Let me know when you see him do something other than standing ON THE FLOOR with his hands up, even against guards. He's terribly soft on D, not ever challenging shots. He also doesn't have a clue about the circle, drawing a number of charges inside of it.
That's the only problem I have with him on defense other then that he's a great team defender. But like I said we already have enough shooters, Bonner should be cut or some that dude is bad, all he can do is shoot threes & he's not ever good at it.
Like someone mentioned earlier, Pop deems Splitter is a longterm project. From the very limited minutes I've seen Splitter play this year, I've seen a few decent things, like nice footwork on defense, but I haven't seen anything from Splitter to warrant more minutes.
Well, when we get murdered in the paint come playoff time by Bynum, Gasol, KG, Perkins, Howard, etc while any player (even PGs) guards Bonner at the 3pt line and renders him completely useless, I hope Popovich doesn't regret not giving Splitter some PT to see what he's got.
I already know that Bonner chokes in the playoffs. Doesn't the saying go: Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Look at the Boston game - a big, important game with possible HCA implications - Bonner 30:17 mins - getting abused by Davis. Meanwhile, Dice with a smooth jumper just a few feet inside the 3pt line and much better defense gets only 14:53 mins.
Neal's gotten his chance and proved to be a big difference. Does it hurt to try Splitter - especially when he's the only one other than Duncan with size and length? C'mon, he's not a rookie out of high school/college.
...and people wonder why gray named posters get clowned.
HE'S THE BEST ING THREE POINT SHOOTER IN THE NBA.
Oh, and Splitter's an average team defender, at best. His rotations always seem late. If he were as good as you people make him out to be, he'd play 30 minutes with NO offense at all.
Apparantly it does.
LMFAO look at numbers all the time they don't mean ing , going by what your dumb ass is saying he's a better 3 point shooter then Ray Allen right?
Think b4 you write such a stupid ass thing.
This year, he is, and numbers are everything. Without numbers, you don't have percentages, which is how you judge a shooter's effectiveness.
Are you all butthurt because he missed half of them? Think b4 you write such a stupid ass thing.
Hey I'm ChuckD, and I don't know .
I've already proven that Splitter is a solid team defender, I gave stats that were given by Synergy Sports' scouting data..he's not a good post defender, but his rotations are very good, and he's a solid p&r defender..his defense is levels above Bonner and Blair, despite not having chemistry/knowing the system yet..
As for Bonner, he's obviously a great regular season 3-point shooter, that can't be denied..he's a proven choker in the playoffs though, obviously..I don't know if risking it in the playoffs again is worth it, we'll see what Pop does, I suspect he'll roll with Bonner again..
Blair/Bonner should be played based on certain scenarios/situations..
Bonner is the #2 3pt shooter in NBA. He's very good, but I think he's getting worse lately, like the Spurs.
Offense is not our problem, defense is.
I wish people would actually look at players based on both ends of the floor.
Isn't that self-contradictory?
There's a continuum/balance in basketball, so I'm puzzled and amused when I'm told it's all about X, as if that's the last word.
I would agree that our primary concern at the moment is defense -but it doesn't follow that there might not be concurrent problems with our offense, which IMO relies too much on outside shooting, doesn't have enough movement, and doesn't capitalize on potential mismatch advantages we might gain by giving Splitter a go.
What you've made abundantly clear is that you don't know about defense. School's still out on general basketball knowledge.
Bonner is a better defender than Blair in pretty much all areas of defense other than maybe against bigger centers.. who Duncan and Dyess guard anyway.. and poking the ball away on entry passes/passing lanes... plus Blair has had one of the worst TS% for any player this season.. let alone his position. So he is pretty much out there for rebounding at this point.. similar to a Reggie Evans or a small version of Kris Humphries.
Can someone tell me how good Semih Erden is? I assume Splitter was more highly rated that Semih?
I'm just watching the Celtics Vs Bulls game now and he is getting regular playing time. I haven't watched a lot of their games, but he seems to get regular minutes.
How can Splitter not even get on the court?
He can't spread the court on the offensive end.
But then Pop preaches defense> offense.
Sounds like someone is being very contradicting. *Cough Pop Cough*
Please state which game Splitter has played in (other than garbage minutes) that has resulted in a loss.
I don't know about you but I'd prefer Ray Allen shooting a 3 in the playoffs over Bonner. I'd also prefer Derek Fisher or in the past - Horry or Bowen over Bonner because he chokes while they have heart. Heck, I'd even go with Duncan or Parker for a 3 in the playoffs instead of Bonner. But by all means, let's go by the almighty regular season 3pt % or +/- stat or whatever regular season stat that Matt Bonner is king of.
You have to take into account the number of shots when looking at the %, if that number is low compared to other top 3 point shooters than it is hard to make any claims as to him being the best and if the player is unguarded like Bonner often is because he is not respected as a threat.
Non sequitur.
How many games did Ime play in other than garbage minutes that resulted in a loss?
Look at Tim, he played in every game and they have lost 6 times because of him (obviously, right?).
When you are 30-6, using win/loss to show effectiveness of an individual player (other than the big 3) is pointless. That record would show that everyone on the team is doing a great job. People here realize that already.
What he was saying, I think, was that Pop wasn't playing him, so obviously Pop thinks it's best for the team to not play him.
You cannot argue with shooting percentage.I don't know about you but I'd prefer Ray Allen shooting a 3 in the playoffs over Bonner. I'd also prefer Derek Fisher or in the past - Horry or Bowen over Bonner because he chokes while they have heart. Heck, I'd even go with Duncan or Parker for a 3 in the playoffs instead of Bonner. But by all means, let's go by the almighty regular season 3pt % or +/- stat or whatever regular season stat that Matt Bonner is king of.
How about this: You are down two points, 2 seconds left and there's a 2 shot flagrant. Would you prefer a person with a 90% FT season average, or a "clutch" shooter with a 70% FT average?
If you think the numbers don't mean anything, why do you think anyone tracks them? Clutch is just a situational cir stance behind the shot. How many times has Bonner had the ball in tight situations and missed?
I would take Bonner shooting the 3 over anyone on the team, except maybe Neal.
this thread is funny
That's great that Bonner's leading the league in 3pt %, but he only averages 1.7 three pointers per game. Does that justify his 22 minutes per game?
He's also averaging 2.6 defensive rebounds per game (not going to bring up offensive rebounds since he's camped out at the 3pt line.) Gary Neal averages 2.4 defensive rebounds per game with 18 minutes per game.
I'm happy with the record, but I also know that we're a jump shooting team and in order for us to be a contender, our defense has to be much better. We need length and especially down low - Blair and Bonner are not going to cut it - although Blair does rebound from time to time at least.
Splitter has been unimpressive to say the least, but he is a legitimate big and has pretty good footwork - Pop has to figure out a way to get him involved and polish his game - quick. I don't see many other options of us finding a better big out there and we will not win a le with Bonner as our #2 big.
Erden was nothing more than a role player for his Turkish side Fenerbahce. His last season in the Euroleague which was his most productive he had averages of 6 points and 5 rebounds and less than a block a game on 47% shooting in 20+ minutes. His PER was 10.5.
Splitter's had averages of 14 points and around 5-6 rebounds routinely in around 25 minutes a game on 60% shooting. One Euroleague season he shot 66% from the field as the main option and even blocked 1.6 shots... his PER that season was 26.9.
Erden has been very impressive when called upon.. its amazing what a 7 footer with skills can do when your on the court with guys like Rondo, Pierce and Garnett... these guys make the game easy for everyone else. Thats also the reason Doc specifically starts Semih to make sure hes out there with the best guys who will make tihngs easy for him. This is what is amusing when people bash Splitter when he goes 0-2 in garbage time when playing with Chris Quinn and Ime Udoka. Especially since he has already had double digit scoring games when hes out there with Manu and TP. You put Erden on the court with guys like Nate Robinson and Marquis Daniels he probably wouldnt score a bucket all season... yet he looks like a legitimate NBA player when out there with the starters. Splitter is 10x the player Erden is.
And by the way... if Pop inherited that Celtics lineup with those injuries... i have a feeling you would have seen alot more of Big Baby-Garnett and Big Baby-Harangody then you would have seen lineups containing Erden. Doc Rivers values defense alot more than 2010 Popovich IMO unfortunately.... Doc knows what won him his ring.
Last edited by mystargtr34; 01-09-2011 at 01:27 AM.
No, it's not self-contradictory at all. And it does follow your balance conundrum.
We have a good share of players that are more than capable on the offensive end (including Bonner when he's hitting his shots), and not enough players that can play average defense. So we're unbalanced.
Bonner is the epitome of unbalanced production. He's a below average defender, consistently, and he can only make up for that deficiency on the offensive end (where his production is inconsistent).
But take a sample of this thread, and all you hear about Matty is his offensive production.
I personally wouldn't have a problem with Manu/Hill/Neal taking the 3 point shots that Matty takes, even if they would hit a few less, but playing an actual big that can play defense more minutes, and actually makes up the difference on that end. Maybe that guy is Dice. Maybe hand 10 mins to Splitter and see how it goes.
BTW, let me state that Matty is a hard working guy, and looks to be a great guy and teammate too. This has nothing to do with him personally. He is who he is, and we already have a large sample size of what he brings to the table, especially on the defensive end (which is where we need a lift now).
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
