LAS VEGAS - Tim Mauney leaned in and reminded his son J.B. to keep moving, and to make sure he has fun.

Wednesday night, he also told him to take charge.

"That's what I always tell him," the elder Mauney said, "whether he listens or not is another story."

J.B. covered Sic 'Em Sam for 87.25 points, and after the first of six rounds at the 2011 Built Ford Tough World Finals, the North Carolina native is fourth in the average on a night when the top riders in the world only covered nine of 43 bulls at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Mauney, who is ranked 11th in the world standings, has had what he considers a subpar year. Prior to the opening round of the Finals, he spoke openly about his disappointment in 2011 and the importance of ending the season with what he hopes is another Finals event win.

"If you have a good Finals, it sets you up for next year," he said, "so it always helps out."

'If you have a good Finals, it sets you up for next year.'

Only once in his previous five seasons has Mauney finished outside the Top 3 of the world standings, and that was in his rookie year of 2006. when he competed in only half the events.

This year, his 41.46-percent riding average is the lowest of his six-year career, and 14 percent below his career average of 55.23. In fact, he's struggled enough that his career average dropped more than 2.6 percent this year alone.

"It shouldn't be any different," said Mauney, who didn't have any answers as to why he's had a drop-off in production. "I've let things get to me, thinking too much, not keeping it simple like I used to always do, and it's hurt me pretty bad. I haven't been doing near what I should be doing.

"That's no excuse. You're still supposed to be able to ride them."

He told two-time World Champion Justin McBride that he has the ability to win the Finals and he knows he can win on any given weekend, but admitted he hasn't been consistent throughout the Built Ford Tough Series.

When asked how he wanted to be remembered, Mauney said, "As one of the best bull riders in the world.

"I hadn't been riding very good and kind of quitting the ship early, when I should have been bearing down. You get to fighting your head and doing things wrong, but it all boils down to 'keep your chin down, keep your hand shut.'"

He did that Wednesday.

On a night when the heroes and legends of the sport were honored along with the current Top 40 bull riders in the world as part of the opening introductions, the 24-year-old showed himself to be as gritty as fans remember him to be.

In 2009, Mauney became the first and only rider in PBR history to cover all eight bulls at the PBR World Finals in a losing bid for the World Championship. Since then he's had the worst two-year stretch in his professional career.

However, he said 2011 has been a learning experience.

"I'm not 19 anymore," said Mauney, "and I'm finally realizing I should have been a little smarter about things in the past, but that's the way it goes. I'm not going to catch anybody for a World Championship this year.

"All I can do is show them what I can do at the Finals here, and then once the Finals are over, restart all over again, go on get on practice bulls and get everything back right. And show up next year and try to do it again."

That restart includes a trip to visit Dr. Tandy Freeman.

Mauney has favored his injured right knee for so long that it's believed the cartilage is gone in his left knee. He'll have two custom-made knee braces for 2012, but this week he'll rely on the sports medicine team to tape them both up for support.

McBride noted that in the past - before the injuries began to mount - there was little to no expectation, whereas today, Mauney's expected to win events and maintain a Top 5 standing.

The champ also wondered if coming so close and not winning - twice Mauney has finished second in the world and two other times he's been third - has "taken the wind out of his sail."

'I hate losing. I hate my guts when I lose.'

"No one is worse on me than myself," said Mauney, whose priorities have changed since becoming a father earlier this year. "I hate losing. I hate my guts when I lose. I'm bad because I know it's something I've done, especially if I didn't try as hard as I was supposed to - then it really eats me up."

He's twice scored in excess of 4,000 points at the Finals. Another time he was within 100 points of scoring 3,000.

He's off to a solid start this week.

Nine-time World Champion Ty Murray told Mauney that he can't guarantee he's going to stay on, get a score or even that he'll live, but he can guarantee that he will bear down for the remainder of the week.

"That's it," Mauney said.