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Defensively, that would be an abysmal bench. Maybe even worst in the league. The offense would be fun to watch though.
http://www.poundingtherock.com/2013/...with-the-spurs
The most interesting part of the article was the idea of Belinelli's addition opening up playing time for Patty Mills in a "PG-less" lineup.
" Marco will likely be relied upon as a ball handler and creator and he seems to have the tools for it.
Belinelli and Ginobili will come off the bench and share the court, as well as playmaking duties, for a considerable amount of time. If you add the likely presence of Diaw in some of those lineups, it doesn't seem like there would be much need for additional ball handlers on the floor
"the Spurs could really take advantage of Mills' shooting ability. The Australian guard shot 43% on spot up threes last season while Joseph's shot 25% (in limited attempts) and De Colo shot 39.3%. On mid-range jumpers the difference is even bigger. There was no question about who was the best shooter of the three, at least last season, and if the Spurs are simply looking for shooting, Mills can be their guy."
A Mills-Belinelli-Ginobili-Diaw-Pendergraph/Baynes would be an interesting bench to watch.
Defensively, that would be an abysmal bench. Maybe even worst in the league. The offense would be fun to watch though.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it abysmal but it would be lacking. I mean, Manu can still defend and Belinelli is at least a better defender than Gary Neal and the guy hustles out there the best he can. Pendergraph and Baynes aren't known to be bad defenders, either and Diaw is underrated on D because of all the years he played for the Suns. Now if you stick that piece of Bonner in there, then we're talking abysmal D.
Worst in the league? Guess were playing "ultra troll"
It doesnt matter if Pop benches Duncan to allow some Alien to grab a key rebound
I don't get why everyone thinks the white european guy can't play defense!
I'd tag him as average if not better on that end of the court.
you sadistic bas
offensively though that is Manu playing point forward to 3 shooters and a guy who can rebound.
the 9 man rotation is the same with Belinelli replacing Neal. The Spurs typically run with 3 bigs with Bonner as the 4th big with spot minutes.
CoJo/Marco/Manu/Diaw/Splitter.
It seems as if many folks don't realize how much better Bonner is defensively now. Obviously he's no rim protector, but he is much improved defensively and not nearly the liability he once was
He's good at post defense but he's not a guy you want caught in the lane because he's likelier to foul than to alter the shot. And he'll be used as part of an offensive lineup; the defensive lineup will likely feature Diaw (who is one of two players on the team who can defend on the perimeter and inside) or Pendergraph.
Oh yea for sure, and I think Pop for the most part put him in good position to defend primarily guys who play in the post, so with his limited minutes he was no longer as much of a liability as he once was. Not to mention he's also improved his rebounding and boxing out.
They would be going against second units. I don't think their defense would be that bad, but even if it was, I'd bet their offense compensates for it.
Didn't get to watch a lot of Belinelli-included games. Whenever I did, didn't really get to observe his game. Because of that, I just want to ask if he does have playmaking skills (passing, penetration). My current scouting of his game is that he's a guard with a good size for a 2 but could play as 3 and that he's a good shooter. Many people here say his defense has improved when he was with the Bulls and so, I may have to go on with that for the meantime.
A Mills/Beli/Manu trio is intriguing because Mills wouldn't have to handle the ball except maybe to get it past halfcourt. The percentages don't lie: Mills is a pretty good spot-up shooter.
Its clear anyone who watches him on a normal bases can tell he is good defender. He also never misses a rotation and is effective guarding the post.
agree
I watched parts of a alot of Bulls games. He has the skills. They were essentially running offense through him. Then again that team had only two other play makers and Hinrich was always injured. I thought he did a good job. He can get to the rim well enough and can shoot off the dribble a bit.
This video should give a better idea...
It's clear to anyone who watches on a normal basis that he isn't a good defender. He can be somewhat competent on help D and yes, he doesn't miss rotations but that doesn't make him a good defender. Oh, and he's atrocious at guarding the post but he does make for an awesome welcome mat to the rim.
That's just not true, mainly the bolded.
http://www.48minutesof .com/matt-...-lineups-spurs
http://www.48minutesof .com/boris...-market-part-2
- Matt Bonner is the 4th best post-up defender in the league, per Synergy. I didn’t believe that at all on first glance, so I spent about 45 minutes watching every single post-up possession Matt Bonner has defended in the past three years. I came away shocked. His post-up defense isn’t pretty, but it’s quite effective. His foul rate is minuscule compared to that of the league average big, and he has a fantastic sense of when and how to lay off his man and use his size to bother the shot. He always keeps his arms up, and he moves in a sort of shuffling gait that more often than not confuses the post-up player. On the pick and roll, that’s generally less Bonner’s a en than it is Tiago and Tim helping out, but Bonner does his fair share of the work on those possessions as well. He keeps the big close and generally forces them to take shots from angles they aren’t very good at, and again, he does an excellent job keeping his foul rate down.
I'm not sure why Spurs fans continue to pretend that there's some vast difference between Belinelli and Neal, as if Belinelli is Ginobili or Harden when it comes to play making.
The reality is, if the Spurs thought of Mills as anything more than a 12th man, then he wouldn't have been the only backup PG candidate to not be given a legit chance to be the primary backup last season and they probably wouldn't have even bothered signing a proven rotation player like Belinelli, because if (relatively) pint sized Bradley and Ellis can regularly defend starting SG's, if they really wanted to, they could get away with Joseph defending backups.
We are watching the same player with different eyes. Anyone who watched him hassle a Dwight Howard and Zach Randolph in the post in the playoffs couldn't possibly believe that he is a poor post defender. He frustrated Randolph by forcing ZBO out of position before the catch keeping his arms raised and using his lower body strength to push Randolph further away from the basket. He also never bites on pump fakes and forced the offensive player to shoot over top of him from spots on the floor that aren't ideal.
His P&R defensive is mediocre in my opinion but if he was an excellent all around defender to go along with his elite 3 point shooting he wouldn't be a role player and making $ 4 million. That can be solved by having a rim protector in with him (Duncan or Splitter) People judge him way to harshly. He can be very useful on both sides offense and defense.
I remember we almost let the Grizzlies back into one of the games because Zach was feasting on Bonner. The bleeding only stopped when Pop went back to TD and Splitter.
You mean game 2 when Bonner played 27 minutes and Randolph missed 12 of his 18 shots in 45 minutes. The only reason why that game was in doubt was because of that ridiculous flagrant foul that forced OT.
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