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Pops talking like Pop
Bumping this thread not to bring up Pops' play but his words after being part of another loss last night. Pretty big comments for a young guy to say about the team even if they are right on point. Good on him for speaking his mind because this team's internal leadership (Bosh, Calderon) are doing all.
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/600910"We're not playing like a desperate team," said Mensah-Bonsu who, having pulled down 25 rebounds in 33 minutes as a Raptor, is a rare exception to the malaise.
"It's tough to have some players going hard, some not. I'm not trying to pinpoint it on anybody, but that's the reality. I'm watching tonight and it looked like the Sixers didn't want to play. They're not 20 points better than us, but it's tough to win games when you don't have a lot of energy and effort."
Pops talking like Pop
Just saw Pop's totals for the Piston's game tonight which the Raptors lost by four.
8 pts.and 10 rebounds on 3of 5 from the floor and 2-2 from the line in 28 minutes of play. Not ragging on management because I do not know the impact on the luxury tax ,of signing Gooden and cutting a paid salary already on the roster in order to keep Pops around.
Also, I am not at all caught up in the unrealistic euphoria displayed by some posters here, but quite simply, I liked him. NO, He wasn't goimg to make any difference in the playoffs this year but it looks like the light may have gone off in his head as to how he could earn a living in the NBA. Against scrubs or not when he went into his limited games with the Spurs it was obvious he was energized and hustling . And of course he is very athletic although it was hard to guage his basketball skills in his short stay here.His hustle and athleticism alone is something that the Spurs could use on certain regular season games when the team acts as if it is totally disinterested in the game.
I think it was just bad timing for him here , but I think if his energy is consistent and for real that he can carve out a living in the NBA as a hustling
reseve on somebody's team.
Luxury tax wasn't an issue - the rotation was. I can't argue with Pop's judgement of players that he feels comfortable with based on his success, but at the same time some of the players that he's comfortable with have liabilities when it comes to playing with more athletic players. A player like Oberto has a high basketball IQ, but sometimes the fact that he's much slower than some of the more athletic players makes him almost obsolete in the current arena of the NBA. Stephen Jackson is a great example of a player that probably doesn't rank high on Pop's list of players that he's comfortable with, but he possesses the athleticism necessary to compete in today's NBA.
I was getting ready to bump this thread and you beat me to it.
With Andrea feeling ill, Pops played 28 minutes scoring 8 points and grabbing 10 more rebounds. As a Raptor he now has 35 rebounds in 70 minutes!
so maybe the spurs will sign him to the lle and gooden to the mle
I was going check his totals for all Raptor games, but was too lazy at the moment. I knew his rebound numbers were good. I hope he makes it.
To Underdawg- It does appear as though his at ude is a bit different than early SJAX( although not as talented) which should help him land a job if he continues to play with such energy. I think he could be a 10 to 20 minute a game guy who could come in and play all out for the time he gets and collect a nice check in the process.
Soft Raptors could learn a little from Pops
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/602369For some of the most entertaining spurts of last night's Raptors-Pistons game, Pops Mensah-Bonsu was playing a style of basketball that, to local eyes glazed over by this passionless season, seemed almost alien.
In flashes of brilliance that would make a purist smile, the Londoner was a one-man full-court press and an all-round defensive pest. He pulled down rebounds – 10 in 30 minutes. He dove into the passing lanes and got a steal that led to a breakaway dunk.
And yes, he also made a mistake that sealed Toronto's 99-95 overtime loss. After making an eye-popping effort to pull down the rebound of Chris Bosh's missed free throw with the Raptors down two with about six seconds left in OT, an off-balance Mensah-Bonsu had his attempted pass intercepted by Jason Maxiell, who converted the turnover into a joy-killing dunk.
It's at moments like those when you remember Mensah-Bonsu took up the game in earnest in England as a teenager after converting from soccer and track and field (but not before he cleared seven feet in the high jump).
But it's easy to cut a tireless grinder some slack, especially considering he has now played a grand total of four games for the Raptors and 19 NBA games in total.
"This one hurts," he said afterward. "It's the first time I've been a critical part of an NBA game."
History says he is a fast learner, perhaps because he has been moulded by some remarkable influences. For instance, he played his NCAA ball at George Washington University, which counts among its alumni an NBA legend named Red Auerbach.
And Auerbach, before his 2006 death, was an occasional presence at Mensah-Bonsu's college practices, where the old sage would hand down wisdom gleaned from the experience of 16 championship seasons as a coach or executive with the Boston Celtics.
"There wasn't much dialogue – I just listened," said Mensah-Bonsu. "It was an honour for him to know my name."
More recently, Mensah-Bonsu sipped the proverbial cup of coffee with the San Antonio Spurs, the four-time NBA champions.
He lingered over every last drop.
"They have some superstars on their team, but if you were to be in their presence, you wouldn't know it," said Mensah-Bonsu of the Spurs. "How professional those guys are, it's uncanny. I will carry it with me for the rest of my life."
You don't hear young NBA players talk like this often. And Mensah-Bonsu, we've already learned, isn't one to hand out unwarranted praise. After Wednesday's listless 115-106 loss in Philadelphia, he said of playing for Toronto: "It's tough to have some players going hard, some not."
The fact he has stood out like a beacon in his short time in Toronto is an indictment of a lot of Raptors who have been around all season.
The ingredients he supplies – energy and athleticism and, even more important, a willingness to learn and improve – are exactly what the Raptors have lacked.
Jamario Moon provided those things in spurts before he was traded to Miami last month, but Moon's work in that area fell off as his time in Toronto wore on.
Mensah-Bonsu will be a free agent this summer – he's earning himself a nice contract in the dregs of this season – but you wonder if he'd be able to keep up the oomph during a longer stay here.
Being a gritty player on this prom-dress soft roster, after all, often means being alone in a fight.
Witness Joey Graham's 15 minutes last night: Zero points, zero rebounds and zero impact from a guy who is supposed to provide a physical presence.
"I think (Mensah-Bonsu) is the kind of guy we've missed from the beginning," said starting point guard Jose Calderon. "If he was with us from the beginning, maybe everything (is different). But he's doing everything we ask him, he's doing great.
We love him."
Hopefully he resigns with us this summer.
statistically, it seems like pops is playing very well. i think raptors will make a push to keep him, but if not, i hope he comes back for summer league.
It's good to see that Pops holds his experience with us in high regard. I agree that the Raps will likely try to sign him this summer, but if he wants to come back for the summer league to try to earn a spot here I would love to have him. More athletic bigs than you need is a good problem.
Hard to see Pop, based on his late season play, not walking into some camp this summer with a guaranteed contract in hand. This has worked out well for him, getting playing time with the Raps he wouldn't have seen in SA. Also hard to see the Spurs giving him a guaranteed contract as they'll be basically trying out Mahinmi, Harrison and Gist for spots and can't already give one of those spots, as a guarantee, away to Pop. Maybe it was impossible to hang onto Pop short of putting him on the roster and giving him no exposure.
I could see us bringing him to camp and having a training camp big man contingent of TD-KT-Bonner-Mahinmi-Pops
I would highly doubt that Pops the savior ever omes back.
Between Mahinmi, Gist, KT, and others there will be no room.
Would I like to see him given a shot? Sure.
Who else is there? We're going to carry five bigs on the roster and will definitely invite more than that to camp. That would be TD-KT-Bonner-Oberto-Mahinmi-?. Gooden is a free agent and there's no guarantee he'll be back, so Pops could be a good guy to bring to camp if he doesn't get a better offer elsewhere. Same for Joel Anthony. I would like to see him in camp as well. That's the point of camp.
Can we please get over this Pops kid already? !
Yeah the savior.
right now pops has 21 points and 8 rebounds.
He's good...Oh man why didn't we just say goodby to Vaughn
Pops dunked too much and jumped too high to be a Spurs player. Pop had to get rid of him fast.
What good would pops have been on the spurs not dressing out...Pops right now is on the perfect team for him and his style of play. Pops should be very happy the spurs did not keep him.
I'd take Pops over Oberto right now
Pops obviously sucks and it was a great move that he got let go.
Yeah would've been a fantastic move to piss off the rest of the players and cut Vaughn.
Vaughn could have been retained as a coach which is his likely destination after this year and he won't see 2 second playing time except garbage minutes.
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