Off penetrate and kick the defense has an easier time recovering. That's what happened against the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies were basically playing the middle on the penetration. That allowed them to recover to the shooters and contest the penetration. The downside to playing that way is the amount of effort/energy required. However when Pop saw it wasn't working he should have been able to go with something else but they never really developed something else.
Although Bonner isn't a star, he needs to adjust to the nature of playoff basketball to help the team. He needs a faster release. Alot of times in the playoffs you're shot is barely going to make it off your hand in time before the defense recovers. The other option is being able to get an automatic midrange jumper or floater of a drive and kick. A third option would be for him to stand farther back than the three point line to make it harder for the defense to recover. Regardless he has to make quick decisive moves.
Last edited by therealtruth; 02-26-2012 at 10:58 PM.
Bonner has played well during the reg season for the most part of his career, however he has NEVER played that good D, EVER! The throw the ball to who-ever Bonner guards ear is gone. Bonner has proven a capable defender this year and that's very exciting.
There were a lot of people who could have been in the 3pt contest, but it's ing boring as and the more they put boring people in it the worse it gets. Same with the dunk contest, stupid as and should go away. In fact, there should only be the AS game. No rookie sophmore, nothing. Just AS game and move on. Back in the day it was good because players didn't think they were too high class to be seen in it, but these days all the best talent refuses to show, so it's a group of nobodies and no one gives a who wins.
Otherwise, I like Matt. Most people like Matt. They don't like how Matt is a huge liability on defense and goes s up in the playoffs. That has nothing to do with Matt the person, but Matt the player is a 3pt shooter and a damn good one in the regular season. We get what we can from him, and so does the opponent.
Not sure what games you've watched, but I see Bonner being the goal posts for the opponent to line up their shots. He escorts them to the basket then provides the sights. His "being there" gets mistaken for defense. It's not. Our defense last year and the first part of this one has sucked so bad that Matt Bonner standing in the lane with his arms up is now considered viable defense.
People seem to forget that the Spurs are paying him 3M a year, we get what he's worth. If he could grab boards, he'd receive mid level annually. If he had any post move + rebounding skills, he'd probably worth 10M a year; And if he could defend, post and grab boards, while shooting 3s, he'd get more than what Kevin Love will get.
I don't think anyone is forgetting it. It's not about how much we pay him. It's about how much Pop relies on him.
You get to the playoffs with a certain group and then some of that group becomes useless. Then you have to change up the minutes and rotations on the fly and that screws everything up.
In this order, I would like to see these guys go:
1 RJ
2 Blair
3 Bonner
Bonner hits 3s but he gives up points on the other end like it's going out of style.
None of these guys play defense. I don't think we can afford to have players on the floor who cannot defend.
RJ at least has the physical tools to be adequate when motivated. He's already had a couple of clutch moments on offense/defense this year. However his contract probably needs to be readjusted.
Like your saying Pop shouldn't be relying on 3M/year player so much. You can't give a one-trick role player 20+ minutes in the playoffs and hope to be successful. Bonner just doesn't have the tenacity and hustle needed for playoff basketball. I blame Finley and Bonner for getting Pop to stop caring about defense just because somebody can shoot 3's. I blame Horry for making Pop fall in love with stretch 4's.
nice interview.
you don't find many guys with this down to earth nature in the NBA. and we all know that Matt is really smart.
that's why I'm pretty sure we will see him in a FO in SA role in some years. , maybe the whole Bonner story is all about acquiring him for the FO.
SI.com: Can you dance?
Bonner: I’m not much of a dancer. You’ve seen me run up and down the court, so you probably figured that out. I just try to not stick out too much. That’s my goal.
Do you happen to have other Spur players' playoff stats during the "Bonner era"
The D-league is full of players who have the physical tools to be adequate and they are already motivated.
Bonner does keep the defense honest in the regular season, but maybe Pop is playing two different games: one regular season and one playoff version. I mean, we all know that playoff teams are going to shut Bonner down on offense and attack him relentlessly at the other end. Pop knows it as well.Like your saying Pop shouldn't be relying on 3M/year player so much. You can't give a one-trick role player 20+ minutes in the playoffs and hope to be successful. Bonner just doesn't have the tenacity and hustle needed for playoff basketball. I blame Finley and Bonner for getting Pop to stop caring about defense just because somebody can shoot 3's. I blame Horry for making Pop fall in love with stretch 4's.
I don't know many things we could have done differently and still be as compe ive as we are. I can speculate but then there are a lot of other teams who have done things that seem like they should produce rings and have not.
No, but it's rather easy to think that opponents are keen to chase him away from his spots during a playoff series. When a player is only above average at one thing, he's basically useless if you can take that one thing away from him.
Here are all the players in the Tim Duncan Era who have played at least 3,000 regular season minutes and 200 playoff minutes. The percentage next to each player is their PER increase/decrease in the postseason.
Jaren Jackson: +17.6%
Robert Horry: +11.2%
Antonio Daniels: +8.1%
Avery Johnson: +6.5%
Michael Finley: +3.3%
Tim Duncan: +2.4%
Fabricio Oberto: +0.8%
Sean Elliott: +0.2%
George Hill: -4.3%
Manu Ginobili: -5.1%
David Robinson: -5.9%
Steve Smith: -6.8%
Bruce Bowen: -7.4%
Mario Elie: -7.6%
Tony Parker: -11.2%
Antonio McDyess: -12%
Malik Rose: -15.1%
Brent Barry: -21.6%
Richard Jefferson: -22.2%
Rasho Nesterovic: -26.7%
Danny Ferry: -32.9%
Terry Porter: -38.1%
Matt Bonner: -42.4%
While it's true that some of Bonner's playoff struggles are due to the opposition taking away his strengths, that's not the only thing going on. As I said earlier in this thread, all of his defensive metrics also crash and burn in the playoffs.
It's pretty obvious at this point that, for whatever reasons, Bonner isn't built for the playoffs.
do you happen to have Bonner's stats for just the past two years?
Lol Rasho -26%
In other words...
you would like to defend Bonner---at all costs!
to the e-death!
It's not all bad with Matty in the playoffs... Was it Frye that got a terrific deal out of looking like the 2nd coming of Larry Bird?
Manu outplaying Parker in the postseason. No surprises there tbh.
That's exactly what playoff basketball is about: taking away as many things from your opponent as you can so you can get the advantage. Whoever is more successful at it wins. Teams usually go with one of two strategies. They can say we'll let the role players beat us and focus on the stars. Or we'll make sure the role players don't beat us but give up more to the stars. Depending on what they choose your stars have to perform or your role players have to step up. The last thing you want is for them to limit both stars and role players.
Before throw the parade, it should be noted that a study showed that star PGs historically lose about 10% of their efficiency in the playoffs while star SGs usually become more efficient in the playoffs. But don't let that stop you, tbh.
So PGs are overrated with regards to winning playoff basketball? DoK just wet himself.
Link ?
Lol @ CNNSI for interviewing Matt freakin' Bonner. Must have been a sloooooooooooooooooow news day.
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