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Should someone email a schedule to Jeff?
Wrestling with a choice, Spurs' Bonner chooses to shoot
By Jeff McDonald
Finally, after 29 minutes and 33 seconds of grappling and tugging, scratching and clawing, Craig Smith had officially had quite enough of Matt Bonner.
The two were slap fighting for a rebound late in the Spurs' victory at Minnesota on Friday when Smith, the Timberwolves' Rottweiler of a power forward, went Greco-Roman. Smith hooked his right arm into Bonner's left and, in one fell motion, flung the Spurs center back-first onto the Target Center floor.
It was in that moment, staring at the ceiling both bewildered and amused, that Bonner first began to consider his eventual retirement.
“I think I've got a career in WWE coming up after basketball,” Bonner said. “Me and Craig Smith will start a tag team.”
Bonner, whose Spurs host Oklahoma City tonight, chuckled at the audacity of his own joke.
“Hey,” he said, “everybody needs a Plan B.”
These days, Bonner's improbable Plan A — starting center for the Spurs — seems to be working out just fine.
After languishing on the bench for much of his two seasons in San Antonio, causing some in the organization to privately wonder if he would amount to anything approaching a useful player, the 28-year-old Bonner at last seems to have discovered his NBA niche.
In six games since joining the starting five, Bonner is averaging 11.2 points and shooting 28 of 45 from the field — a simmering 62 percent. Bonner is making 51.9 percent of his shots from 3-point range, which means the Spurs' starting center also is the league's leading long-range marksman.
“It's a pretty easy gig, because you've got Tim (Duncan), Tony (Parker) and Manu (Ginobili),” Bonner said, failing to note that he occasionally also has the likes of Smith flying at him. “They attract a lot of attention.”
At 6-foot-10, Bonner isn't a conventional NBA center. He isn't an intimidating defender, and the next post-up basket he scores will be his first.
But Spurs coach Gregg Popovich loves the way Bonner's jump shot can stretch the floor, clearing space for a player who can score from the post, namely Duncan.
As such, Bonner has slid almost seamlessly into the role previously occupied by Robert Horry. In his fifth NBA season, Bonner is averaging career highs in points (7.8) and rebounds (4.6), while shooting 55.9 percent from the field, also a career best.
“He's finally getting minutes, consistent minutes,” Duncan said. “And he's learned to make the most of them.”
Bonner has played a significant part in the Spurs' five-game winning streak, a whirlwind turnabout from the three-game stretch in mid-November in which he logged a grand total of 42 seconds.
Bonner had fallen out of the rotation, and in private, some team officials wondered if he would be able to play his way back into it. If Bonner heard the whispers, he did his best to ignore them.
“When you start thinking about that kind of stuff, it will drive you crazy in this business,” Bonner said. “For me, it's a game, and I'm just going to work hard at it and do what I can to help the team win.”
Bonner readily admits his problem has always been one of confidence.
A self-flagellating perfectionist, Bonner would often flog himself over every missed shot. Long before Smith came along, Bonner was his own wrestling partner.
Eventually, he would stop shooting altogether, and eventually, he would find himself on the bench.
Bonner says he can't quite pinpoint the moment this season when his confidence began to increase. Popovich can.
“I decided to stop screaming at him and just let him play,” Popovich said.
Bonner disputes that account, at least partially.
“He still screams at me sometimes, but not for shooting,” Bonner said.
Still, Bonner does credit Popovich for clarifying his role earlier in the season. One day in November, Popovich came to Bonner with a simple directive: Shoot or sit.
“He made it clear: If I'm open, I need to shoot the ball,” Bonner said. “And if not, I'm not going to get in the game.”
Bonner has made his choice. He will shoot. And, Popovich willing, he will play.
The WWE's loss is the Spurs' gain.
Should someone email a schedule to Jeff?
Shoot or sit.
simple enough.
Attach some writing skills with it.
Does anyone have a video of Bonner getting wrestled to the floor? Cuz I didn't get the chance to watch this particular game.
Shoot or sit.
simple enough.
He meant that we don't play tonight. We play tomorrow at 6pm.
the posted date of the article:
Web Posted: 12/14/2008 12:00 CST
Is it just me or is the article by McDonald terrible.
Man this guy needs to read some of Jack Mccallum's articles to realize how bad his articles are. Just wish the Express-News had some one better than this guy.
he's a liar,too. Posted it a day after it showed up here. He still needs a schedule, and a calendar.
How does this punk still have a job? Come on timvp, apply for san antonio express news!!!
The common theme here is Pop's continued insistence on imploring players to shoot the basketball. This is a testimony as to the types of players the Spurs typcially bring in. I'll bet Pop never had to tell NVE to shoot.
SIMPLE ANSWER
TIMVP
Its after midnight, and the article is meant for the paper in the morning.
Fail
I like reading some of Timvp's articles, but Jack Mccallum is by far the best writer in sports.SIMPLE ANSWER
TIMVP
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ion/index.html
Now this is how you recap around the nba.
I'm surprised no one posted this on Spurs Talk.
The article will come out in Sunday's paper. The people who read the article in Sunday's paper will note that the Spurs do, in fact, play OKC "tonight".he's a liar,too. Posted it a day after it showed up here. He still needs a schedule, and a calendar.
A person can be incorrect, and still not be a liar. But in this case, he wasn't even incorrect. Calling another person a liar is serious business, and I was always taught that you better be damned certain that you know what you are talking about before doing so. You were obviously not raised the same way.
I don't know what kind of agenda you have, but the article isn't bad. If you are so convinced that it would be easy to do better, why not get in touch with the human resources department at the Express News, and apply for the job yourself?
This sig's for you.
228 has spoilt us.
There are some occasional bad articles in the Express but this is nothing to get worked up over at all.
To me, by far what was the most interesting revelation in the article is that Pop admitted he needed to quit yelling at Bonner for a moment and just let him play. Our team really took off in years past when Pop quit trying to control Manu and just learned to live with the mistakes because the good was better than the bad.
I"m not comparing Manu to Bonner but I think the situation and outcome are similar.
On the other side of the coin, he could probably yell at Finley more, but maybe that's just me.
A center leading the NBA in 3pt %! Sounds like someone who needs to get some all star votes...
Still, Bonner does credit Popovich for clarifying his role earlier in the season. One day in November, Popovich came to Bonner with a simple directive: Shoot or sit.
I expect there was a hidden message in Pop's direction, e.g. "shoot (and make a good percentage) or sit.Shoot or sit.
simple enough.
So far, so good. In fact, so far, excellent
I think Pop said the same thing to Tolliver. That's why he was shoting like crazy“He made it clear: If I'm open, I need to shoot the ball,” Bonner said. “And if not, I'm not going to get in the game.”
As much as I'd love to use this space to praise Bonner (I always said he was a good NBA player waiting for minutes and opportunities), the Bonner Bandwagon is overflowing now, so I'll use this space to praise Pop.
This quote is a huge credit to Pop. Any coach can just scream at everyone (or scream at no one) and try to get results. It takes a skilled coach and human relations expert to truly recognize that some people respond to harsh criticism and some don't. At least as far as his shooting goes, Bonner is one who doesn't respond to screaming. So, Pop changed his M.O., and Bonner has reaped the benefits.
I remember Pop stating that he wished he'd handled the Beno situation differently. I wonder if he meant something similar towards him?
Of course, the frustration with Beno's work ethic and toughness would make Mother Teresa yell.
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