The Bonner/Blair frontcourt

[Mel_13]

Blair/Bonner didn't work last season and I don't know why Pop is trying again. Bonner tries hard but he simple doesn't have the ability to play D. Bosh, Marion, Harrington, all those guys killed Bonner lately. Blair is very young and still make a lot of mistakes on rotations.

I hope we don't see them together in the playoffs

Actually, that pairing was very successful in the regular season last year. In their 472 minutes together, the Spurs scored 111.4 pts/48 and gave up only 97.0/48.

Good point, let's hope you're right.

Despite that regular season success, Pop played them together for just over 6 minutes per game in the post-season, with some of that in garbage time.

[analyzed]

I agree this is a good indication of how Pop will use his bigs in the playoff. My only beef is I still think 19 minutes for Bonner is way to much, and 5 minutes of bonner and blair is still a no,no. They should not use this combo period, as in zero minutes come playoff time.

Not using Splitter at all does not sit well with me, yeah I realize at this point we won't be seeing a TD/Splitter combo at all. But when TD does rest, I can't see why a Splitter/ Dice combo won't be highly valuable , especially on the defensive end

Pop knows all of this. The better combos will be used in the post-season.

For a preview on how the frontcourt rotations would work in the playoffs, the recent game at Dallas is very instructive. All the players were well rested and the coaching staff had ample time to prepare for an important game. Plus the game had almost zero garbage time to skew the numbers.

Frontcourt minutes were distributed as follows:

TD- 31:52
Dice- 29:10
Bonner- 18:47
Blair- 13:44
One big: 2:27 (the last 3 seconds of the 1st qtr after Bonner got his 2nd PF and the last 2:24 of the game when Pop took TD out with a 13 point lead. If the game had been closer, TD would have played that 2:24 and taken his minutes played to just over 34).

So, what were the minutes played for the various possible combinations of those four players?

TD/Dice- 18:08
TD/Bonner- 13:44 (notice that the first two combos account for all of TD's PT by using the two best defensive pairings as per the data in the OP)
Dice/Blair- 8:38
Blair/Bonner- 5:03
One big: 2:27

If TD plays 36 minutes, the Bonner/Blair minutes can just about disappear. The coaching staff knows how to limit that pairing and they will when the games matter more.

[TD 21]

They could work to limit their minutes together, but then that's less time that Duncan-McDyess spend together. I'd like to see Duncan-McDyess play together, not exclusively, but almost in the playoffs. And they could do that if they inserted Splitter into the rotation.

Still, even if Blair-Bonner play five minutes together per game, they can get away with that against the Hornets, if they play them, but not only will that not cut it against the Lakers, it won't cut it against the Thunder, either. Against teams of that caliber, you can't afford to just throw five minutes per game in the garbage. Every minute needs to be valued, because of the slim margin of error.

[Mel_13]

They could work to limit their minutes together, but then that's less time that Duncan-McDyess spend together. I'd like to see Duncan-McDyess play together, not exclusively, but almost in the playoffs. And they could do that if they inserted Splitter into the rotation.

Still, even if Blair-Bonner play five minutes together per game, they can get away with that against the Hornets, if they play them, but not only will that not cut it against the Lakers, it won't cut it against the Thunder, either. Against teams of that caliber, you can't afford to just throw five minutes per game in the garbage. Every minute needs to be valued, because of the slim margin of error.

Dice played 247 minutes in the playoffs last season. He played 235 of those minutes with TD.

[phxspurfan]

A lot of us has complained about Pop using a Bonner/Blair frontcourt because of its weakness on the defensive end of the court. Stats backs up this claim:

With a Bonner/Blair frontcourt, Spurs are allowing 102.8 points per 48 minutes.
When Spurs have another frontcourt, Spurs are allowing 96.5 points per 48 minutes.

That's bad and it's even worst when you consider that Blair/Bonner plays again bench players who are often less offensively talented.

Pop has to stop using that frontcourt. It can't and will never work. Giving that much playing time to Bonner, and to a lesser extend Blair, could make sense, even if I disagree with it, but at least use them in a proper way. NEVER put them at the same time on the court.


FYI, the stats for some other frontcourt pairs:
Duncan/Blair: 95.5 pts allowed per 48 min.
Duncan/Bonner: 90.9 pts allowed per 48 min.
Duncan/McDyess: 92.2 pts allowed per 48 min.
McDyess/Bonner: 95.7 pts allowed per 48 min.
Splitter/Bonner: 95.5 pts allowed per 48 min.

Isn't it usually Bonner-Blair-Ginobili? I could see the logic in Pop playing this rotation a lot since he wants Manu to have options to distribute to Blair for the 2 or Bonner for the 3 (or take it on his own). That's 3 solid options on offense. That and we have no shot blocking big to sub in when Duncan's resting, so why not just play Suns ball

[TD 21]

Dice played 247 minutes in the playoffs last season. He played 235 of those minutes with TD.

Now that I think of it, it makes sense. Duncan playing 37 mpg allowed for that and allowed for Blair-Bonner to be used sparingly. But sparingly is too much and if they could, particularly early, it would be nice to keep Duncan below 36 mpg. They may not be able to get away with that, though. But they'd have a better chance if they had someone else in the rotation over 6-9, who can at least somewhat protect the rim. I realize Splitter is not a shot blocker, but he's still 6-11, mobile, makes timely rotations and is adept at drawing charges.

[Mel_13]

Now that I think of it, it makes sense. Duncan playing 37 mpg allowed for that and allowed for Blair-Bonner to be used sparingly. But sparingly is too much and if they could, particularly early, it would be nice to keep Duncan below 36 mpg. They may not be able to get away with that, though. But they'd have a better chance if they had someone else in the rotation over 6-9, who can at least somewhat protect the rim. I realize Splitter is not a shot blocker, but he's still 6-11, mobile, makes timely rotations and is adept at drawing charges.

I'd agree that Splitter/Bonner for those limited minutes is a better choice than Blair/Bonner.

Splitter has the opportunity right now to take Blair's role as Tim's backup for the playoffs. He's done reasonably well so far, let's see if he can build on that start.

[MannyIsGod]

Look, I like Bonner a lot and I like what he brings.

BUT GOD DAMN IT THIS FRONT COURT MAKES ME WANT TO KICK BABIES IN THE FACE.

[Borosai]

Look, I like Bonner a lot and I like what he brings.

BUT GOD DAMN IT THIS FRONT COURT MAKES ME WANT TO KICK BABIES IN THE FACE.

True.

[mingus]

if Splitter isn't in the playoff rotation, i'm just going to say the Spurs and use that time to study. team is going nowhere without Splitter in the rotation

[Cessation]

Look, I like Bonner a lot and I like what he brings.

BUT GOD DAMN IT THIS FRONT COURT MAKES ME WANT TO KICK BABIES IN THE FACE.

I second that, this is starting to become the bonner, mason, bogans fiasco all over again. Who knew having just one of them left, could still derail the spurs. I underestimated the depths of fail, ginger is capable of.

lol 27% from three in last 11 games
lol fail at both ends of the court

[DeadlyDynasty]

You guys are too hard on the Bonner/Blair frontcourt, imo. Give it more time, I think it can work.

[Muser]

You guys are too hard on the Bonner/Blair frontcourt, imo. Give it more time, I think it can work.

You're joking right?

[Cessation]

You guys are too hard on the Bonner/Blair frontcourt, imo. Give it more time, I think it can work.

You fail troll, NO ONE is that stupid.
Well....maybe pop.

[DeadlyDynasty]

You fail troll, NO ONE is that stupid.
Well....maybe pop.

In the end, that's all that matters, right?

You guys made a nice run. Sad to see it end.

[TD 21]

Sad to see it end? Because of one three-game losing streak? It's funny how "this is the real season", but when the Lakers were laboring to the finish line last season, then this part of the season didn't matter. This is why you guys have zero credibility.