We are only paying him 1/8 of his current value that's why he'll only play for 4 bestOfSeven playoff series.
Be glad that John Lopez has nothing to do with the Rockets. Look, I'm not happy with Bonzi's fat ass, but I do know that his fat ass can help. He's learning that this is JVG team and you will play by his rules. One of the many things I love about JVG is that he holds his players accountable. Bonzi thought he could cruise along all season getting himself into shape (and risking a bad injury) and then explode come playoff time....earning him the paycheck he desires. He's selfish.....he only thinks about himself and that might be ok, but he can be all those things when he's IN SHAPE and Playing HOW JVG wants him to play. He's not a bust......he's just rich, fat and selfish and wants to get this season over with as quickly as possible
I hope that is true...he is the missing link on this team as far as competing for a championship this season.
I don't recall Vernon ever being out of shape, do you? And what happened when Vernon crossed the line? Bonzi crossed the line before he even did much for us. That should really help us win, send someone on the court who's out of shape? Also sends a good message to the rest of the team.
I am with you 100%. If it takes Bonzi publically embarrasing himself out there a couple of games for him to decide to get his conditioning and game back up, so be it. But Bonzi is a 7 mil year talent that we got in a 2.5 mil contract. If he plays well the last quarter of the season + the playoffs, we got what we needed to get from him. The goal should be to get him ready by playoff time, forget the moral high ground.
I haven't wanted to believe the negativity on Bonzi, but patience is running thin for this guy, for even the most forgiving Rockets fans. I don't see how it hurts us to keep him on board though, so if they can't get anything of real value through then let him be. Maybe he'll come around and play, and if he does he's a great asset to this team, but if he doesn't at least he's not suceeding on another team with a vendetta for the Rockets.
Maxwell was crossing lines his whole career. That is why we got him for cash from the Spurs despite everyone knowing he had NBA talent. Maxwell because expendable when we didn't need his talent and skill. in orther words when we acquired Drex, and had Mario and Cassell needing minutes who together provided much of what Max did without being head cases. Right now we need Bonzi Wells' skill and talent to round out or roster for a championship run. If we had maybe 2 Tmacs we could let Bonzi walk, but we don't. Right now we still have Wells hostage, and we should use it.
Cutting Bonzi loose would be a reward for him. Forget it. Unless the definition of cutting ties means letting him sit on the inactive list the entire season. As far as I'm concerned, he already publicly embarassed himself in the two games he played. He looked like Santa Claus. Letting Bonzi play himself into shape at the expense of the Rockets is crazy, IMO. If he was just 10-12 pounds overweight, maybe. But he looked 25-30 pounds overweight to me. IC2000, I hope Bonzi is ready to contribute soon. That would be the best case scenario.
I agree. Under no circumstances should we cut him. Just gives him the opp to go some where's else and try to earn a MLE deal next year. If he sits here all season, he knows he is screwing himself, so he's got to request a trade or get his ... together.
He is playing himself out of the league and will get an even smaller contract next year....not smart...not smart at all. DD
Two interesting things from all this... First, why did JVG bother to play Bonzi in the first few games of the season?!? He had to have known by watching his limited practice time and hearing advice from our medical staff that he was "out of shape" and the "groin issue" may have still be lingering... Yeah, he looked like crap, but that rust/fat won't come off till he starts actually playing in NBA games! JVG later stated that he made a "mistake bringing him back too early." Then Bonzi misses yet more time with "personal issues?!?" Does Bonzi just simply have a case of doghouseitis? If this makes sense to anyone else, enlighten me... Secondly, if indeed Bonzi does end up getting traded in the next few months(I see this being a probable solution at this point), WHO THE HEC IS GOING TO WANT TO SIGN/PLAY HERE!!! Pippen, MoT, Swift, DA, Mike "Trade Clause" James, Bonzi... I could go on...
By "cut him loose", I mean we shouldn't reward him by giving him the playing time, while keep other more deserve players on the bench. What kind of signal will that send to other players? That will not serve well to the team chemistry in the longer run. So, practice him hard, but only play him unless he is in shape, ready to play!
The Bonz needs to work out. It takes forever to "play your way into shape" with the serious risk of injury....
You are really a genius- looking at people and knowing their weight. These days even telling the person's sex is difficult- just by looking!
