I am SO tired of the Bonner hating...

[Cane]

Like it or not, when Bonner's on the court the Spurs do well:

Matt Bonner, on the other hand, remains an adjusted plus/minus champ. At this point, it’s impossible to deny his usefulness to the Spurs. There he is again, popping up in two of San Antonio’s best five court combinations. If the Spurs move his expiring contract before deadline, they could feel the loss.

http://www.48minutesof .com/2010/...inston-part-1/

[SCdac]

Fact: Bonner isn't in the game to be a shot blocker

Fact: We had a guy named Robert Horry, a stretch four who could hit 3s and play solid post defense which is just what Bonner gives us now

Fact: Bonner has the best adjusted +/- on our team

Fact: The team that drafted Kobe didn't feel the need to retain him

Fact: Bonner is an excellent fit in our system and we can win a championship with him starting at the 4/5 with Duncan next to him

Fact: We can win a championship without 2 shot blockers on the floor at same time

Fact: Our biggest need is a defensive wing

Not many of those are facts, but rather opinions... (edit: I thought you compared him to Bird, that was somebody else)...

How many teams has Kobe stepped on the court to play for?... please, it's all semantics... the bottom line is the craptors didn't even think Bonner was worth keeping around.

And don't compare Bonner to Horry... Horry was a much much better player, and actually had a set of balls... Per 36-minutes Horry was getting 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks per game in his best season with us. In the 05 playoffs, Horry blocked 20 shots in 23 games, and was a clutch, tough, player to boot. That's almost as many blocks that Bonner had in his entire season last year (81 games).... These players are simply not comparable, other than having three-point range.

[slayermin]

I like Bonner. I always have. He's a team player who hustles and shoots the three. I want him to succeed. When he plays the four spot, it's small ball without the small. He opens up lanes for the slashers better than any of our other bigs.

[nkdlunch]

Tony is a better basketball player than Bonner, but the Spurs have a better average scoring margin when Matt is in the game. It is fact, and cannot be disputed.

that is because the opposing team is raping us on defense when Bonner is on the floor.

[jjktkk]

"highly-skilled, younger, productive player that has more potential and upside."

You mean the Spurs made a trade?

[rayray2k8]

Few people have spent more time on this message board defending Matt Bonner than I have, so I hope this statement has some weight when it's coming from me:

Matt Bonner is not a starter. Matt Bonner is a role player who gets spot minutes to shoot threes and defend backup bigs. He's not a shot-blocker. He's not a shot-intimidator. When put in there against starting caliber NBA bigs he's a weakness to exploit. His scoring CANNOT in any universe make up for that. Bonner, even when his shot is on, is the fourth best big on this team, and that's only because Pop refuses to play Mahinmi and Ratliff. He's a good solid backup player being put in a position to fail by the coach.

I understood Matt's starting at the beginning of the season because the other bigs hadn't learned the defense yet. It's February 18. No excuse to have him in the starting lineup unless you want to go big and make him a small forward, which could hardly be more disastrous than the current starting lineups being trotted out by our genius coach.

I've been one of the biggest haters so I'll say this...
I agree..

At this point it doesnt matter to me any more since l kinda want him to play more so that we can get a higher draft pick.
So shot away red rocket! Shot us out of the playoffs.

Bonners expiring contract will be valuable in the offseason.

[Obstructed_View]

Staying in front or not, he's not getting stops.

Getting stops is the job of the starting center, not of a three point shooting role-player. Besides, Bonner can get stops against second units and mismatches.

[chazley]

Wrote this thread last season and it still rings true. Love saying I told you so...

[Tiago Splitter]

I don't think people realize OP is not all there mentally.

[SenorSpur]

Like others, I have criticized Bonner, not for his regular-season, perimeter exploits, but moreso for his playoff failings. I'm not here to do that today.

No matter what anyone thinks of Bonner, NO ONE can criticize him for his most recent performance versus the Thunder. Now, if he can translate into a slew of consistent performances in BIG regular season games, that would translate well for later in the playoffs.

Contrary to popular belief, I want the guy to do well and am rooting for him to be more consistent against top-flight compe ion. It's a bit optimistic to expect him to go 7-7 from the arc every night, but there's no doubt he has the ability to simply break a team's back if he gets on a roll, like he did last night.

[benefactor]

Love saying I told you so...

lol

[Obstructed_View]

Wrote this thread last season and it still rings true. Love saying I told you so...

You said that he should be starting, which makes you a blithering idiot. That still rings true.

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

Matt Bonner AKA "Red Rocket" can hit a lot of 3's, but his defense isn't top notch.

[ALVAREZ6]

Bonner was not making the 3-ball well enough last playoffs.


That was the source of the hate, because 3-point shooting is the only thing in Bonner's game, defense and offense combined. That's all he's worth having on the floor for, and when he's not hitting, you might as well play with 4 players.

[mingus]

Bonner had a really good game against one of the few playoff teams he can have a really good game against. OKC is the perfect matchup for a guy like Bonner. defensively, he really isn't exploitable against this team. the best rebounding big OKC has is... actually i don't know. i don't even think they have a guy rebounding over 8 per. only against OKC and a select few other playoff teams can Bonner play continuously and not be exploited.

[phyzik]

Maybe I should bump my threads about RJ that I made last year near the start of the season..... (I had a hard on for RJ like you do for the ginger)

One game means nothing.

Lets see him do it in the playoffs when it counts.

I dont hate bonner, I just hate the ammount of minutes he gets. He is a big man that plays on the perimiter and has a hard time on defense against just about everyone in his position in the entire league.

He is a bench player warranted at most 15 minutes a game. When he occasionally gets hot, I dont mind him staying in beyond that.

He still needs to prove he can do it in tough games like in the playoffs.

[DrSteffo]

Bonner is of course a specialist, one of the best shooters among bigs but also one of the worst rebounders and shot blockers. Obviously he is not half as valuable to a team like a clutch player like Horry for example but still useful. Splitter should get more PT when fully recovered and I like the very different options we have among our bigs.

[G-Dawgg]

Bonner may have disappeared on us in the playoffs on several occasions, but you can't dispute that he does shoot the ball well, scores well on drives with his floater, plays decent positional post-defense and he knows our system inside and out.
He's very useful to us and there's no denying that.... all we can hope is that he loses the the stage-fright and brings the same good things during the playoffs.

I think its just all about confidence.

...he can't be any tier than DeJuan Blair right now......

[ALVAREZ6]

Maybe I should bump my threads about RJ that I made last year near the start of the season..... (I had a hard on for RJ like you do for the ginger)

One game means nothing.

Lets see him do it in the playoffs when it counts.

I dont hate bonner, I just hate the ammount of minutes he gets. He is a big man that plays on the perimiter and has a hard time on defense against just about everyone in his position in the entire league.

He is a bench player warranted at most 15 minutes a game. When he occasionally gets hot, I dont mind him staying in beyond that.

He still needs to prove he can do it in tough games like in the playoffs.

To be honest, I am completely FOR a policy that mandates Bonner to come off the court and stay off of it for the rest of the game once he misses 3 consecutive shots. No way he'll ever get hot after missing his first 3, or after missing 3 in a row after making a few. Once it's established that he isn't hitting, ------> Useless.

[ALVAREZ6]

Bonner may have disappeared on us in the playoffs on several occasions, but you can't dispute that he does shoot the ball well, scores well on drives with his floater, plays decent positional post-defense and he knows our system inside and out.
He's very useful to us and there's no denying that.... all we can hope is that he loses the the stage-fright and brings the same good things during the playoffs.

I think its just all about confidence.

...he can't be any tier than DeJuan Blair right now......

Ummmmmm, I disagree 100%. Useful is everything Bonner isn't.


I'm not even trying to troll right here...Bonner is rather useless. Completely one-dimensional. If his 3 isn't falling, what exactly is Matt Bonner useful for in basketball???

[phyzik]

Ummmmmm, I disagree 100%. Useful is everything Bonner isn't.


I'm not even trying to troll right here...Bonner is rather useless. Completely one-dimensional. If his 3 isn't falling, what exactly is Matt Bonner useful for in basketball???

Dont sell Bonner too short.

He is also usefull for 6 more fouls when he isnt hitting.

Will come in usefull when we need to employ hack-a-shaq against the Celtics if he isnt raining 3's on them.

[ALVAREZ6]

Exactly.

Considering the grand scope of concerns/areas a basketball coach needs to address with his roster, the amount Matt Bonner contributes to all of these needs as a whole are minimal. His worth can be measured easily, he's very, very replaceable.

[UnWantedTheory]

Dont feed the Chaz!!!!!

[Warlord23]

Excellent troll job . A+

[dougp]

Ummmmmm, I disagree 100%. Useful is everything Bonner isn't.


I'm not even trying to troll right here...Bonner is rather useless. Completely one-dimensional. If his 3 isn't falling, what exactly is Matt Bonner useful for in basketball???

You're selling him rather short. I understand being frustrated with his post-season performances, but a lot of those fall on Pop rather than Bonner. His Ortg and Drtg are actually rather good when you think about the kind of player he is, and who he regularly has to defend. Here's his Ortg and Drtg since he's been w/ the Spurs.

Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G	GS
06-07	111	110	11.7	56	0
07-08	104	102	12.5	68	3
08-09	123	104	23.8	81	67
09-10	117	104	17.9	65	8

What about Kurt Thomas during his tenure as a Spur?

Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G	GS
07-08	97	98	18.7	28	9
08-09	115	101	17.8	79	10

Or what about ol' Fabs - probably the most unappreciated big we've had for awhile.

Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G	GS
05-06	102	100	8.3	59	0
06-07	112	100	17.3	79	33
07-08	125	101	20.1	82	64
08-09	115	106	12.5	51	11

Robert Horry, one of the best post defenders:

Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G	GS
03-04	107	93	15.9	81	1
04-05	108	96	18.6	75	16
05-06	107	97	18.8	63	3
06-07	104	98	16.5	68	8
07-08	98	100	12.9	45	5

Here's Duncan for comparison:

Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G	GS
06-07	111	94	34.1	80	80
07-08	110	97	34	78	78
08-09	111	100	33.6	75	75
09-10	116	101	31.3	78	77

We can go off on the Playoff tangent also.

Bonner's Tenure:

Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G
06-07	76	101	2.7	9
07-08	149	106	4.5	2
08-09	75	112	20	5
09-10	104	112	17.3	10

Yah, he hasn't been great - but what about other bigs those years?

Kurt Thomas
Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G
07-08	96	104	15.8	17
08-09	93	109	16	5

Fabricio Oberto
Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G
05-06	75	109	4.8	7
06-07	130	105	20.8	20
07-08	112	104	19.5	17
08-09	128	106	11	2

Antonio McDyess
Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G
09-10	109	109	24.7	10

Robert Horry
Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G
03-04	123	97	21.1	10
04-05	127	103	26.8	23
05-06	117	111	17.2	13
06-07	115	100	20	18
07-08	84	102	10.3	15

Rasho Nesterovic
Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G
03-04	95	99	26.1	10
04-05	93	105	7.6	15
05-06	128	108	12.6	9

Tim Duncan
Year	Ortg	Drtg	MPG	G
06-07	111	98	36.8	20
07-08	101	99	39.1	17
08-09	115	110	32.8	5
09-10	104	107	37.3	10

In other words, Bonner isn't as bad as everyone here makes him out to be.