to the NBL1 South Men’s season.

Son of the legendary Andrew, Gaze has come up through the Melbourne Tigers junior program, which has produced the most Olympic Athletes of any club in Australia. With his father now coaching the Tigers in the NBL1, Mason has worked his way into the team with solid progression over the past few years.

After getting some junior experience through the VJBL and Big V, Gaze is now a member of the starting lineup for the Tigers in the NBL1, and has put together some strong performances for Melbourne over the first three weeks.

Although he was solid in the Round 1 win over the Sabres, it was Gaze’s second outing in the loss to Kilsyth that truly impressed. Speaking to Rookie Me Central at the Melbourne Tigers combine testing day, Gaze said that he was happy to see the ball find the bottom of the net.

“It was good,” he said. “That first game I struggled, but it was hard to be too critical given the margin of victory. Despite that performance individually, I was still happy to come away with the win. So to come out in that second one, find the bottom of the net, hit a few shots early, it was really good for my confidence.

“Hopefully that helps out other guys by being able to create more of a scoring threat for them and spread the defence a bit more. Down the other end, I was happy with my defence in the second half. In the first half, I was a bit lackluster down that end of the floor. We pride ourselves on our defence, so making that adjustment, I was really happy with that.

“Hopefully I will continue to hit shots the right way and not force it, and if that means a higher total for me personally goes towards a victory, I will take it.”

Gaze is one of many players to come through the junior system at Melbourne, joining the Tigers at an early age and coming through the VJBL system, before heading into the Big V and eventually NBL1 teams.

Now, many of Gaze’s teammates in the NBL1 team have experience playing with him through the junior program, furthering the success of the program, which breeds excellent chemistry when the players reach the top level.

“Its awesome, I’ve been at MSAC since I was a one-year-old,” he said. “All through juniors I stayed at the club. Before it was the NBL1 it was the SEABL, so I was fortunate enough to train with the Tigers then. I was learning from guys who just finished NBL, like Nate Tomlinson and Daryl Colletto and just being able to train with them was a fantastic opportunity.

“A lot of our boys did play juniors here. It might not have been through Under 12s like me, but because they did come through the program, that really helps us with our on court performance and with the system that we run. It’s complex, we understand that, but because of the junior program, it sets us up for success on the court.”

On the season, Gaze is averaging 12.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 43 per cent from the field, which included a season-high 20 points in the loss to the Cobras in Round 2 of the fixture.

Gaze has slotted into the starting lineup seamlessly, and does not demand too much of the ball to have an impact, which is great along high-usage players such as Tom Wilson (who has just signed with Melbourne United for the upcoming NBL season), and the young gun says it is one of his biggest strengths.

“I move well off the ball and that kind of goes to the system that has been run throughout the juniors,” he said. “In our current senior team, there is a lot of off ball movement that isn’t seen as much in today’s basketball world.

“I like to think I move off the ball well and play off the passers that we have in Tommy Wilson, Jack Purchase, and Reece Bray. They’re all fantastic passers, so being able to help them make good passes because they’re willing and being able to read the defence and play off that are some of my biggest strengths too.

“I’m still working on my perimeter shooting to try and find my consistency. I’m a little bit up and down, more so than I’d like to be, but when it’s good, I feel like one of my stronger points is perimeter shooting. As I said before, I feel like my on-ball defence is something I am trying to improve on, and I feel like I am.”

The Tigers’ season will continue next Thursday, when they host the Nunawading Spectres at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre to try and improve to a record of four wins and one loss, which would put them among the stronger sides to start the fixture.