Yea, hopefully Splitter gets into shape soon.
IMO Pop is playing Dice more because Dice is balling and that he is probably the ideal player to play if we want to win these early games. Dice is playing very well providing defense, hustle, rebounding, occasional scoring. For those reasons, I doubt Bonner, if he were healthy, would be more beneficial in terms of winning ball games if he played over Dice.
BTW is there any news on Bonner, would obviously like to see him healthy again so we can get a proper look at our big man rotation early on.
'Dyess has been ballin'. It's almost as if he's forgotten that he doesn't play till after the All-Star break.
The Spurs are better playing without Bonner with the options they have now. If the team was only concerned about the short-term or the playoffs were right around the corner, there's no doubt you play the out of 'Dyess, Blair and Splitter.
Bonner's sole purpose should be to give the Spurs the best chance to get their frontline to the closing stretch with as much gas as possible. If he can get 'Dyess' minutes closer to 20 than 25 and Duncan's closer to 30 than 32-33, he'll have served his purpose -- then he can go wave the towel from the bench when the playoffs come around.
I haven't heard anything new with regards to Bonner. That's actually a good question. I'll see if I can find out anything.
This was in the recap last night, haven't seen anything else.
Spurs F Matt Bonner (ankle) is expected to make the trip to Charlotte on Wednesday but isn’t expected to play.
You're totally right man. We need Bonner's gritty rebounding. We need his physical defense and determination to protect the paint. We need his court blazing speed. We need his jaw-dropping athleticism, and most of all, we need that tremendous wingspan of his which alters the shot of every Guard that chooses to come into the paint (Bonner's House).
For real guys, stop feeding the troll.
I gotta agree bonner is good to eat up minutes to keep the guys that close game fresh for the stretch run. With splitter getting into shape and blair sucking, it would be nice to have the bonner option, he does give us a different look that might throw other teams of balance. Pop isnt scared to pull guys out if they are not producing this year, look at blairs minutes, he might be starting but he certainly isnt getting much action nor is he there at the end of games.
Bonner's good for 14 MPG for some games Pop might want him in. They guy just gets burned by everyone. I agree with Cessation about the stretch run but I don't want to see him if he's not producing.
I think Bonner knows some things about Pop, RC and Holt that they don´t want us to know.
Otherwise there is no reason for all the "mistakes" the FO makes with him.
Choosing him over Scola.
Giving him the same contract Scola got in Houston.
Giving him playing time (any).
Giving him yet again another long contract.
Of course i am joking... but god. Bonner must be very lucky.
On a side note, if he is used to play against Zone defenses, or with Manu from time to time in the second unit i don´t really care.
I just don´t want to si him loggin more than 20 mins ever again, not to say taking 10 shots a game unless he is shooting 60%.
Or giving him playing time once he is 0-3 or worse, in fact, i would remove Bonner from the game once he misses 2 consecutive shoots, he is THAT streaky, and looses his confidence in a second.
Yea, maybe its just me being selfish but those preservation minutes I would still prefer to goto Splitter and Blair even if theyre struggling. I just think that letting Blair and Splitter playing out their struggles, couldnt be as bad as an average performance from Bonner.'Dyess has been ballin'. It's almost as if he's forgotten that he doesn't play till after the All-Star break.
The Spurs are better playing without Bonner with the options they have now. If the team was only concerned about the short-term or the playoffs were right around the corner, there's no doubt you play the out of 'Dyess, Blair and Splitter.
Bonner's sole purpose should be to give the Spurs the best chance to get their frontline to the closing stretch with as much gas as possible. If he can get 'Dyess' minutes closer to 20 than 25 and Duncan's closer to 30 than 32-33, he'll have served his purpose -- then he can go wave the towel from the bench when the playoffs come around.
I haven't heard anything new with regards to Bonner. That's actually a good question. I'll see if I can find out anything.
Ofcousre im not saying Bonner should NEVER play, I just think he should play in the appropriate settings of a 5th big.
Either way though, the good news is that Bonner usually does well beginning of the season (esp. last year before he broke his hand) so whether Pop decides to stretch out the rotation or leave Blair and Splitter in the fire is all good.
Thanks
you can hate Bonner as much as you want (and I share the sense that 30 MPG from him wouldn't be something to wish for), but don't ignore two points:
what we got from Bonner at the beginning of last season (till about end of November) was FAR BETTER than what we currently get from Blair.
and
he IS a (well) payed member of this team. you can hate his contract (which you can't blame him for, it just proves that at least he is a smart negotiator. btw. Matt has all the smarts and skills to once become a great GM, including a degree in Business Administration), but you don't want a player you pay to NOT play at all.
Right now, Pop is trying to create a fine tasty soup with many different ingredients. He's combining South American es with some French and just a touch from the islands. Throw in some soul food. It's not bad and it's slowly getting better. Adding Bonner would be tantamount to dropping a big turd into the soup bowl.
I acknowledge what Bonner did early last season before he got injured. But IMHO, I think thats the best version of Bonner were ever going to get and whether he can repeat that level of play, to me, is doubtful. Therefore, as badly as Blair is playing, and as out of shape as Splitter is, both their ceilings are much, much higher, so I would simply like them to play out their slump instead of benching them.
He certainly is a well payed member but I never agreed with that contract so maybe im biased but here are my thoughts:
-Just because you are well payed doesnt mean that the player is proportional in skill and contribution.
-There are many bad contracts out there that sometimes result in players rotting on the bench. There are plenty of examples of this. Sasha on the lakers hasnt cracked the rotation this year because an under payed S. Brown is severly outplaying the guy.
As far as his smarts, that is something that I always respect. But it doesnt mean that his degree with translate to him grabbing rebounds. When he becomes an ast. coach, ast. GM or whatever hes interested in im sure we'll all be happy for him when the time comes.
Pop's practice interview is here.Bonner could return to Spurs lineup by Saturday night
by Tim Griffin
...“He went (in) four-on-four (drills) today, full-court contact,” Popovich said. “So I would think he would be probable for the weekend, but unlikely for Wednesday.”
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165654
Match-ups, who's playing well at the time and how well the Spurs are shooting the three outside of Bonner, will likely all factor into the equation. But if I had to guess, my sense is McDyess will start next to Duncan, Splitter will be the first big off the bench and Bonner will be the fourth big in the playoff rotation.'Dyess has been ballin'. It's almost as if he's forgotten that he doesn't play till after the All-Star break.
The Spurs are better playing without Bonner with the options they have now. If the team was only concerned about the short-term or the playoffs were right around the corner, there's no doubt you play the out of 'Dyess, Blair and Splitter.
Bonner's sole purpose should be to give the Spurs the best chance to get their frontline to the closing stretch with as much gas as possible. If he can get 'Dyess' minutes closer to 20 than 25 and Duncan's closer to 30 than 32-33, he'll have served his purpose -- then he can go wave the towel from the bench when the playoffs come around.
I haven't heard anything new with regards to Bonner. That's actually a good question. I'll see if I can find out anything.
I think Blair is going to have to make a radical transformation to his game to change that. Even if he goes back to piling up ridiculous per minute scoring and rebounding numbers, while shooting a high percentage from the field, that may not be enough. He's got to become at least something close to competent as a face-up and pick-and-roll defender, as well as a 10-12 foot jump shooter. He's also got to play more under control and more intelligent. Some of the decisions he's made this season I can't see being tolerated by Pop in the playoffs.
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...ason-to-smile/Board play, defense give Blair a reason to smile
by Mike Monroe
...“I just want him to work on his defense, understanding the game, play a solid game and contributing in ways that don’t have anything to do with shooting,” Popovich said. “That’s changing shots, rebounding, running the floor, keeping things crowded, playing good individual defense, understanding the team defense.
“All those things are very important, because those are things you can do with focus and effort. Shooting’s going to take time.”
You guys who think Bonner is useless are ed... He was better as a starter than DeJuan Blair.
They should rename Blair "The Bust" instead of "The Beast"
Hate on me all you want, I'm just telling it exactly how it is....
Bonner doesn't get as much appreciation as he should considering how much more reliable he has been than Blair and yet so many people on this site are all up in Blair's jock like he's the second coming of Charles Barkley or some stupid ..... wake the up.
Last edited by G-Dawgg; 11-10-2010 at 02:27 AM.
That shows you how sad both are starting and how we are fukked having either of them fukkin start for us!!!!!! Dyess or Splitter start please, period. I still laugh at Bonner fans like he is good! He is shyt and in big games he is useless, he has no heart nor talent really! He is not that good at all if his three is not falling, period.
bonner is serviceable in the regular season so i agree.
Bonner is the perfect specialist situational minutes player. He should never play over 12 minutes, but he's perfect to bring off the Bench and spread the defense for a few minutes. He is not however a player that you can start or play over 20 minutes, because then his lack of defense and a whole lot of things other than 3-point shooting starts to hurt you.
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