Chris Andersen to go back to Denver (tidbit on Bonzi)

Hahaha. Some people here want Bonzi Wells back, but Ryan Bowen just beat him out for a roster spot in New Orleans.

 

flyin ryan! vicious defense! wish we still had him...

 

For the life of me, I can't understand the Bonzi hate. He wasn't a bad player when he was here last year -- he was productive off the bench, and actually led us to a few wins. Sure, his FT% was bad and sometimes he didn't show up, but he's about as good of a backup SG as you'll get -- there are no Kobe Bryant's coming off the bench.

People on here seem to take the value of a player by starting with what they think he should be, then subtracting what is performing -- as "bad" as Bonzi was, he's still better than most of the SG free agents that are/were on the market.

 

When he signed, it was hoped he could eventually start (moving Battier to the 4 or to the bench) or be an awesome sixth man for the team. Instead, he showed up first year out of shape and never contributed. Last year he was wildly inconsistent and got traded because he couldn't keep Luther Head out of the rotation after Luther returned from injury.

When you sign someone expecting they'll play like a borderline all-star, a legit third scoring option, and they can't beat out Luther for a spot in the rotation, the player is bound to be disliked.

 

Anyone else expecting to see Bonzi's life go to hell once he is out of the league? Missing out on 36 million dollars cannot sit easy with him.

 

Who here would pay to see a deadlock battle between Ryan Bowen and Matt Harpring?

 

Exactly. Plus, the most important attributes that Bonzi was supposed to bring to the Rockets (defense and toughness) ended up being his weaknesses. Morey even admitted this summer that the Rockets became a much worse defensive team whenever Bonzi came in the game. If Bonzi didn't have it going in the low post (and that was most of the time), then he was basically useless. Sure, he could draw some fouls; but he'd just end up hitting only 1 of 2 (and sometimes 0 of 2) free throws.

Bonzi never got over his mistake in not taking the lucrative contract offer with Sacramento; and the Rockets suffered from his inability to move on with his career.

 

I'm not talking about his first year -- that was a disaster under JVG. His last year under Adelman, he wasn't that bad. He started horribly, but then really picked it up and was good for a good stretch. Then he would have his up and down games. I'm basing this off memory, in case some stat boy takes the time to come in here and post all the box scores.

I don't think Head was ever pushing Bonzi for time -- Bonzi was always better than head. Bonzi shot 43% for 8PPG (3P% aside) and grabbed 5 boards a game - that's a pretty good contribution from a backup SG. People think he "sucks" because they expect to see more points/efficiency -- but he's actually a solid backup player. He also helped this team learn Adelman's system, and was using cuts when no one else could figure it out.

I'll even say Bonzi's defense is underrated. Everyone bashes him because they assume he's fat, lazy and slow. I think he gambled a lot, but I don't think he ever got "torched". He was really effective at the Chuck Hayes slap downs, and that usually led to a lot of steals.

I'd love to have Bonzi back. He might complete our team.

 

HA HA HA Good for Ryan Bowen! I remember so many people said that the only reason Bowen was on a team was because of JVG. Apparently, Jeff isn't the only idiot that thinks Ryan is useful.

 

If he goes crazy, his ex-agent better go into hiding...

 

Lol.. I love Ryan Bowen... he's even useful on video games. I was playing NBA Live 06 a few years back with my best friend. He was the Mavericks and I was the Rockets and I was by up 2 with a few seconds left on the clock and it was his possession. So, I subbed in Ryan Bowen for "defensive purposes" to guard his Nowitzki. I started running around with Ryan Bowen with his hands up and he started laughing so hard and passed it inbounds to a player that was standing out of bounds. I went on for the win... damn I'm badass!

 

Bonzi really needs to go to Europe.

 

Fixed it.

 

NOLA considering extending Bowen, isn't a direct knock on Bonzi. It's not like "Hey Ryan can do everything better than Bonzi", more like "Ryan can fill the role of a defensive-minded bench warmer at a cheaper rate."

And make no mistake, the Rockets this year were better with Bonzi. I am not saying anything about the trade, or anything about Bobby contributions. The Rockets were a better team with Bonzi coming off the bench than without, period.

 

I thought Bonzi was ok last year. High expectations just caused people to hate him because he's not the player back in the Portland days.

Towards the middle of the season, he finally learned to feed off Yao, and was one of the few people that could make good crisp passes to him when the paint was crowded. I know there's a few videos of him doing touch passes over the top of defenders to Yao that resulted in Yao getting an easy 2 points.

As far as his lower FT %, that goes for a lot of players on the Rockets. Scola shot poor. McGrady did as well. I remember it wasn't uncommon for Landry to clang a few off the back of the iron. The only player that kept the team's FT % from the being of the worst in the league was Yao. And when Yao went down, the team's FT % did in fact dip much lower even with the Bonzi trade.

There was even regret on Morey's part to trade Bonzi if he knew Yao was going to be out of the rest of the season, but I think Bonzi could be a decent small acquisition on the Rockets. I definitely think he's more valuable than Bobby Jackson at least.

 

seriously, how does ryan bowen do it ??? he must have some serious dirt on coaches or GMs or something. how does this guy stay in the league as an unathletic white dude who can't shoot or rebound ? wtf ?


i wouldn't mind having bonzi back at all....

 

Boki and Bowen are the only two players got better after left Houston.

 

we don't have a roster spot for bonzi. and he's just another playerin the league. so pls give up the obsession about him.