Quick Grades: Spurs vs. Grizzlies - Dec. 18

[ElNono]

Do you really think that Bonner was the only player matched on Randolph last night? TD,Mcdyess, Blair, and Splitter all were matched up on him last night at one time or another and from what I remember all had the same results. Pretty lame to blame Randolphs game last night on Bonner since Randolph has now been playing like this for 2 seasons with grizzlies now and does the same thing to most pf's in the league. Pretty far reach on extra 3 minutes per game on bonner, but keep trying to explain how he hurts the spurs on the offensive side of the ball.

I've watched the same game you did. It's exactly the fact that ZBo is a good player that you don't give him 2nd and 3rd chances by putting an atrocious rebounder on him. Ofcourse he's gonna score and ofcourse he's going to rebound. The question is how hard you make him work for it.

His 3 point shooting % IS overrated here because he's still putting the same numbers he has put his entire career without shooting this well. It really is the epitome of cherry picking.

And please, quote where I said Matt hurt us on the offensive end? Wait, I didn't.
But be ready to discuss his overall body of work. I don't want to hear "It's well known he's a bad rebounder"... He plays on a position that demands boarding and defending. It's part of the job description. Same thing applies to Blair, BTW, who didn't have a good game either last night.

[ElNono]

I'll give Ime a C+ because the 3-pointer he shot was right on the money. He just put it a little short. Ime's gonna go for 15 and 7 one of these days and all you bas s are gonna be singing his praises.

What's the point though? Vindication? You know those days are the exception, not the rule. If Anderson can't be ready for the playoffs (don't think he'll be) we seriously need to upgrade that position.

[Cane]

I also don't like that earlier in the game when the ball was in bounded to him he let the ball roll across the damn floor before picking it up very nonchalant, with no sense of urgency. I don't know if anyone caught that, but I did and I immediately thought something could happen with laziness like that, and when later he had that turnover in the back-court, I could only think, "damn I frickin knew it".

Yea imo Parker, RJ, and Duncan had nearly inexcusable blunders in clutch time: Duncan for passing up that layup at the end of the 4th, RJ with his foot out of bounds, and Parker's lapses of laziness.

[jag]

What's the point though? Vindication? You know those days are the exception, not the rule. If Anderson can't be ready for the playoffs (don't think he'll be) we seriously need to upgrade that position.

It was a joke, brah. That's why i followed that statement with "In reality...".

[jag]

You really thnk I'm going to assign a C+ to a guy because he managed to shoot the ball straight and only missed because he needs more arm strength?

[SA210]

Yea imo Parker, RJ, and Duncan had nearly inexcusable blunders in clutch time: Duncan for passing up that layup at the end of the 4th, RJ with his foot out of bounds, and Parker's lapses of laziness.

Yea with those mistakes, I feel they were lucky to have won. Hopefully they fix those errors soon.

[ChumpDumper]

Wish the spurs would look at ewing jr. Averaging 19 ppg and 8rpg in the d-league. Also shooting 38% from 3pt. At 6'8, he would be an intriguing project i think and would bring some extra energy off the bench at that position.

Ewing's team plays the Toros today at 5, btw.

[TE]

Blair should study Randolph for some tips on rebound positioning.

[yavozerb]

I've watched the same game you did. It's exactly the fact that ZBo is a good player that you don't give him 2nd and 3rd chances by putting an atrocious rebounder on him. Ofcourse he's gonna score and ofcourse he's going to rebound. The question is how hard you make him work for it.

[B]His 3 point shooting % IS overrated here because he's still putting the same numbers he has put his entire career without shooting this well. It really is the epitome of cherry picking.[/B]

And please, quote where I said Matt hurt us on the offensive end? Wait, I didn't.
But be ready to discuss his overall body of work. I don't want to hear "It's well known he's a bad rebounder"... He plays on a position that demands boarding and defending. It's part of the job description. Same thing applies to Blair, BTW, who didn't have a good game either last night.

1st off I am really not sure what the you are talking about him "putting up the same numbers" cause I didnt realize Bonner has shot 50% in a season before from 3 pt range. I dont think I have ever heard of someone who is making 3pt shots at a 50% clip called "cherry picking" before. Making a shot from almost 24 feet is anything but a gimme. Its also not like Bonner is doing anything differently on the boards that he has not done before in his career. His career rebounds per game is 3.5 boards a game and guess what he is averaging this year, exactly 3.5 boards a game. Oh, almost forgot, where in the big man "job description" does it say that must be a top 3 three pt shooter in the league? Sorry to dissappoint, but not all players are the same and not all have the same strengths and weaknesses. Do you think Bonner would be in NBA today if he could not shoot the 3pt shot?

[yavozerb]

Ewing's team plays the Toros today at 5, btw.

thanks..you going to the game?

[ElNono]

1st off I am really not sure what the you are talking about him "putting up the same numbers" cause I didnt realize Bonner has shot 50% in a season before from 3 pt range. I dont think I have ever heard of someone who is making 3pt shots at a 50% clip called "cherry picking" before. Making a shot from almost 24 feet is anything but a gimme. Its also not like Bonner is doing anything differently on the boards that he has not done before in his career. His career rebounds per game is 3.5 boards a game and guess what he is averaging this year, exactly 3.5 boards a game. Oh, almost forgot, where in the big man "job description" does it say that must be a top 3 three pt shooter in the league? Sorry to dissappoint, but not all players are the same and not all have the same strengths and weaknesses. Do you think Bonner would be in NBA today if he could not shoot the 3pt shot?

While you were comparing his rebounding averages career wise vs this season, did you look at PPG and MPG? If you did, you will see exactly what I'm talking about putting up the same numbers. He's shooting substantially better from 3 in more mins, yet barely putting actually more points. The reason? Both his 2 pt and FT have taken a dip this season. Merely focusing on his shooting % instead of looking at the overall contribution is cherry picking.
Matt Bonner is what he is. IMO, he's handled a role that on most nights sets him up to fail. That's not his fault. Just don't come telling me his 50% shooting is going to make up for the abuse a guy like ZBo can put on him.

[ElNono]

It was a joke, brah. That's why i followed that statement with "In reality...".

[ElNono]

And FWIW, there's no 'big man should shoot 3' in the big man job description. But when your job is to guard the top big men in the league, 3.5 boards will not get it done.
As I said many times, if Bonner would play SF, then I would have much less of a problem in general. Probably guys like Odom and Durantula would abuse him, but its much less of a liability than in the paint.