Bonner shows skills: Reserve leads Spurs' effort off bench in easy victory over Bulls
Web Posted: 11/18/2006 01:05 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
Matt Bonner walked off the court Friday night, took his seat on the bench and turned to Brent Barry.
"I think I just played 10 minutes," Bonner said, "and I can't remember one second of it."
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The Spurs will forgive Bonner for his memory lapse. During the past five months, he's switched teams, countries and nicknames: Known as the Red Rocket during his two seasons in Toronto, he's now White Grand Prix.
There's at least one thing about Bonner, however, that hasn't changed. He can still shoot. The three 3-pointers he made in the first half helped get the Spurs on track as they rolled to a 100-83 victory over Chicago at the AT&T Center.
"That's going to be his M.O. the rest of the year," Tim Duncan said. "He's going to come in and knock out some shots for us."
Duncan led the Spurs with 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, but it was the team's reserves — for the second time in three games — who helped close out the victory. Barry made three 3-pointers, Michael Finley threw in two more and Beno Udrih ran the offense efficiently enough to give Tony Parker an extended rest.
With Chicago making its last stop on the tortuous Texas triangle, the Spurs wore down the Bulls with their depth. Duncan was the only starter to play more than 25 minutes and the reserves totaled 48 points, 21 rebounds and 16 assists.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had to look farther down his bench than usual after Fabricio Oberto and Francisco Elson both encountered early foul trouble. With Duncan also needing a rest, Popovich called on Bonner.
Bonner had appeared in only three of the team's first eight games, but he didn't need long to warm up. Less than 15 seconds after stepping onto the court, he hit his first 3-pointer. He helped start the second quarter with another. His third extended the Spurs' lead to 39-31 with 8:34 left in the half.
Having played so infrequently, Bonner said his mind was "going 1,000 miles an hour." On a couple of plays, he wasn't quite sure where to position himself.
"I already get pumped up enough and I was just really excited to be out there," he said. "The good thing is when you're in the game with Tim, most of the plays go to him. So you just have to look for him and get on the other side."
The Spurs shared the ball well, totaling 30 assists on 37 baskets. Udrih had nine assists, one shy of his career high. Parker had eight as the Bulls let the Spurs point guards, in the words of coach Scott Skiles, "basically penetrate at will."
Helping the Spurs' assist total was the fact that — unlike two nights earlier — they actually made a few shots. After making 2 of 17 3-pointers in their loss to Charlotte, they went 11 of 25 behind the arc.
The Spurs didn't clean up all their problems. They moved the ball freely enough to also commit 24 turnovers — most of which, Popovich said, were caused by "being too cute, too much mus , skipping steps, cutting things short, that sort of thing, rather than making the simple passes."
But the Spurs' mistakes were more than offset by the 32 points they scored off Chicago's 23 turnovers. Ben Gordon, who scored 21 off the bench before spraining his left thumb in the fourth quarter, accounted for seven turnovers.
Though the Bulls were within 10 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Spurs' reserves, led by Barry, had little trouble extending the lead.
"I think we had some good combinations out there where the ball just seemed to move a bit better," Barry said. "It wasn't the prettiest game, but we did stay a little bit more focused on the job at hand."
Bonner eventually settled down as well. After playing in all but four games during his two seasons with the Raptors, his role with the Spurs requires patience. He has used the time to learn from Duncan and Robert Horry.
"They've helped me a lot since I've been here and I know I'm going to keep getting better in practice," Bonner said. "For that, I'm grateful."
A reduction in playing time hasn't been the only adjustment for Bonner. After relying on Toronto's "Red Rocket" subway system for transportation, he purchased a white Pontiac Grand Prix to help him get around San Antonio.
"You don't really see many Pontiacs on the road, let alone the average NBA player parking lot," Barry said. "Where most guys already have pimped rides, Matt's is a candidate for 'Pimp My Ride.'"
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...r.350c04e.html
For all we about Pop's coaching decisions, sometimes he makes an unexpected move in player rotations that works--and we call it miraculous or lucky.
He's done this twice in the last few games--Houston and Chicago. And last year he was lucky enough to win a franchise record number of games.
Good thing he's lucky, 'cause we ALL know he's a lousy coach, right?.
When Pop is inducted into the Hall of Fame, AHF will go on a hunger strike for two weeks.
Bonner needs to get most of Horry's minutes. At this point Horry is a better interior defender and that's about it. I would welcome some big Horry shots in the playoffs, but I would rather take Bonner's overall game in the regular season.
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