what are doing with matt bonner?

[Sisk]

No inner thug?

Kill yourself.

What he said

[Kori Ellis]

People need to stop blaming Matt Bonner for the situation he was in. He isn't a starting center. He was in the role because the Spurs basically had no other choice. If Oberto was healthy, that likely would have been his job. Now with McDyess on board, Bonner can go back to the bench, come in the game to spread the floor and bring some enthusiasm.

If Mahnimi/Blair are awesome, then they'll probably look to move Bonner at the trade deadline.. but it doesn't hurt to have a big man that can shoot on your bench. If someone wanted Bonner in a trade package right now, they'd trade him but that goes for everyone on the team (outside the obvious).

[objective]

wait wait wait wait wait . . .

We are talking about Matt Bonner right?

Because if I remember right, summer 2007, maybe half the posters were raving about re-signing Bonner instead of signing Scola. Because Scola 'wouldn't fit' and that there would be no room for him next to Duncan.

AND

Bonner was the NEXT HORRY !

McDyess, Blair, and the other scrubs like Haislip and Mahinmi better sit their asses down.

It's Bonner time!

[rayray2k8]

I don't know "what are doing" with Booner...

[HarlemHeat37]

the thing people seem to forget about Bonner..dude was shooting an unreal 50% from 3-point range all the way until March..that's a ridiculous number..he shrunk under pressure, but like others have said, he could be a bench player this season..

I wouldn't mind seeing him get 10-15 MPG at all off the bench..

I hope Ian and Blair outplay him and earn a spot in the rotation, because it would be better for our interior, but Bonner can be a valuable player with his great 3-point shooting..he's also a guy that teams could be calling about at the deadline..

[Drom John]

IMO, Bonner will be the starting center. Bonner does not see the bulk of the 4th Q in a close game. Yet, Bonner does make the last possession of a game if trailing by 2 or 3.
McDyess gets the Thomas minutes off the bench (plus some of Bonner's.)
Blair gets the Oberto minutes off the bench (plus some of Bonner's.)

A second unit of McDyess, Blair, Ginobli, Mason and Hill could cause nightmares for the opposition. Those nightmares are scarier Bonner's time with the starting unit are for us.

[Kori Ellis]

IMO, Bonner will be the starting center. Bonner does not see the bulk of the 4th Q in a close game. Yet, Bonner does make the last possession of a game if trailing by 2 or 3.
McDyess gets the Thomas minutes off the bench (plus some of Bonner's.)
Blair gets the Oberto minutes off the bench (plus some of Bonner's.)

A second unit of McDyess, Blair, Ginobli, Mason and Hill could cause nightmares for the opposition. Those nightmares are scarier Bonner's time with the starting unit are for us.

I think McDyess is starting. You don't throw a 10/10 guy to the bench.

Also, you want to start Finley?

[jb4g]

IMO, Bonner will be the starting center. Bonner does not see the bulk of the 4th Q in a close game. Yet, Bonner does make the last possession of a game if trailing by 2 or 3.
McDyess gets the Thomas minutes off the bench (plus some of Bonner's.)
Blair gets the Oberto minutes off the bench (plus some of Bonner's.)

A second unit of McDyess, Blair, Ginobli, Mason and Hill could cause nightmares for the opposition. Those nightmares are scarier Bonner's time with the starting unit are for us.

no way, second units gotta be bonner,blair, ginobili, finley, and hill....mason has to start, hes gonna get tons of open looks with the first team now that RJ is in the mix

even if Ian doesnt take matts spot, that second team is still very strong IMO.

[DPG21920]

Bonner did fine as a starter during the regular season imo. I would not be heartbroken if he started again. Bonner is efficient with his scoring and his defense (especially the perimeter) is not that bad.

If you put Bonner in the starting line up with Duncan/TP/Mason/RJ that would make him more effective imo. No one would be able to double Tim and there would be slashers on the court as well in TP/RJ.

Then you get to save McDyess and manage his minutes, plus add more potency to your bench with Hill/Blair/Manu/McDyess.

I would not mind that at all and I think you would maximize what you get out of Bonner.

[Marcus Bryant]

The problem with Bonner is that he needs a significant amount of regular minutes (over 20 a night) to be most effective offensively, while he's not that great of a defensive player. Playing him 15 to 20 minutes a night will ensure that your defense is not up to standard Spurs' defensive levels (circa 1999-2007). If you want an outside shooting threat in a bigman, it's best to go with someone like a Haislip who can potentially give you a different dimension if his shots aren't falling.

It's no coincidence that the Spurs' defense sucked hard last season and Bonner was getting heavy (for him) minutes.

[anakha]

It's no coincidence that the Spurs' defense sucked hard last season and Bonner was getting heavy (for him) minutes.

How much of the degraded Spurs offense can be attributed to Bonner and how much to the heavy minutes played by Mason and Finley?

[DPG21920]

I agree with that in theory, but Haislip is still a question mark. At least early on, we know Bonner can hit at a high clip. I do not want him to start, I just think it would not be the worst thing, especially early on if it happens.

[vander]

Bonner played almost 2000 minutes last year on a very good Spurs team, and other than the few extra minutes he got when TD missed games, there's no reason to think his role will be significantly reduced this year.

There are 2400 other minutes from KT, Fabs, and Gooden that can be given to Dyess and a little to Ian, and there was close to 1000 minutes of small-ball last year. IMO Blair on the court can easily be considered "small-ball", and he could take a lot of minutes from that instead of from other big men.

I don't see Bonner playing less than 1400 minutes next year

TD . - 31
McD - 23
Bon - 18
Blair - 14
Ian - 6
Small Ball - 4

see? plenty of minutes to go around, who's getting shafted in that scenario? no one!

[SCdac]

At least Bonner's $3.2 million or whatever it is comes off the books this season. If we have to give him run in the regular season to raise his value a bit, I'm fine with that, but he shouldn't be relied upon in a big way come the playoffs. He has proven to be able to stretch the defense as efficiently as any PF in the game during the reg. season, but was like 0-9 3FG in the last three games he played. Doesn't lack toughness and effort by any means, and we'll need him in a long regular season where injuries can occur. His ceiling is too low though, and I agree with Marcus Bryant in that our defense isn't up to par with him getting heavy minutes. Bonner shouldn't, and won't have to, be a starter this season... Haislip signing for the VET MIN can't look good for Bonner either, especially when he's talking up his outside shot... And here's to hoping DeJuan Blair and our 2005 first round pick can average at least 25 MPG combined going into march.

[Mr. Body]

IMO, Bonner will be the starting center.

NO!!

You might have missed when we signed McDyess. He's the PF, Duncan is the C. Whatever, however you want to call them.

I don't mind Bonner anymore, now that we have real talent, starting quality talent. IMO, reflecting what others have said here, you keep him and Finley around to make sure the young players are covered. Trade at the trade deadline if anything. There may be some bargains.

[anakha]

You hipster doofus, I was responding to a guy that said he needs to bring out his 'inner thug'. Wasn't my word.

You'll have to forgive T Park's occasional head-in-assness.

[raspsa]

Bonner is the only Big with proven 3-point range. Haislip still has to prove that he can hit from long-range. Bonner can still serve a purpose in certain situations.

[JustinJDW]

I don't care about Bonner. I care about McDyess and Blair. I see it as a win-win situation. If Bonner starts, then we will have McDyess coming off the Bench along with Ginobili to kick more ass while the Starters rest.

If Bonner is on the Bench and McDyess starts, then we can have someone that can rebound a lot better and play much better D on the Starting Lineup, and Bonner can have limited minutes and play with Ginobili and Blair.

Either way, I want McDyess to get more minutes than Bonner and I don't want Bonner to slow down the development of Blair. I just don't want Bonner screwing anything up. Just do your role and get out, and while you are at it, why don't ya grab some rebounds?

[spurspokesman]

He's a quality big when he isn't asked to do too much. Last year he was asked to do way too much.

Yup. And he was still tops for three point shooting in the league. He will play way better with a heavily reduced role

[Indazone]

Start him!!! Bonner is Spurs Gold!!

[K-State Spur]

Bonner is the anti-Claxton. Where as many on this board will always remember Speedy as being much better than he was, many will minimize the accomplishments of Bonner (not that he is/was great, but he's far from garbage).

We've upgraded over Bonner because we've added a couple of quality post players. Guys off the street (or Austin) would not have been an upgrade.

[Seventyniner]

I don't understand the 1st string/2nd string arguments. All five starters will be on the floor together at the beginning of the game, but we all know the crunch time lineup will be Tony/Manu/RJ/Tim/McD, and it's somewhat rare to have five subs in all at the same time. Also, a quintuple subs ution is rather rare as well. There are far more than two lineup possibilities, even with only ten players.

IMO, Bonner as Tim's sub works pretty well. Tim is basically going to be a center anyway, and that allows McD or Blair to man the paint while Bonner spots up behind the arc.

[YODA]

Come on people, Think about it for min before you post.
Bonner will obviously be the first person off the bench at start of year with blair right behind him. Like someone said, you dont bench a 10 and 10 guy in Dice.
As the year goes along and Blair learns, which Im sure he will, He will slowly take away minutes from Bonner. Bonner willl still be usefull versus certain teams and situations.

This talk of 4 bigs coming off the bench is hilarious. You really think Hiarston is gonna get any minutes on a regular basis? Ian is basically a rookie and will probably get less minutes then Hill got last year. He will get his chances, but I dont think he will see consistent playing time unless he has a break out games. Do you see that happening?
I hope for it, but realistically think not. I think Pop wants to slowly bring in Blair and using Bonner ahead of him is perfect. Pop's long range plan is to have
Blair playing alot, but just not right off the back. Bonner will be 1st option off bench and then blair with Ian getting isolated minutes here and there.

Pop normally likes to use 2 big men off the bench and for now, it will be Bonner and Blair.
Anyone else getting limited minutes.

Was thinking over some nice scoring lineups. Can you see RJ, TP, Manu, Blair, Hill on floor? wow,,,I see TP's assists going up because he gonna have a field day runnig with these guys.

I also the D just improving greatly from last year. Interior D was horrible last year, but with Dice and a pounder in Blair,,that should improve....SHOULD that is.

Its gonna be a great year.

[angelbelow]

He won't play much. But should we try to hold onto him? he is an expiring that could be valuable come Feb.

[will_spurs]

He is going to help coming off the bench, and in the meanwhile is keeping a roster spot and an expiring contract for Tiago Splitter next summer.