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No.
Matt Bonner is efficient, but should he take more shots?
by Scott Sereday
48 Minutes of
I can sense that many of you are thinking, “Oh, no! Not more glowing in-depth Matt Bonner analysis.” But before anyone gets worked up, this post addresses a broader issue. Bonner is simply the Spurs’ poster boy for players who add significant value on the shots they do take, but probably won’t add much value by taking additional shots.
It should not come as a surprise that teams prefer that the player on the court with the best free throw percentage to take technical foul shots. Similarly, it’s typically in the team’s best interests to choose the most efficient scoring option for the bulk of the team’s possessions. However, a look at the leaders in single season Offensive Rating seems to yield more role players than Hall of Famers. In fact, many of these players don’t take many shots at all. Is there a good reason for this?
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No.
He needs to take the open looks he gets without hesitation. That is essentially all.
He should be sitting more, not shooting more.
This.
Bonner's pump fake is deadly. If he would dribble penetrate and pull up for a mid-range jumper more often that would be ideal.
These advanced stats are nice and all, but do they really mean anything when the guy's nuts shrivel up like raisins whenever the pressure is on?
Is this a rhetorical question?
He only needs one... To the head.
The more shots Bonner is taking, the more comfortable Pop is using him, and the more the Spurs have to deal with him being on the floor in the crunch.
The problem with Bonner has never been that he can't hit shots. , being a deadly three point shooter is just about the only thing keeping him in the league. I don't want Bonner to shoot more or make more; I want Bonner to defend the post and rebound like a big.
Unfortunately, those seem like new tricks that you are never going to teach an old dog, and as long as that is the case, I don't want Bonner on the floor when it really counts.
Just as Kerr wasn't primarily used as a PG, Bonner isn't primarily a big in the traditional sense of a board banger, defender and rebounder. That simply isn't his skill set nor his main job on the floor.
Because he is praimarily a designated 3 pts shooter and Pop utilizes that threat at the 3 pt arc to spread the floor to give other players like TD, Manu and TP room to manouver, he is never going to meet some folks wrongheaded expectations about his rebounds. He simply can't get to the board from the 3 pt. arc.
There is a reason shooting is left to shooters. If Pop wants to put more shooting on the floor, great. But you shouldn't have to sacrifice post defense and rebounding to do so. Personally, I feel like any benefit gained by stretching the floor is negated by Bonner's deficiencies.
I'm fine with bigs that shoot the three as long as they can still contribute inside, at least on the boards. If they can't, you are hanging your lone post player out to dry. Tim Duncan or Dejuan Blair can't defend the drive, box out, and rebound all by themselves. There is a reason why the interior defense and defensive rebounding go downhill every time the Spurs go small (and with what Bonner brings to the table, I consider his presence going small).
So while Bonner being on the arc may be a good excuse, it doesn't negate the fact that we still need somebody filling that need. If you can't do that with Bonner on the floor...well then maybe Bonner shouldn't be on the floor.
Last edited by Dex; 10-25-2010 at 05:14 PM.
If he gets all his confidence back from 2 seasons ago that'd be prime
This. You can't just look at the offense. You have to look at both ends and what are the side effects of playing him on both ends.
Plus Matt can't even create his own shot, so it's not like you can give the ball to Bonner and pretend he goes out there and scores 30+ a night.
I agree that a player must be evaluated on both ends of the floor to determine PT. If Bonner is hitting his shots consistently and playing his usual average defense he will probably get 15-20 minutes for that night. If bonners shot is off or if his defense is poor that evening then 5-10 minutes should probably be given. In my opinion bonners and blairs defense are pretty equal. What seperates the two is blairs rebounding and play on offense down low. With that said if bonner starts hitting 3 pt shots this should cancel out blairs play down low and bonner will see more minutes. Just a thought
Matt by no means is a playmaker, but his pump fake and drive to the basket from 3pt range has become a very effective shot. I dont think anyone ever thought of matt as a prolific scorer (30+ a night).
I agree. However, I don't see Bonner minutes going anywhere below 15mpg, wether he makes or misses.
I guess another determining factor is also going to be the health of the bigs..If Splitter,Mcdyess,TD,Blair all stay healthy I could certainly see bonners minutes drop below 15 minutes a night easily. But, if one is injured or if pop wants to rest a player (TD) on any given night, then expect heavy minutes from Bonner.
I think health is one factor, but I think the other factors are perceived familiarity with the system and the fact that this team has been living and dying by the three ball for a long while now. Hate to drag Bowen into the conversation, but he was another guy that was consistently good shooting the 3 ball, so the need to be shuffling shooters was less of a problem when he was around.
I'm hoping both Neal and RJ can actually step up as somewhat reliable spot up shooters, and then I see where the dependency on Bonner might fall off.
We all know Pop loves his chunkers. After saying that, no!!! Pop would have him playing 30+ minutes if he did that.
Bonner should be used to give TD & McDyess rest during the regular season & fill in for other injuried bigs, but after the season is over he should be getting DNP-CD's.
Get this writer a job with a FO somewhere so we don't have to read statistics anymore. Useful but the presentation is mind numbing. 48MOH has become a place for writers to try and show off in the hope to create a career. I wish them luck but I prefer passionate rants to cold analysis.
Don't really get the logic here. It's when he's relied upon to take many shots that he fails. Bad idea.
dear god no
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