Matt Bonner, beyond the +/-
by Jesse Blanchard
Statistical geeks love him, casual fans and traditionalists abhor him. Given that the team manages to stay out of the headlines and no longer employs Bruce Bowen, perhaps no Spurs player is more polarizing than Matt Bonner.
How polarizing? Just take a look at the opening paragraph of one of Timothy Varner’s more recent posts.
Whenever I talk with Matt Moore the conversation invariably leads to Matt Bonner, someone I do my best to defend. Moore thinks Bonner stinks. Shouldn’t be on an NBA court, or something to that effect. He’s the cause of much beard-tugging consternation for our favorite hoophead. My response, the easy response, is to tell Moore that Bonner eats APM for breakfast, and then smugly kick my feet up and call it a day. No rants against redheads here thank you.
Unless you have an obsession with Daryl Morey and Shane Battier (and most fans advocating Bonner probably do), the thought of changing a game without being directly involved in many plays is a hard concept to grasp.
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Nice article.
I wonder what it takes to make the casual Spurs fan actually understand this statement.Do not confuse the amount of words dedicated to this piece as an attempt to paint Bonner as some sort of star. He is admittedly a limited player, which will always prevent him from being a full-time starter or getting huge minutes, but all role players are.
We know he can destroy crap teams like the Clippers or Minnesota but what about a playoff team?
We all remember how he shrunk against the Mavs into nothing last year.
Do not confuse the amount of words dedicated to this piece as an attempt to paint Bonner as some sort of star. He is admittedly a limited player, which will always prevent him from being a full-time starter or getting huge minutes, but all role players are.
There really hasn't been a problem with Matt and his play over the last couple of years, only his role; reality's been skewed by an expectation (which came from a need of justification after a miscast role) that he was something more.
I agree to a point.
On the other hand, I don't think anyone is unjustified in expecting better than 3ppg, 3rpg and 22% shooting in 20 mpg, which is what he brought in the Playoffs last year.
No amount of spacing and defensive rotation consistency can overcome that.
Last year he was in a miscast role (as was Mason for that matter).
What the article is stating is that he's a role-player. He's not a starter nor someone whom should be relied upon for starters production; if he's the energy/change-of-pace big he is now ... then there's no reason for him not to be an asset.
But if he's forced to defend and produce against the oppositions best as a starter and his minutes are to basically coincide with them for the majority of the time he's on the floor ... you're not properly utilizing him. Put him up against a team's second and third team, and he finds positive separation.
The Dallas series just wasn't a great way of displaying his or Mason's usefulness; neither was put in a position to succeed (whether it be because of injury or faulty logic).
You realize that by not playing Hill, Spurs began that series relying on either Mason Jr or Bonner to be their third leading scorer?
Let's not forget it was Bonner's first playoffs in a big role, as well, a role where far too much was expected of him. That's asking for him to fail.
Despite this, he played well in Game 2 - our only win, ironically.
Without Manu...
Last year's playoff numbers don't represent what our players can do when the Spurs two best playmakers are healthy...
People fail to see that this factors heavily into any such assessment.
Let me be clear, I'm not saying I want him on the bench the entire game. He's going to have to get minutes and we're going to have to hope he is able to bring the intangibles discussed in the article.
I didn't agree with how Pop used him against Dallas either but in that series he was still shooting wide open threes, and he was missing them badly. I don't care if Pop had him listed as the starting point guard, he got the same kinds of shots he always gets and he bricked them. That's not a role thing, that's a mental thing.
Exactly. The pressure of having to start and be the type of contributor they needed him to be to win that series way too much. Now he can come off the bench and fire away without nearly as much expected. The good thing is that there is probably enough depth to put him back on the bench if he is struggling with his shot.
I still don't see how the pressure to hit a three pointer is any different when you're starting than it is when you're coming off the bench. It's the Playoffs, it's a high pressure situation no matter when you're put into the game.
As the starting center for the Spurs in the Dallas Playoff series, he was expected to spread the floor and provide a serviceable level of rebounding and defense. As the 3rd guy off the bench he will be expected... to spread the floor and provide a serviceable level of rebounding and defense.
I don't have any reason to believe someone who showed such a lack of testicular for ude in the pressure of last year's Playoffs will suddenly show significant improvement in that area with a reduced role in this year's Playoffs, except for the fact that he couldn't possibly be any worse.
Good article. As most of you know, I've been an advocate for Bonner long before he was a plus/minus phenom. Of course, that was back when the argument was "he can be one of your top 10 pieces" vs. "he shouldn't even be a professional basketball player." Now the argument has kind of evolved to, "he should be our first or second big off the bench, averaging 20-25 minutes per game" vs. "he should get 10 minutes per game, and that's only when he's hitting shots." I continue to take the pro-Bonner stance in this argument, though only to a point; if he's having an off-night, I'm generally in favor of transferring 10-15 of his minutes to DeJuan Blair's total.
I'm glad the article mentioned Bonner's improved driving. Obviously he has limited finishing ability, but his skill at putting the ball on the floor and taking it closer to the basket has improved greatly over the past year or two. There have even been a couple games where I've thought to myself, "Bonner is a better driver than Richard Jefferson," particularly when RJ has turned the ball over a couple times in a row, something Bonner does rarely. While no team is ever going to fear or gameplan for Bonner's driving ability, it's good to know he has a chance of making them pay if they close out on the arc a little too aggressively.
Another part of Matt's game that increases his value to the team and his +/- statistic is his all-out hustle. While he doesn't necessarily pull off circus saves like Manu or Blair, it's rare that you can watch Bonner and say that he's not giving it his all. His style of play (standing at the 3-point line on offense, muscle and positioning over speed/rotation on defense) allows him to conserve energy and expend it in short bursts that help him get back on defense in transition or go after a loose ball. A player of decent talent who is willing to work and hustle is often similar in value to a better player whose effort is inconsistent or erratic; Matt Bonner is a great example of this phenomenon.
Remember the Rasheed quote about their offense being "get the ball to whoever Matt Bonner is guarding" ?
The interesting thing is, that isn't working so much any more, as Bonner seems to have improved his defense.
A case in point: against the Clippers, early on when the game was still in doubt, they went with Rasheed's offense, repeatedly dumping the ball to Craig Smith posted up against Bonner. If I recall, the first few times went like this:
-- Well-defended miss on a driving hook
-- Turnover, Bonner actually stole the ball from Smith as he attempted to drive on him
-- Offensive foul on Smith
In the middle of this Bonner hit two threes, one wide open, one literally in Smith's face.
After that, they just went to their normal "whoever's got the ball make a move and chuck it up" offense.
Bonner is a solid role player. were not going to win or lose the whole thing because of him. if he can come in and hit a couple threes it really does make it a little easier on everyone else by stretching the floor and leaving more room inside the paint for the big 3. i have no problem with him getting 15 minutes a game or something to that effect.
Bonner has always played solid defense... by that i mean he is almost always in the right place and very rarely misses a rotation. He is just not as strong as the typical NBA big man which allows him to be backed down pretty easy... but that mentality of " get the ball to whoever bonner is gaurding" can quickly backfire on an opponent... i agree.
Interesting. While I don't remember that sequence, I'll take your word for it. In a recent bobcat game, Tyrus Thomas had a hard time with Craigh Smith's power backdowns to the basket and gave up 2-3 baskets in a row to Smith until the bobcats made a subs ution for the bigger Tyson Chandler.
This at least shows Bonner's defense is getting stronger. Bonner still doesn't really protect the rim at all but at least he's playing good man defense.
my thoughts exactly. bonner is a fine role player, sometimes even a great one, but he has to show it in the playoffs. I dont see why his 20mpg vs dallas means he was being thrust into too much responsibility. I havent checked the stats, but it was probably less than he averaged in the RS. He let the gooden signing destroy his confidence and flat out sucked in the PO, its not like he is being criticized for not blocking more shots or not scoring 20+, he gets criticism for that dallas series for his abysmal shooting which is supposed to be his strength. I really hope it was just a confidence issue with the gooden signing and not his balls shriveling into his stomach, but it certainly looked that way.
Bonner gets a lot of flak for not being a good rebounding power forward at 6'10".
But fifty percent of his time (Offense) is spent stationed out 23 feet from the basket because of his role in spacing the team as a spot up shooter. His average per minute goes up nicely if you divide by two.
It seems to make a big difference mentally with Bonner. Before his injury he was playing the best ball any of us had ever seen from him. His scoring and rebounding were far and away the best of his career. Then when he came back Pop stuck him back in the starting lineup and he looked horrible again. Now that he is once again coming off the bench he seemingly has overcome both his hand injury and his confidence problems and is playing well(which is pretty huge for a player that is considered mentally weak. Personally, I thought he was done when Pop put him back on the starting lineup and he tanked).
I understand what you are saying...and in theory you should be right. But for some reason Bonner coming off the bench plays a with more confidence than Bonner in the starting lineup. The only reason I can think of to explain it is that he has actually has other bigs he can share the load with and that it helps keep him at ease. Combine that with the fact that he has overcome an injury to his shooting hand and regained his confidence and perhaps there is something different about this years Bonner and last years Bonner. We will see if he remains confident down the stretch.
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