BONZI WELLS: "i didn't come to run a marathon, i came to play basketball"

I'm with you, I wonder why there hasn't been more news on this. My guess is that JVG set a target weight, etc., for Bonzi and he hasn't met it yet. I really think he could put us over the top, but I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever play for us. I keep waiting to hear that Bonzi is in shape and ready to join the team.

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch........

Mo Pete is not playing and is reportedly becoming disgruntled in Toronto with the lack of playing time and rumor is Colangelo will move him to get something back for him before he turns into a free agent.

Question: If a player is traded during the last year of a multi-year deal, does the team that trades for him retain his Bird rights?

 

Spot on. We need the gap between JVG and Bonzi to close, but there is lots of time. How JVG coached the situation will be judged later, not sooner, though I do believe we need Bonzi in the fold from a talent perspective.

The NBA is not like a traditional corporate job/environment. There are not 100 Bonzi Wells talents out of the NBA just waiting out there for their shot.

The better analogy would be like a marketing firm or a scientific research department. Yeah Bonzi is hard to get along with, isn't very individually motivated, and is a pain in the ass to be a supervisor of. But at the same time they are uniquely talented individuals (where there is a small pool) who every couple years bring in a 10 mil contract or a great innovation to your company so you put up with the rest and leave them alone to the degree possible. The best pro coaches get what they can out of the short supply of talent available and that includes finding a way to get guys with huge egos and personality flaws to buy into what you are doing, even if for the short term until you find their replacement.

 

Seriously- what is this thing about "target weight"< what exactly is the basis of such a serious decision and what is the correlation with the Player performance. A lot of this is anecdotal not scientific!

 

I don't know, I'm just repeating some of what I've been hearing. From what I've heard in the past, JVG tells his players the weight he wants them to be at when they report to camp. I'm assuming that the other players made weight and Bonzi didn't. I'm sure Bonzi isn't working as hard as JVG would like and he's (JVG) concerned about whay kind of message that will send the team if he lets Bonzi play. I'm really hoping that Bonzi is getting into shape and is close to joining the team as the media is reporting. Again, I really think he puts us over the top, especially if he plays like he did late last season. The good news is, it's really in Bonzi's court and beacuse it's a contract year next year, he really can't afford to drag this out too long, at least I hope not!

 

wow, funny how theyre all ex jailblazers. haha, home of the knuckleheads!

 

So was the King Knucklehead, Sheed Wallace, but he was a key part to a championship team with the right coach and right player leadership around him. When I mentioned the right coach pulling production from difficult characters (egoheads to headcases) ranging from Mad Max to Bison Dele to D-Rod to J Will to GP--I don't know how I left out Sheed.

 

there have been alot....and i mean ALOT of idiots to come from portland!

 

Didn't Mad Max quit on the team in the midst of their title defense? Is that getting production from a knucklehead, because it seems like something it would be better to avoid. JVG is in the situation of the '95 Rudy T, where he has enough guys that he doesn't need the knucklehead. If they didn't have Yao and TMac on this team, then you might need to worry about kowtowing to Bonzi, but as is, you can just tell him to get out and not come back until he is in shape and ready to tow the line.

 

I'm really wondering if Bonzi will play another game in a Rockets uniform...

 

Mad Max is a great case, that is why I brought it up. When we needed his talent we found a way to use it despite his character flaws. In fact we would not have won the 94 title without his play. But in 95, when we acquired Drexler as a superior starter, and also had Mario, and a rising bench scorer in Cassell, Mad Max became expendable enough to basically let him walk.

The Wells situation is more like 94 (when we needed Mad Max's production) than 95 (when his PT and production were no longer needed given our other guard's depth, development and quality). Wells will be our 3rd scorer and offensive option if we get him in the fold, and is good defensive player and rebounder. We will need his skill/talent in the fold to match up with the best of the best this year IMO.

 

Pat Riley didn't bench an overweight Shaq. Rockets need to start working Bonzi into the rotation so he can be comfortable with the system come playoff time.

 

bonzi doesn't equal shaq. plus an overweight shaq didn't look like an embarrassment to the game of basketball like fat bonzi.

 

I say TMac is our Drexler and we have enough bench depth with guys like Head and Spanoulis that we can let Bonzi decide if he wants to get in shape or hit the buffet line a few more times while the Rockets keep on rolling along at a greater than 0.700 clip.

 

270 lbs on a 6'5" frame of a dude that is supposed to play from the perimeter is a whole lot different than 350 lbs on a 7'1" frame of a guy that is strictly a paint player, start to finish.

 

The Rocket team that let MadMax walk had an additional group of guards and swingman than included Drexler, K Smith, Cassell, Elie and Horry. Say Tmac is our Drexler, we don't have Cassell, Horry, Elie and K Smith type players to help out with wing play or bench scoring.

Thus I see a major difference between trying to get Head and Spanoulis to cover for the loss of Bonzi Wells off the bench than trying to get Mario Elie and Cassell to cover for the loss of MadMax off the bench. Mad Max was always a head case, acquring an all-star Clyde Drexler AND the emergence of Elie and Cassell made that head case's skills expenable.

 

Ok im sure just like everyone else who first heard we signed B onzi I was excited, but now that he hasn't played at all and he doesn't seem to want to play either should we trade him eventually? If we did decide to trade Bonzi who or what do you think we could get in return?

 

Does anybody have any sources on the severity of Bonzi's weight status? I'm just wondering if the guy is 15 lbs. overweight, or 40 lbs. After the game against Phoenix tonight, I think the horn just sounded to get his a** on the court. If he's a little chunky, maybe he'll get more motivated by 'some' court time. We need another freakin' option though. With this line-up I predict 50+ wins and a first round loss in the playoffs. I'd say work him in slow...but the point being to 'work him in'!!

 

By whom and when was it said that he didn't want to play?

 

totally agree, especially on the view on 'best pro coaches get what they can...'. i think that's the key here.

everyone has downfalls. some are more serious than others. great coaches will find a way to utilize an individual's telent DESPITE his shortcoming. rodman didn't have problems? did jackson bench his a$$ to sort everything out before let him see the court? i believe in discipline but there always should be compromise. it's not black and white, and certainly not 'my way or highway'. and i believe that, unfortunately, will separate jvg from the other great coaches.

btw, it's really not a good sign when wells came out in the media and saying he wasn't here to run a marathon. i'm not sure what exactly happened but it doesn't look good. not at all.