Bonner was having a career season until that hand injury but it looks like he's around that level now. HarlemHeat37 made great points and I agree that he's the second best Spurs big outside of Duncan. As for his choking, didn't he have a great night against Boston when he had his fans there?
I also think having him coming off the bench helps somehow.
He's only played considerable minutes in one playoff series for us, so I have no idea how he gets this label.
Robert Horry was an epic fail in his first career playoff series and look how that turned out.
Bonner may be a playoff-choker, but let's see how he does this year first before we evaluate him.
I thought he did a great job tonight crowding people inside the paint. We're getting so little from Dice, and Blair seems stuck on stupid sometimes (excusable, he's a rook after all), that anything we can get from Matt is great right about now.
Ian Mahinmi >>> Matt Bonner
Blair is playing just fine I don't understand the recent Blair hate here. He still leads the rookies in FG% and rebounds. He hustles his ass off to get boards which is sorely needed because McDyess is a god damned corpse out there with no emotion, no drive to get the ball.
yeah, at the very least, Blair is working hard in the paint, drawing fouls and making teams play D etc. you need at least someone doing that. I thought it was supposed to be TD but...
Don't get me wrong, it's not hate. But he's obviously struggling at times out there with some of his decisions, like silly fouls when the team is in the penalty, or that bad passes when we need to cool down the game. They're rookie mistakes, and pretty normal stuff, but against good teams you really want to minimize those.
I disagree, Blair has fallen off hard..it's expected though, he's a rookie that has to adjust more than your typical rookie due to his physical shortcomings..he'll be fine in the future and might give us some good efforts in the playoffs, but rookie bigs aren't usually relied on in the playoffs, at least not in a significant role and not for teams that want to go far..
His defense and finishing have taken huge hits..
We're gonna have to hope Duncan kicks it into another gear for the playoffs(obviously..it's a realistic goal though, he usually does this), Bonner doesn't shrivel up against good opponents, and McDyess gives us SOMETHING/ANYTHING..
Don't forget also that Blair has never played an 82 games season before...
Blair does look like he hit his rookie wall but he's still playing his game. I think the biggest reason for his drop in production is due to Ginobili starting. Manu was really the only Spurs to develop chemistry right off the bat and throughout the season with him imo.
McDyess actually played pretty well over the last few games. If anything, I felt he was getting shafted when it came to minutes, but I suppose Pop is trying to keep him fresh for the stretch run.
Tonight, however, he was atrocious. He definitely took the night off.
I also agree with Harlem, when it comes to Blair. Blair has been making more idiot mistakes than ever lately. Obviously, he's a rookie and it's bound to happen, but he's been taking some terrible fouls. It was nice to see him have a solid 4th quarter tonight, though.
and the last 3 people that took you seriously see the light...
but seriously, GTFO my thread you joke of a poster
I hate McDyess. I loathe seeing him out on the floor, I loathe seeing him fumble the ball with passes that are almost always on point to him, thereby giving the opposing team time to close the gap and forcing him to reset the entire god damned play over again by passing the ball back to ginobili or hill up top.
Seriously it's not even the fact that he's not rebounding as much as he did before he came to the spurs (that's partly to be expected anyway when you get on a team with the likes of tim duncan), it's the constant fumbling of the ball.
It's like he's never ready out there and doesn't seem to care.
In that case I'd hate to see what you'd think of Matt Bonner
Blair was awesome tonight. He hasn't hit the rookie wall, he hasn't been given enough minutes to hit it IMO. This kid was a man among boys tonight. Pulling down the tough boards. Pretty much nixed the Celts combacks by himself after Manu and Duncan were out.
And he's got a j evidentally.
Idk if you could call his performance awesome, what with getting a foul every 4 minutes. He pulled down some monster boards though, one of them was a steal too.
yes. this.
I love how he drives every once in a while now.. because his pump fake WILL work, and if he can drive and finish (dunk/hook shot) that would add another level to his game and another threat as a team
Matty will lead the Spurs to the promised land this year and hoist Larry while receiving a champagne facial.
McDyess is rebounding, though his team defense is suspect. Bonner is pretty much the exact opposite. he sucks ass at rebounding but his team defense, and even individual defense when he's matched up with someone who isn't that much more phsycally gifted than him, is probably the 2nd best for bigs in that area.
if McDyess can knock down shots he's supposed to it'll just make the Spurs that much more dangerous. the Spurs could have won this game by 8 more points if McDyess had his falling. scary to think about that.
what's been an unexpected surprise - and it really gives the opportunity to keep Bonner on the floor despite his lack of size and rebounding - is that RJ has taken more of a responsibility to rebound recently. if he continues doing that, there isn't as much of a price to pay in terms of bonner lack of rebounding.
Remember how Nasr had that annoying little habit of a pump fake every time he got the ball under the baske that was so transparent that it was a waste of time? He couldn't NOT do it.
Bonner's got something similar. Every time he catches the ball on the perimeter and isn't going to shoot, he gives a little fake that is so pathetic that no one would go for it--again a waste of time when he could be making a crisp pass to an open man. NOt an earthshaking problem, but just annoying to watch.
On the whole I like the effort he gives. Sometimes he will fool you like he did last night by running down a rebound by just outhustling Garnett.
I had to laugh the other night when Manu had his big game with lots of points, rebounds, assists, couple of steals, sold popcorn in the stands when out of the game, etc, and had a +12 rating.
Bonner had about a 1-3, 1 rebound or something stat line and also had a +12 rating.
Bonner deserves props for his 1 vs 1 post defense, which isn't too bad and has gotten better this year. He isn't as easy to back down as he used to be and he's stays in front of his man and can contest (and bother) shots. He has a hard time with some of the officials in this league however who really crap on him no matter what he does. This is always a potential problem that must linger in the back of his mind, and especially in a big playoff game the results can be magnified. Hopefully this won't be an issue.only 1-4 from 3 and looking as white as ever...
yet still he was like 3rd on the team in on court/off court, he was part of the unit that built the lead to 10 in the first half, and when he left, that lead instantly fell to 3
I think a significant part of why the team is so good with him out there is that other teams think they have to attack Bonner, they think he is a matchup to exploit. and yet I saw Davis struggle against him, I saw KG struggle against him, even Pierce came away empty twice in a row when he had Bonner guarding him. teams abandon their offense and run iso's against Bonner, only to be turned away, it's like a trap that team after team keeps falling into.
on an unrelated note, Manu is arguably the best player in the league right now, he's really something else, totally making me look like a fool... god what I wouldn't give for him to be able to keep this up all the way through June
That little fake actually fools alot of players, if its the same one I'm thinking of. Opposing players will come charging at him like "oh, its Bonner" and Matt sidesteps them and drives to the hoop with the opposing team basically down a defender which makes it a little easier for Bonner to make an assist or create a shot off the dribble. He doesn't always make the right pass or hit the shot, but he has been getting better it seems.Remember how Nasr had that annoying little habit of a pump fake every time he got the ball under the baske that was so transparent that it was a waste of time? He couldn't NOT do it.
Bonner's got something similar. Every time he catches the ball on the perimeter and isn't going to shoot, he gives a little fake that is so pathetic that no one would go for it--again a waste of time when he could be making a crisp pass to an open man. NOt an earthshaking problem, but just annoying to watch.
On the whole I like the effort he gives. Sometimes he will fool you like he did last night by running down a rebound by just outhustling Garnett.
I had to laugh the other night when Manu had his big game with lots of points, rebounds, assists, couple of steals, sold popcorn in the stands when out of the game, etc, and had a +12 rating.
Bonner had about a 1-3, 1 rebound or something stat line and also had a +12 rating.
Give Bonner credit. He's making an effort to transition from a one-dimensional player into a more versatile one. Opponents have to respect his outside shot and he's shown the ability to put the ball on the floor and challenge the interior defense. He's also improved defensively and will always bring energy.
He usually plays his heart out at the Garden...
(just like most white boys do.)
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