Reply With Quote
Scola thread?
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/S...tar_start.html
Votes of confidence: It remains to be seen whether Ginobili's return to the bench Wednesday night was a one-time deal, made necessary by the grueling back-to-back schedule, or something more permanent.
What Popovich would like to make permanent are steady minutes for three key role players — Bonner, Roger Mason Jr., and George Hill.
Mason started in Ginobili's place against Atlanta, while Hill has been key backing up Parker — even finishing Wednesday's game after Parker struggled.
“They're going to get my confidence, because I think that's the way we're going to be the best team we can be,” Popovich said. “I think I'll have to live through some mistakes here and there, some teaching moments.
“Those guys would have to play badly for about 37 games in a row before I change it.”
I don't think Pop was just talking only about sticking with them in case of a bad shooting slump. It sounds stronger than that.
Scola thread?
agree. i think he's back to thinking too much.
just let it fly, RED ROCKET!
Since the Hornets game he had one good game against Toronto but has otherwise been invisible. It's not merely a shooting slump because his rebounding is way down and his defense isn't nearly as good. It's some type of overall slump. I think the possible explanations are:
1) He's tired. He hasn't played consistent minutes for this long of a stretch for a few years. I was hoping the two days off would re-energize him but the rest didn't seem to help.
2) He still hasn't gotten over that Hornets game. His confidence could be low and he could be second guessing himself again.
3) The league figured him out. Perhaps other teams figured out to not leave him open and put a body on him on the boards.
I think it has to be one of those three. It's tough to tell which reason it is but hopefully he can snap out of it and get back to playing how he was playing at the beginning of the month. If Bonner becomes useless, this team's chances of winning the championship take a pretty big hit.
Here are the numbers that show just how much Bonner is struggling:
Hornets Game To Present (8 Games)
10.2 points per 40 minutes
6.3 rebounds per 40 minutes
39.6% from the field
30% on three-pointers
Previous 16 Games
18.1 points per 40 minutes
9.5 rebounds per 40 minutes
59.7% from the field
56.3% on three-pointers
The shooting slump is understandable but the rebounding is unacceptable. 9.5 rebounds/40 isn't even that good as is. Losing a third of that rate makes him a pitiful rebounder for a bigman.
That's why I think if he doesn't improve his rebounding Pop is going to put him back on the bench...he can get more rebounds from George Hill than he can from Bonner at this rate.
Putting a body on him is not a good excuse for his lack of rebouding...Bonner is big, strong and physicial enough to be an effective rebounder in this league if his mind is set on it. I've seen him come down with some tough boards before...not a good excuse, he has to fight for them. That's why I think it's fatigue....Bonner just doesn't have this sort of conditioning.
I mean you think about it...guys like Barry and Kerr were defacto starters on their teams and even they didn't have the conditioning to put out the defensive energy Pop requires, their first year with the Spurs, and they were on the deep bench...you can imagine what it's like for a guy who has been on bench his entire career to suddenly start for the Spurs...
He just needs better conditioning.
Rebounding is about desire and effort...
I hope yall didnt think Matt was gonna be Timmys help in the paint. If yall did, wow yall are waking up from a weird dream. Another game win or lose where we got our behinds whipped in the paint. Got killed on the boards. And just like in last years POs. Teams just stretch their arms up and for the most part its good enough defense against Timmy. And its no surprise, the only man on this roster who can make a gametime layup is TP. Matt and Kurt are not gonna help Timmy take this team far once the POs come around. When that level of play begins, then we will see Matt on the bench right next to either Fab or Kurt. Unless of course they make a trade and bring in someone whos a real C. And I dont mean C as in Choker. And your right Timvp. Matt can go without hitting a shot and it really wouldnt matter if he could rebound and play inside D. Ill take Stops over easy opponent makes anyday. Im not being hard on Matt, because its not his fault. Everyone should know he like JV is a 3rd option at best. Hes being asked to do something he will never be able to do. And thats being a starter in this league. Move onto next year. It was a great 2008, and I hope we bring in some help for 2009. Once again if we dont get Timmy some help. We wont go far into the POs by winning games from beyond the arc. And its noones fault, its just the way it is.
That's really bad because Oberto was also not rebounding well and Thomas and TD won't work against big part of the league. Let's hope Bonner can play well again
He had a good run.
We depend way too much on our guards to get boards. Oberto and Bonner are joke on the boards...period. They never have been that good and one has to wonder if they will ever be consistent in this area.
I really hope that in the next few weeks we start to bring some bigs(Sims, Hendrix) for auditions. If it means waiving Tolliver then so be it...because as much as I would like to develop him the need for a physical rebounder seems much more pressing.
Bonner needs to step up the intensity. His shots have been about 1/2inch off on the average. They'll start falling once again. If he wants to keep his current gig, he needs to bring that All-Hustle 1st Team Bonner we all know.
Bonner is just trying to stay under the radar before teams start gameplanning for him. He's a superhero: he'll show up when needed.
Last year Bonner couldn't hit the side of a barn but he was tough and physical, and pissed off opposing players by always pushing on them.
This year he's become much softer, or at least recently during his slump. Often he gets pushed out of the way. And to make it worse, he seems to have been studying Bowen's bad flopping tendencies. Twice last night I saw Bonner get pushed out of the way and flail his arms on the way to the ground like a wounded dove.
It's odd that he would regress now because he has very little compe ion. The spot is pretty much his though he's been working to make it otherwise. I'm a fan of Bonner but wish he would quit playing the victim and toughen up.
We definately need an upgrade at the center position.
Where are you Madbonner?
i think fans have to start realising that bonner is, and always will be, inconsistent.
he will shoot erratically and his D is unreliable.
face the facts
where the is Horry now, is he retired?
Either way, he can no longer terminate any team with his winning buzzer 3s. It's just the natural priciple that no one can go against, so I am pretty depressed to say "bye" to 08 and recieve a blank new year. One year's passing means everyone gets one year older and one year closer to death. Can we human beings find out some way that can help us get rid of death? I believe in heresy hardly so that I'm still holding this wish. I mean, no one had dreamt of traveling to moon, at most they just dreamt of and never expected it to come true, but we actually did it for the first time in 69.
Nothing is impossible, including living eternally.
Bonner had some good games last year and then slumped. Pop responded by cutting his minutes drastically which destroyed his confidence. Bonner may be one of those players who need minutes to recover his game. Pop gives Finley lots of rope and maybe should do that with Bonner.
he's not scoring because he's not getting open shots like he was earlier in the year.
Bonner had his moments..but i think he is kinnda person who when his mental is picking up than he is doing superb but when he is down and get beaten up by coach or good knows who ,then his numbers suddenly fallin...he's taking things seriously and afraid to shoot before..until recently. But then fall again, i think he got opportunity to rise up again..if we got something valuable in replacement for him then do it,otherwise its dangerous move to trade him since he can be back in his shape anytime soon. He's still young his mental will got stable and that time his performance will be stable as well, when he's doing good our team is winning so dont trade him coz I dont think Spurs can get better value from the market these days.
I think question should not for Bonner but Mahinmi..that young guy always got injury, from torn his muscle,ankle problems many times...he is injury prone before starting real NBA games not to mention playoffs. I think he got to go. Combination of Bonner,him and rights to Splitter will give opportunity to get someone solid..if other team buys it which i think they will given what we offer ( Bonner just got to maintain his numbers until trade happens)
It really isn't hard to figure him out, just don't leave him open and keep him off the boards. Period. End of story. It isn't as though he's a rookie and hadn't been seen before. All he needs to do to get his game back is hit the boards hard.
If he does that, i'd say he'd be back in a better form. If your shot isn't falling, then at least you can say you are doing something out there. It's in his capacity to do so, so I expect nothing less for the rest of the season. If he can't at least do that, then eventually his minutes must come down. By Ending possessions, he will gain a feel for the game that seems to be missing. He needs to redevelop his familiarity with the ball; that will be a good way to get his touch back as well.
I ran into Matt this morning. Sorry, I did not ask him why he is sucking lately!
You Wimp!
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
