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

"All you have to do is dangle a slice of pizza in front of the bike, Coach! Coooooowaaabunga!!!!!!"

Seriously though, I think this thing will work itself out within the next week or two and we'll see the Bonzi we all hoped would, playing great off the bench.

 

I like what you said.

 

IMO, it would depend on the team. If the team was winning Dennis would be fine.

Dennis would usually detach himself from the team when they would start to lose.

Dennis behaved in Chicago because Phil and Jordan kept him in check with wining and they were master psychologists.

JVG is no match for Phil in that department so I do not think he could.

That's just my opinion though.

 

If this were true, the Rockets would have done it already. Seems to me they are going to give him plenty of time to get into shape.

 

i wonder what the guy signing the checks thinks of this

 

How come so many people don't realize Bonzi can't produce when he's out of shape? He played in NOK game and played like crap, even worse than JHO is playing right now.

 

Jordan said it himself that Barkley never put in the work ethic and that's why he didn't win a ring. It's a known thing that Barkley didn't really listen to his coaches when they tried to put their foot down, playing for someone like Rudy was alright for him cause Rudy was a players coach and Rudy sometimes had to look the other way, but for someone like JVG? Please.

For all of you Bonzi sympathizers, what is so freaking tough about getting your fat @ss in shape and showing the coach you are dedicated to learning his system. JVG is not asking the guy to learn up on the Space Shuttle Atlantis, for christ sakes. Just get in shape and show the coach you dedicated to his system. SHeesh, someone check that degree at Ball State, mathamatics and communication wasn't his strong suit.

We've got 2 good players on our team that symbolizes the polar opposites of who excels at JVG's system and who doesn't:

A. Shane Battier
B. Bonzi Wells

I bet Bonzi would flunk this pop quiz also. It boggles the mind why the light bulb doesn't flicker on for the Swifts, Bonzis of the world.

Even though its not 40 million, 2 million is still enough to buy a clue.

 

It's called discipline, and w/o it certain players will be a cancer.

 

We made a special effort towards the end of the offseason to get Bonzi. Did we not know anything about Bonzi? Did we not know that he was out of shape though his groin injury? Did we not know that he has a serious attitude problem,
especially with a dictator coach.
If the Rocket's Management and Coaches didn't know and expect all of these things then the Rockets Management/Scouting is not of a very high caliber.
Of course they knew all of the above and still wanted to have Bonzi for what he could bring to the team. At least that was what I understood to be true.
So what is going on? The conflict between Bonzi and JVG should have been squashed in its infancy, by upper level Management [CD] and Bonzi cajoled into the fold. JVG would needed to have sucked in his pride a little for this to have happened. A really good Coach would have know how to do this without it ever becoming a problem.It takes a special Coach to blend in all types to make a great team.

 

Mo Pete is unhappy in Toronto. Doesn't look like it is going to end well there. What about Bonzi and Snyder to Toronto for Mo? Money works, and I believe we could re-sign him without using our MLE. He's good from the corners and a decent 3 point shooter overall. I would think on our team he gets better looks than in Toronto. Good perimeter defender. And Toronto does not have much leverage with him since he is expiring. I think they are giving up on him and going to go with Parker so they would probably be interested in a deal if they could pull a young talented swing man like Snyder out of the deal.

 

I think the answer is somewhere in between. Bonzi should be in better shape, and JVG should use a different approach.

Trivia: Which coaches did Bonzi have little to zero problems with?

A. Hubie Brown
B. Mike Fratello
C. Rick Adelman
D. Jeff Van Gundy

If you've answered C, bingo! With the exception of Sprewell, look at the examples of head cases who have behaved like (for the most part) model citizens:

Rodman.....Jackson
Wells........Adelman
Maxwell.....Tomjanovich

I'm not saying bend all the rules, I'm just saying something like, "Bonzi, here's the deal- I'll give you X minutes per game if you can produce- offensively and defensively. If you don't, you don't play." Simple as that. An easier approach, while still commanding respect, is what you do. As much as some of us can't stand him, that's what Phil Jackson is best at, I think.

But it's still early in the season, and we're 6 and 3, so I'll give coach the benefit of the doubt here. But by game 20, he needs to make a decision.

 

Dennis was probably a master psychologist himself. he still had his moments on and off the court in Chicago, but Phil never did go postal on him.

 

Are you sure he would be helping us right now? Did you watch the games where he played in? He's out of shape and seems to be off with his post game. Sounds a little bit like Sweetney to me. Was he any help to the bulls? Not playing bonzi wasn't our problem at all...Bonzi isn't gonna contain Gordon.

 

laughin my ass off....

 

Rodman works 10 times harder than Bonzi. He was never out of shape. JVG would have played 210lbs Bonzi, but not 265lbs Bonzi.

What makes people think Bonzi can play as well as he did in playoffs after he gained 50 lbs? Look no further than Shawn Kemp, Vin Baker and Jerome James.

 

'.............didn't come to run a marathon"


.............then don't show up ready to sumo wrestle.

 

Bonzi should get an ultimatum. He either shows serious commitment to getting into shape within a couple of weeks, or never, ever sees the floor. Knuckleheads can be redeemed, but if you treat them any nicer than Bobby Knight would, they'll be the ruin of the team. If he doesn't comply, trade him for a power forward, any power forward.

 

I am not taking away blame from Bonzi. I think Bonzi is at fault. But JVG is not the right guy to remedy this. He can but he needs to come up with a different approach.

Bonzi being problematic has been well documented.

Rockets should have done their homework a little better before signing him up.

Last 2 years, Rockets have signed couple of players in the off-season only to let them rot because JVG cant fix them.

 

trade him for diener & jj brokeback.

 

still a great sign by the rox @ 2 mil