Good, good. Now let me read your post in it's entirety![]()
Matt Bonner isn't exactly the most beloved around these parts. And honestly, I'm pretty tired of his act, too. A lot of us will agree that the Spurs have been burned too many times in the playoffs due to the coaching staff trusting Bonner too much.
However, despite his shortcomings when the postseason lights are turned on, Bonner remains a statistical regular season phenom. Every year, he's at the top of the plus/minus stats for the team. This year is no different: he has the best plus/minus per minute of any player in the rotation. The Spurs outscore opponents by 14.6 points per 48 minutes that Bonner is on the court -- a full two points higher than the next closest player.
Don't worry, ElNono, I'm not going to get into the debate on why Bonner thrives in regular season plus/minus. That's a discussion for another post.
However, what I do want to point out is that every advanced stat points to Bonner having a dominant defensive year so far this year. Yes, Bonner dominant on defense.
Opponents Points Per 48
Matt Bonner - 82.1
Danny Green - 85.3
Richard Jefferson - 85.4
Tiago Splitter - 86.0
So with Bonner on the court, the Spurs defense is more than three points per 48 minutes better than the second best number. Going further, the Spurs give up 93.9 points per 100 possessions with Bonner on the court and 106.7 points per 100 possessions when Bonner is off the court.
Bonner must just be getting lucky, right? Perhaps, but even his individual advanced stats are dominant. The players Bonner defend have a ulative PER of 9.4, which is much better than the corresponding numbers for the other bigs on the team: Duncan at 16.1, Splitter at 17.6, Blair at 21.8.
If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I guess we have at least to consider the possibility that Bonner isn't the pushover on defense that many profess.
Kawhi Leonard's NBA Skill
I've been hard on Kawhi Leonard to date in his rookie season due to his seemingly diminishing offensive capabilities. However, so far he has shown a legitimate NBA skill: the ability to rebound.
Leonard's rebound rate is currently 14.8 and that's the best number in the entire NBA for a small forward. Even more impressive is that Leonard hasn't played much small ball power forward this year, while just about every other great small forward rebounder spends plenty of time at PF.
And this doesn't look much like a fluke. Leonard was a fantastic rebounder in college and while he's not overly athletic, he shows very good timing and a willingness to bang.
Leonard's ability to rebound has a profound effect on the team's overall ability to rebound. When he's off the court, the Spurs grab only 48.9% of available rebounds. When Leonard is on the court, that number skyrockets to 57.6%.
If Leonard can become a plus defender, remain a great rebounder and become even halfway passable on offense, he'll have a long NBA career.
Danny Green Ain't No Slouch, Either
Quietly, Danny Green is also a really good rebounder. In fact, of shooting guards who have played at least 70 minutes this season, Green leads the way in rebound rate (12.6).
Are Green's numbers a fluke? Maybe not. This year, he's averaging 8.7 rebounds per 40 minutes. Last year with the Spurs, he averaged 6.5 rebounds per 40 minutes. In 19 career games in the D-League, he averaged 7.9 rebounds per 40 minutes. In his junior year at North Carolina, he averaged 8.8 rebounds per 40 minutes.
While Green's defensive energy and three-point shooting might be the most noticeable parts of his game, don't overlook his rebounding. Going forward, Green and Leonard paired together could be deceptively effective simply due to their ability to control the glass.
Nuggets Nuggets
On paper, the Nuggets are a horrible matchup for the Spurs. Right now, the two biggest issues for San Antonio are stamina and depth in the paint. Denver is first by a mile in the NBA in both fast break points per game (24.2 points, Chicago is second at 19.9) and points in the paint (52.8 points, Miami is second at 49.8).
The Nuggets are also great at getting to the free throw line, while the Spurs defense is dependent on keeping opponents off the line. Add in the facts that the Nuggets are extremely deep and that they allow opposing teams to shoot only 26.3% on three-pointers (second best in the NBA) and it's safe to say the Spurs are in trouble.
That said, the Spurs are at home and they've shown a lot of heart the last two outings so there's a chance ... but probably not a good chance.
Good, good. Now let me read your post in it's entirety![]()
Bonner has the lowest defensive rating on the team. You, and your stats, are simply wrong.
not hard to understand - his lack of athleticism confuses opponents.
Bonner allows 104 per 100 possessions. In comparison, Splitter allows 97, Duncan allows 98, and Blair allows 101. Bonner's defensive win shares is .1, Blair's is .2, and Splitter and Duncan's is .3.
Bonner is the worst player on the team in both of those stats.
You are simply, completely wrong. On top of objective statistics, simple observation backs up how wrong you are.
Yeah, I'm looking at his Defensive rating on basketball-reference, and it's 104 (104 points per 100 possessions) this season. Not sure where the 93.9 comes from.
He's also posting the worst defensive winning shares of his entire career, but that might have to do with the fact that he's also experiencing the lowest usage of his career (always a positive thing. We'll see if people that claim he should be only be playing 10-15mpg are onto something).
Ultimately, I hope the current usage will also mirror during the playoffs. Let's hope he's not being 'rested'. The Spurs still need a decent 4th big. Ike is not it. Hope they keep on looking.
Thanks for the writeup.
Try again.
http://www.82games.com/1112/11SAS10.HTM
You obviously don't know what you are talking about. Defensive rating is calculated using stats, not actual performance.
Apology accepted in advance.
The difference could be a per-48m adjustment. Not sure. I would think whatever the adjustment is would apply evenly though.
You obviously don't know how Defensive Rating is calculated. Let me find the formula so you can go ahead and apologize.
BRB.
Basketball-reference.com's results are an "estimate" based on a formula developed by Dean Oliver, author of Basketball on Paper -- it's not the actual points allowed per 100 possessions.
BTW, I thought last two games were the best two games from Matt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_rating
Defensive Rating = (Opponent's Points Allowed/ Opponent's Possessions) x 100
Anything else you'd like to be educated on? Let me know.
I gotta go do groceries... I'll apologize later before the game starts
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That's incorrect. Basketball-reference.com uses a formula that includes a lot of other crap.
itssoweezee educating fools.
It does say on b-r.com that's an estimate though.
Yeah, it's an estimate of his defensive ability.
The site clearly says that it uses Oliver's formula.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/about/glossary.html
"Defensive Rating (available since the 1977-78 season in the NBA); for players and teams it is points allowed per 100 posessions. This rating was developed by Dean Oliver, author of Basketball on Paper. I will point you to Dean's book for complete details."
You're welcome.
Great info here, thanks Timvp. Hopefully both teams keep this close and the Spurs pull away at the end.
Yeah, so obviously if you try to use defensive rebounds, blocks, steals and fouls in a calculation to figure out how good Bonner plays defense, of course he's going to look like the worst player on earth. He doesn't do any of that.It uses existing defensive stats -- defensive rebounds, blocks, steals, fouls -- to estimate defensive usage (how many possessions each player was responsible for defending) and "stops" (how many times that defender prevented the other team from scoring).
And, like I said, you don't understand what you are quoting. That isn't points allowed per 100 possessions. It's a calculation based on available stats to estimate points allowed per 100 possessions. HUGE difference. And honestly, I don't know why someone would want an estimate when you can have the real thing.
As you can see at 82games.com, Bonner allows 93.9 points per 100 possessions. That's not an estimate; that's a fact.
So yeah, before imploding your chode all over your keyboard in an attempt to prove me wrong, know what you're talking about first.
Thanks.
Lol, you are a moron. I even connected the ing dots for you.
That's not the basketball-reference version of defensive rating. Read where it says "estimate" based on stats.
Got damn hilarious.
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