Pivotal campaign awaits Spurs' Bonner
Jeff McDonald - Express-News
The final buzzer of the Western Conference Finals last May might as well have been the starting gun for one of the busiest summers of Matt Bonner's life.
The Spurs forward spent two weeks of it at home in New Hampshire, running his charity basketball camp. He spent another fortnight in Africa, as part of the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program.
And then came the big date on his summer calendar: On Aug. 1, Bonner married his girlfriend in Toronto.
The wedding wasn't exactly as highly anticipated as the Tony Parker-Eva Longoria “I-dos” of the summer before. Paparazzi, for instance, weren't quite the nuisance at the Bonner nuptials.
“The biggest celebrity there,” Bonner said, “was probably my little brother.”
It was only after the wedding that Bonner was able to take a breath. He and his new bride, Nadia, embarked on a relaxing honeymoon to Bora Bora.
Hopefully, the short vacation left Bonner refreshed.
Back in Spurs training camp, and back on the job, Bonner is facing perhaps the most pivotal season of his basketball-playing life.
Robert Horry, the primary obstacle in Bonner's path to playing time the past two seasons, has been shipped off to the NBA's version of the old folks home. Entering his third season with the Spurs, Bonner stands first in line for those Horry minutes as a shooting big man off the bench.
As such, Bonner, 28, should finally have ample opportunity to justify the three-year, $9-million contract the Spurs awarded him last summer.
“This is really the first time he's going to be the lead character in the play at his position,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He's always kind of been in the shadow of Robert Horry. He's got a chance to step out of the shadows and show he deserves those minutes.”
By most accounts, last season was supposed to be Bonner's big breakout. A 6-foot-10 gunner with legitimate 3-point range, Bonner was expected to be key piece of the Spurs' bench.
There were some bright spots: Most notably the 25-point, 17-rebound effort he logged at Golden State in December, starting in place of an injured Tim Duncan.
As a whole, however, Bonner's second season in San Antonio was somewhat of a disappointment.
His scoring average and shooting percentage dropped from the year before, even as his minutes rose. He ended the year averaging 4.8 points per game, and shooting 33.6 percent from 3-point range.
By season's end, Bonner had fallen completely out of Popovich's rotation.
Heading into a new season, the expectations have reset for Bonner. No less an authority than Duncan has singled him out as a player whose development is paramount to the Spurs' success this season.
“Matt Bonner is going to have to step up and play a lot better for us,” Duncan said. “And he's going to have the opportunity to.”
For the newlywed Bonner, the honeymoon is over in more ways than one. If he doesn't make a dramatic leap forward, he could find himself on the trading block as the season progresses.
Down to his last good chance, Bonner has primed himself to prove himself to the Spurs. He spent whatever downtime he had during his hectic summer working out in San Antonio, enduring a regimen that included, among other things, flipping truck tires.
“If a fan throws a giant tractor tire on the court, I'll be the first one to help,” Bonner said, obligingly.
When the topic turns to the crucial season ahead, the Spurs' happy-go-luckiest player turns serious.
Bonner realizes the significance of the campaign to come in the arc of his career. His hope is to perform well enough to make his season as busy as his summer.
“Looking at the big picture, there is an opportunity there for me,” Bonner said. “I'm going to do everything I can to be ready to take advantage of it.”
Well, perhaps he is also in line to take Barry's place on the team as the goofy white guy.Down to his last good chance, Bonner has primed himself to prove himself to the Spurs. He spent whatever downtime he had during his hectic summer working out in San Antonio, enduring a regimen that included, among other things, flipping truck tires.
“If a fan throws a giant tractor tire on the court, I'll be the first one to help,” Bonner said, obligingly.
I still would've preferred it if the Spurs could've landed Eduardo Najera to take some of this guy's minutes. I predict Bonner will likely become trade bait beffore season's end.
Bonner will do like last year, play well for a while, up on defense for the millionth time, and then be benched and on the trading block.
He just doesn't have the winning mentality the Spurs require.
I think he is a good 3 pointer, lousy defender, and really work his ass out. I think he can have one more chance to prove he belong with the Spurs.... sometimes he play fantastic...(sometimes is the key word)
Bonner will be fine and will be a significant upgrade over Horry.
Hopefully he gets 22-25 minutes over the 1st half, and really gets confident and shows everyone his potential. And learns the defense. He hustles like crazy, if only he knew the general area he's supposed to be most of the time.
So he stopped practicing throwing bricks at the basket.
He now turns at throwing truck tires.
Interesting upgrade.
Gonna have to agree here. He shows flashes but has zero consistency in his play. I hope he proves me wrong, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was on his way out before the all star break.
his little brother? poor Matt. even his little brother...“The biggest celebrity there,” Bonner said, “was probably my little brother.”
hates him...
We would have been better off keeping Sean Marks and about 6 million.
As long as he plays he'll be better than Horry. I don't think Horry even played for the Spurs last season. He just collected a check and went home.
Let's also not forget that Bonner is a horrific defender. I hope he proves me wrong and plays "out of his mind" this season - but in reality, I don't see that happening.
Yeah, because Pop never plays three point shooters that can't defend.
As demanding and uncompromising of a coach as Pop is, it's surprising that he gave such leeway to such "over-the-hill", offensively-only-type players, such as NVE and Finley.Yeah, because Pop never plays three point shooters that can't defend.
I guess that's a testimony as to how desparate he's been to generate offense outside of the Big Three.
With Horry no longer here, it's important for Bonner to log productive minutes on a consistent basis. He needs to rebound, hit the open shot and not screw up plays.
Hard to compare those two to Bonner though. NVE was an experiment gone bad and you know as well as I do that the Finley man crush runs so inexplicably deep with Pop that he could probably insult Pop's mom to his face and still get 20 min. a game.Yeah, because Pop never plays three point shooters that can't defend.
So Pop could leave Bonner in the game and let him work through his mistakes. Why is it that we all know that he won't? The same reason we know that he won't punish Finley for the exact same thing.
It's a very odd double-standard - to say the least. One that we all know exists.
I just don't see Matt bringing the court savvy that Robert Horry brought....ever. Matt's not wired the same. Bonner can hustle and focus on rebounding, loose balls, playing physical, and knocking down open shots from the perimeter. He is what he is.
Horry could pass, slip screens and cut to the rim at the right time, he played the high-low to Tim very well, he rotated instinctively. Anticipation and experience were key factors to Rob's success defensively. Bonner has shown none of those qualities.
You can't replace what Rob did but Bonner can use what skills he has and he can PAY ATTENTION to what is going on out there. That would help.
I think the only pivotal moment for Bonner in this campaign is to know where he will be traded...
timmy has called him out. if bonner has another gear, he needs to find it quick. that said, he's gone by Feb.
what do you mean "another" gear? dude's been playing in neutral
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