Damn this thread to .
RJ shat the bed in the playoffs and ended up watching the end of the last game against Memphis from the bench... Not surprisingly that's where Matt found himself in the last few games against OKC.
Apparently Pop realized that Matty's advanced stats in the regular season don't translate to the playoffs. Hopefully, the realization translates in losing dead weight.
Another possibility is they'll realize they went 34-4 in the 38 preceding games they played Bonner, and as soon as they benched him they lost 3 straight.
Another possibility is that after 4 post-seasons of fairly decent playing time and his niche stats flat-lining, they have enough sample size to make the determination he's useless in the playoffs.
What are niche stats?
He's a 3 point specialist. It also has been argued his +/- stat is a reflection of how well he spaces the floor for everyone else. Stats that flatline once the playoffs roll around. This postseason was no exception.
Bonner has been given one to many chances . It's time
BTW, as advanced stats go, this was Matt's worst offseason by far... he was dead last on the team in:
PER, TS%, eFG%, ORtg, OWS, WS/48...
i've hoped, prayed, and wished for bonner to be gone for yrs now. dude keeps disappearing in the post-season, wish he'd disappear for good already.
Drz kept pimping the fact that Bonner accidentally posted a good WS/48 last year. This season when he finished dead last, I haven't seen much discussion about that stat, tbh.
His postseason numbers have been bad, including his +/-. I can't argue against that.
What I can argue (surprise!), as always, is sample size. For example, in 2011, Bonner was 3rd on the team in plus/minus (both adjusted and unadjusted), and 1st in win shares. Does that tell us anything? I don't think so, just as any one (or even four) postseasons don't tell us anything. There simply aren't enough minutes to make a meaningful judgment.
I did just think of something that could convince me otherwise: are there are long-tenured players with long, significant playoff resumes, where there playoff performance significantly differs from their regular season performance? Not just worse, but better too. If there are a handful or more, that might convince me that playoff chokers* or playoff stars exist.
* it's important to point out that I'm defining chokers as someone who, going forward, is expected to underperform. If we're defining a choker as someone who's underperformed in the past, yes, Bonner's a choker.
I did notice, and yes, I chose not to bring it up.
At least it was positive!
Edit: Kind of funny that I repimped it in the post prior, I hadn't read your post when I made that one.
Everybody that plays in the postseason is constrained to a minute-limitation and thus sample size one way or another. Some more, some less, but overall, it applies to everybody. It's the nature of the beast.
Some players elevate their game. Some players play the same. Some players their pants. Matt has, after 4 seasons, been consistently on the latter group.
He didn't get more minutes this postseason because he sucked offensively, which is where his niche is supposed to be. Visual inspection backs it up, numbers back it up too.
This epic thread is a testament to the fact half of ST already knew two years ago that Matty just looks overwhelmed out there when the games count, and that the Spurs severely overpaid for the services of a player who can only play from October to late February.
Actually I remember someone making the "seasons" analogy before. It might have been you but it was something like this: "Bonner's shot is like Snow, falls with great regularity in the winter, but is nowhere to be found come Spring time."
I was hoping for a different ending this year. Out of all his playoff appearances, I thought this one had the highest chance of him playing well. We had a lot of depth, winning streak/momentum, and great chemistry going into the playoffs. And we didn't rely on Matt making his 3s to succeed. There should have been no pressure on him... but he still ended up missing his 3s and passing up shots. Terrible.We all know how this movie ends. We've watched it for four years. Why they refuse to move on from him is a mystery I'll never understand. Besides, with RJ out of the picture, I had to direct my vengance toward someone.
I was really hoping (but of course not expecting) Bonner would make me eat crow this year. The previous years he didn't fit on this team at all since they had such lousy defenders like Jefferson and Blair playing meaningful minutes, but this year with Leonard, Jackson, and Splitter getting minutes, the team actually had guys capable of masking Bonner's defensive deficiencies enough that he could have been a major plus to the effort this time around. All I wanted was for the guy to shoot whenever he had a good look and to hit the wide open ones. This was the one time his skillset actually fit in really well, but dude the bed again.
All he had to do was relax, have some fun, and launch open 3s..
His -8 in 2 minutes against OKC was hauntingly bad too.
People make it seem like we're asking Bonner to hit every shot he takes. We're just asking him to take those shots with confidence and not being scared. We've seen this movie over and over. The defensive intensity (quicker closeouts) and his slow release make it difficult for him to do that. Some counters are get a pullup jumper or step farther back from the line.I was really hoping (but of course not expecting) Bonner would make me eat crow this year. The previous years he didn't fit on this team at all since they had such lousy defenders like Jefferson and Blair playing meaningful minutes, but this year with Leonard, Jackson, and Splitter getting minutes, the team actually had guys capable of masking Bonner's defensive deficiencies enough that he could have been a major plus to the effort this time around. All I wanted was for the guy to shoot whenever he had a good look and to hit the wide open ones. This was the one time his skillset actually fit in really well, but dude the bed again.
^this
This thread also proves that many ST posters were late to the party, but most have finally come around and their eyes are now open to the obvious. Now, if only POP and the coaching staff would do the same and finally dump this guy on the first sucker they can find.
Two years down the road and this thread still delivers.
Wow, that AFBlue guy was WAY off!
Ah .
ing Bonner.
lol bonner fcking waste of space tim duncan thanks u fck
Hasn't Bonners defense been getting better every year? His post defense was really good this regular season, if I recall previous threads correctly. Maybe Bonner will become the defensive stalwart that could help. Or is there evidence showing that playoff Bonner chokes on defense too? Any takers?
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