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Could also explain why the guy's vertical has dropped from 3 inches to .5
Let me preface this by saying that I know a bunch of people will want to make smartass replies like, "Who cares?" (One answer is that he is a member of the team, and when he's right he puts up a lot of points.) Amuse yourseves, I guess. I figure there are still a few people who are actually interested in basketball.
A couple of years ago, I said that I was pretty sure Manu was injured, a week or two before the Spurs announced that he had been playing hurt. I could see it, in particular, in the way he was shooting 3's. What I've been seeing from Matt Bonner, in my opinion, looks even worse.
Do you remember last year, when Bonner took that really nasty knee-to-knee shot? He missed more time than most people expected, and they said he had a deep bone bruise (actually, it was bone marrow edema). Ever since he came back from that injury, Bonner can't make a three-pointer with his feet together to save his ass. Okay - technically I can think of maybe three. But for the most part, the only way he can get a 3-pointer to fall is if he shoots with his legs apart in a scissor. (Right leg a little forward, left leg way back.)
Why does that matter? Well for one, it's crappy form for a set shot - especially for a right-hander. And, second, it's not the way he used to shoot when he was leading the league in 3-pointers. I think he's still having problems with that right knee. Maybe I'm wrong, and he just got into some really bad habits during his rehab. But that's not what it looks like. And there were several occasions after his return when he seemed to be grimacing from pain, even though it didn't look like anything happened. Tonight he came up hurting, and had to take himself out of the game. It looked like all he did was land after shooting a 3 pointer. He came out favoring that same right knee.
There's a look when a good shooter strokes a 3, and his legs (almost together) kick out in front of his body. Bonner couldn't get into that position in a million years, with the way his feet are set before the shot. To me, it looks like his right leg is weak and he either puts the left back to get a little extra drive.
He was playing pretty good ball before the injury - arguably the best of his career. He hasn't looked the same since. And he had been shooting .504 from the 3P line before the injury. I think he was sub-.400 after he came back. This year he's shooting .378 from the arc, and nothing about the way he's playing looks the same. I can't prove it (obviously) but I really think there's still a problem with that knee. There's definitely something wrong with his form on the long shots.
You can bash the guy all you want, but when he's shooting 50% of his 3's and bringing down some boards, he's good to have on the floor.
Last edited by GSH; 01-16-2012 at 12:34 PM.
Could also explain why the guy's vertical has dropped from 3 inches to .5
Thanks for posting, I agree 100%!
I will take the who gives a shyt stance and just say he started early this year rather than a month before the playoffs when he falls off yearly! I would rather say where is Matt Bonner (Not Like I would care) than what happened or whats wrong with him. He is what he is, garbage.
BTW I disagree when he is not shooting .500 from three he is shyt, he never got boards nor played much d, sure he hustled at times lol! If his shot is not falling he is a liability, period.
I think he's been nursing a leg problem all season. He's incredibly labored getting up and down the court. Surely the team knows this yet Pop plays him just the same. So then, what's wrong with Pop?
Matt is no better, probably worse, than a Jason Kapono. We could use a ty defender who has a quicker release on the 3.
It's stupid to count on something as inconsistent as Bonner. He's valuable if he's going 5-5 beyond the arc. Even then, he's a liability in every other aspect of the game. Too much of a risk.
I don't know if Pop is wanting him to play Horry's role or something... but once Bonner gets a good streak going, lets all cross our fingers that some team that needs outside shooting takes the bait and SA FO gets their heads out of their asses and trades him... and gets back to the formula that got us rings.
AMEN thereI can't wait to get rid of this dude off this team, it's not secret I can't stand the guy as a player, wish he was gone when we had the shot to get rid of him years ago.
It's difficult not to care because he gets the minutes and being a one trick pony, that shot is largely what he brings to the table. IIRC, I read a while back he admitted to being a bit out of shape.
Expecting somebody to consistently shoot 50+% from 3 is just unrealistic. I don't think it's ever been done. Basketball-wise, I think that's one of the factors at play here: Statistical anomalies have a way of coming back to normal over the long haul.
Personally, I can't wait until the Bonner era in San Antonio is over.
Matty's just giving the other guys some time to shine before he goes supernova.
I do hope hes okay. Our team is too thin up front for him to get hurt. And we need his instant offense from time to time. Limited to 10-15 minutes Bonner can be an effective NBA player, so with that said I would hate to see him go down right now.
I just don't see Bonner in the rotation on a championship team. Maybe Pop's trying to prove wrong what everybody can see.
I think a couple of times people have shot over 50% from 3. Kerr I think did it at least once. He was much more consistent than Bonner and had a quicker release. Basically if his 3 before missed you knew the next one was going in.
Matt was actually injured on the possession prior to the 3-pointer he made. On the OB play at the defensive end, Matt got caught between Lopez and Shannon Brown and Shannon kneed him.
The play right before Bonner's made 3 was a 3 on the other end by Morris, I believe, and Morris was wide open because Bonner had to fight through a screen. I'm pretty sure that was where Bonner either got his injury or aggravated what was already wrong with him. The announcers weren't paying any attention to Bonner until after he made his own shot, which is why I don't think it was noticed by them. Looked to me like he might have caught a knee to the thigh or he might have bumped knees with a Phoenix player fighting through that screen. The fact that he managed to run back down on offense and make a 3 of his own before intentionally fouling to get out of the game was kinda impressive.
I'm talking over the course of various seasons. Kerr had back to back 50+% 3 point shooting only once in his long career. He actually retired with a 37% 3 point shooting percentage (career wise). Kerr, much like Horry, had a knack for hitting them when they mattered though.
when his not dropping 3s, his a liability on the court
What's wrong with Matt Bonner is that he is on the Spurs...
You have to be worried about Bonner. This team only has four bigmen and losing any of them would be catastrophic.
It was 45% (37% was for the playoffs).
Bonner is playing right to his ability. He is a good three point shooter when no one is near him because he shoots the ball so low. He has virtuality no hops or mobility so you get what you get. He is what he is. Anything more than 7-8 minutes per game is a waste.
He just sucks. Plain and simple. The guy sucks.
Who cares...I hope his injury opens up more minutes for Splitter. Bonner is a cancer on the team. As long as he is on the roster, Pop will force feed him minutes, knowing full well his defense and rebounding is atrocious...plus, he knows the guy will tank in the playoffs.
the obscene hatred and scapegoating of Bonner on this board finally got to him. I hope you jerks are proud of yourselves.
Spurs should just focus on another big to take Bonner's minutes. While I'm the biggest anti-bonner posters on here, I have no issue with him getting 10 minutes or LESS per game. It's just obviously not possible since we only have 4 full time bigs on the roster (Thomas has yet to really do anything).
ElNono said it best, the end of the Bonner era will be a great one. He's overtaken Michael Finley as that player getting way too many undeserved minutes.
If Bonner was injured and not playing it might benefit the team into forcing their hand at looking at even more bigs, but if he's injured/hampered and still trying to play, it will only be worse for us in the long run.
he's waiting to shine on the playoffs
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