I know, starting a thread about Bonner is a rarity around these places, but I'll just go ahead and do it.
So, Matty Ice has been used very little so far, but anybody else gets the feeling he'll be prominently back into the rotation sometimes around the AllStar break, and a lock to his pants again in the playoffs?
Possible subplots going on right now:
- Spurs are showcasing Blair and/or Tiago for a possible trade
- Spurs think Matty just gets tired by the time the playoff roll around, so they're giving him rest early
- CIA Pop makes it seem Matty is in the doghouse to see if any team calls and show some interest in him
- Pop heard Sequ complaining and got scared
- Pop thought Spurs would struggle without Matty's floor-spacing and it backfired
- CIA Pop doesn't want the team to rely on Matty's 3s and would rather save his best weapon as an addition to an established offense
- Pop's just fkn over his head, fkn wanker
- Holt is making an example with Matty of what he meant when he said "they haven't felt enough pain yet"
- The FO feels Matty would make a good coach/assistant coach/FO person long term, and they're showing him the in and outs of the team without the added pressure of delivering during play (see Sean Marks)
- Matty just isn't very good, and in the long term, it just makes sense to go away from him.
He said himself in an interview up in Boston that he "fell out of the rotation", so if there is a nefarious plot going on he is either unaware or playing it masterfully. Personally, I think the obvious set in over the summer and the entire organization realized Bonner is never going to be a consistent difference maker in the playoffs so they might as well learn to play without him. But who knows, long season.
I definitely think that he's pretty much done. Too much evidence to date shows that. Sure, if some guys continue to be inconsistent and not perform, Pop may be forced into going back to Bonner, however, as of now he's firmly planted in his current role.
He'll end up getting a ton of minutes in the next couple of games.
Tim's minutes should decrease (or he'll sit out the game entirely) proportionally to Ginger's increasingly allotted playing time.
Splitter needs to start showing some consistency and Diaw needs to stop coasting every other game to avoid Bonner being inserted back into the rotation. It's likely Bonner will be put back into the lineup if both of those guys continue what they are doing.
Or I hope I'm just wrong and Pop gives this time to Splitter and Diaw/Blair with a twinkle of a small ball rotation featuring a "big" and four guards.
The Miami game will be interesting...especially now since we don't have SJax or Kwahi to throw at Miami.
With a slight more emphisis on defence this year, I think Bonner is falling out of rotation. It's obvious that D has never been one of Mattys strong suits. I truly believe his days are numbered in the NBA. The Spurs keep him around in the same vain as they kept Sean Marks around back in the day. It's a guy everyone likes, a mascot of sorts.
The only thing that makes sense is that Pop analyzed everything over the summer and finally realized that he can't rely on Bonner if the Spurs are going to be a true championship contender. That explains why Bonner barely played in preseason and why Pop has been quick to relegate him to the fifth bigman spot once Blair showed even a glimmer of promise.
We can try to think of other plausible scenarios but I think it's a straightforward situation. That said, with injuries and Pop's minute managing, a fifth bigman is still going to get some time in the regular season.
He's the 8th inning set up man. I think it works.
If you put him in the 4th where no one expects him, the defense takes a minute or two to adjust. By then he's already done his job. Maybe he even hits a couple of threes during this stretch. Take him out when the real guys have to get back in.
worked against LAC- actually sparked us to have a shot at the win
worked against Indiana- come in, hit a shot, draw a charge, come out. boom momentum shift
worked against Toronto- come in down by 3, draw a foul, spread the floor, leave the game up by 2
maybe I'm imagining things, but it's working.
Yes but you can insert any random skilled player in this scenario, Hardly a useful use for Bonner.
like who? Who else on this team would the team benefit from his playing ONLY 4-6 crucial 4th quarter minutes and nothing else other than a few clipboard plays to end halves?
Anyone who you prep for such a scenario, point being it's not really anything particularly valuable. Maybe you get DeColo, maybe Anderson perhaps Stephen Jackson. The jist of what I'm explaining is that he's not invaluable.
Invaluable? No. But De Colo and Anderson aren't among the best shooters in the world nor are they remotely defensive pesks (not saying Bonner is good defensively, but he holds his own), opposing coaches and bigs wouldn't need to adjust to them coming onto the floor and stretching the offense at random times.
And yeah, let's see how happy Jack would be playing 5 minutes a game.
Not to mention that he does not HELP the Spurs' rebounding woes. He can get you a stop but not the rebound.
I seem to recall a play back in last season's series against the Jazz - game 2 or 3, where the Spurs were down by 1 as halftime neared and Manu threw a pass across the court to Bonbon for a 3. Spurs up by 2 heading into the second half.
I vote for "a lock to his pants again in the playoffs."
However, in your hypothesis I see two words noticeably absent....'spreads' and 'floor.'
Probably this. Pop's trying to be a hero, playing hero ball. So's Matt Bonner. They should stop trying to be heroes and get kawhi the ball even though he's injured. He needs to shoot more bad shots.
Bonner's role this season is to come in and help make a come back when the Spurs are down. It's Pop's way of saying to the other players, "you all suck so bad, Bonner is getting some playing time."
Again, he is easily replacable not just with anyone elese in the team but even if someone else was brought in via free agency. What is the value of having someone play 5 minutes every once in a while? yes he may help out here and there but that's not attributed to his greatness but rather great coaching by Pop.
Spurs fans have been waiting for this moment for years.
Sucks it took Pop so long to finally do it, but better late than never
team on the floor already too much scoring less defense, if he continues to put his body on the floor drawing charges, gettin rebounds and spacing the floor...he will continue to get minutes here and there....its a question of who falls out the rotation when POP is done showcasing his crap trade bait no one is biting aka dancing bear
This is the first time I said this, but I actually like Bonner against the Clippers in the last game we played them as the 5th big. It's a similar the role he had on our last Championship team, and it is the role he should have had all along. He should be a 5th big at best, nothing more.
I think Pop may showcasing Tiago, the turds tower are impossible to move but Tiago on the other hand may interest someone. That would explain why he moved Diaw to the second unit : to spoonfeed Tiago and inflate his value when the rest of the league is thinking that he's trying to sell them on Blair.
/crackpot theory
It's amazing it's taken Pop 5 years to realize Bonner isn't a rotation player on a championship squad.Spurs fans have been waiting for this moment for years.
Sucks it took Pop so long to finally do it, but better late than never
Pop's just limiting Bonners minutes during the regular season to keep him fresh for the playoffs where he's going to play most of each game.....
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