We have no choice at this point, but I still say his skillset is redundant when we have our full team, and we need Snyder's athleticism. Bonzi played well last night on offense, but on defense....well...he gave up some big baskets late in the game by being basically lazy on defense. But, lock this thread up.......it is pointless now, as the trade deadline has passed....... DD
Well, Bonzi's definantly still got it. He still has the knack of getting to the rack whcih is something we really need from our bench players. Head is a good scorer from the outside, but he rarely if ever drives the lane and finishes. Bonzi can be productive for us coming off the bench for Tracy and driving the lane for points. He needs to improve his FT % though.
Like I mentioned, you always have something to whine about. I told you to give Bonzi some time to get in shape and he is on that path now. You are wrong about thinking that Snyder is the better fit. You dont think Bonzi is the better role player even after last night? Your the one is serious denial now. Also, to bring up his D late in the game is plain stupid. We easily win the game if the other starters played up to par. Actually, we could have easily won if Rafer and Shane shot 20 % from the field.
Bonzi is on his way to being a 20+ MPG guy off the bench, as it should be. He can make our bench scoring significantly better, and is our #2 option if Yao or Tmac are having an off night. I'd still like to see Snyder get more minutes. Particular on a night like last night where Head, Alston & Battier were missing terribly from 3s, get Snyder out there to go to the hole or get a chance for some fast break points. Overall, play Alston a little less, play Head less overall but more at the PG, play Battier a little less overall but some at PF, and Tmac a little less. Plenty of minutes for both Snyder and Wells that way. The fact Yao and Tmac are out now could be a blessing. It might have been the only way for Bonzi to show what he can do and for JVG to better see his place in the rotation. When healthy the Rockets are shaping up as a tremendously deep team--10 or 11 legit NBA players and a heck of a bench.
Has Bonzi been a bit of a let down? Sure, sure he has...but we are better off currently going with Bonzi and not Snyder. Bonzi showed up out of shape and not wanting to work, when he finally decided he wanted to work and help the team his body couldn't handle the rigors of the game. I think the kinks have been worked out for the most part and Bonzi is back on track. I like Bonzi because he gives us that much needed extra weapon against the elite teams like SA, Dallas, etc. And you can bet, if Bonzi is healthy and we're in the playoffs he's gonna put it down.
He had 5 fouls, and he was our only offensive weapon, he had to stay on court. what did you expect him to do?
Bonzi is perfect here. He is that 3rd person who can create his own shot, if Yao and T-Mac are slacking and or not playing due to injury. I'd put him and Juwon at 3A and 3B when who is our next scorer, not jump shooter but scorer. I think Bonzi will be the old Bonzi once we get into the playoffs.
It's funny that a loss to the cellar dwelling Celtics has shown you that we are a very deep team. We only have 4 legit NBA starters- Tmac, Yao, Bonz, and Battier. The rest should be bench warmers or in the NBDL. Hardly what I would call a "deep" team. But if we can manage to plug in one our PG or PF holes during this offseason, I will revise my stance.
Yeah, we get it TTRocket... wah wah wah. Typical negative post around here it seems. Because every player isn't great they are NBDL caliber players, trust me... we get your point.
I don't know many teams that can win games without their 2 best players. And Boston is not as bad(at least supposedly) as their record shows. Pierce and Wally missed significant time of their losing streak. What irks me is that Boston was trying their best to give us a free vic and we didn't want it. I think Boston is more pissed that they won(now a game behind Memphis for lottery balls) than we are for losing.
A bench of Wells, Head, Deke, Hayes, Snyder, and Tska is quite good. Few teams have a caliber of offensive player of Wells on the bench, and Deke is one of the better back-up Cs in the league, and those others role players do some good things (e.g., Head and 3s, Hayes as a hustler rebounder). As a group they are better than the Spurs, Suns, or Pistons have, and they are fellow top 6 teams. Of course untill we get Yao and Tmac back, and keep Battier, Howard and Alston healthy, our bench doesn't look too good. But we have a deep and and flexible roster if we can ever get everyone healthy--which has not happened at any point this year.
I'm sorry, but players like Hayes, Snyder (who doesn't play anyways), and Head would not and should not be getting significant minutes on an "elite" team. While I agree that Wells is a great player to provide an offensive spark on the bench, he is only there not because of any depth we have, but because he and Tmac play the same position. Also, consider the fact that two of our starters- Alston and Howard, are worse than most bench players on the top teams. So no, I really don't say how you can say we have a deep team. Just hope that Tmac and Yao play out of their minds in the playoffs.
I think Bonzi is ideal off the bench. He can bring offense when Tmac or Yao sits on the bench as a 2nd option (or even 1st under favorable match-ups). I also think Alston is a good starter. He is fine at setting he table, deferring to the stars, and playing defense. But off the bench without the stars to play off of Alston would be a much less effective player. Now if Bonzi is playing really well it may make sense to finish with him on the court with Yao, Tmac, Battier and x other player (Alston, Head, or Howard could all be viable depending on circumstances).
Lets see: -Wells (as he is rounding into shape) is one of the better scoring and match-up problem causing bench players. (A few guys like Barbosa or maybe Stack ahead, but not many). -Deke is one of the best back-up Cs in the league. (probably Mourning the lone better one, maybe McDyess or Mohammed of Det, but I personally prefer Deke over them for a 15 minute span in relief of Yao). -Head is an excellent bench player. Shooting lights out from 3 range and OK in other aspects. The Spurs, Pistons, Cavs, Heat, Jazz or Lakers would love to have him and give him lots of time in their rotation. -Hayes is a useful role player. Hayes is ranked #17 in RBP48 playing a respectable 21 minutes. All of the top 20 in this category play 17MPG or greater, Diop being the lowest. Hayes also is efficient with the shots he takes and gets steals. In short, for the vast majority of teams Hayes would be in the rotation for 15, 20, 25 minutes. He is a limited but effective NBA player--and there is room for the Hayes, Evans, and Najeras of the NBA. -Snyder. You are correct he isn't playing. But he is no NDBL player, he was effective over 20 minutes per game last year, and is playing below his career average minutes here. The fact he isn't playing, though I would like to see him play more personally, reveals our depth at swingmen. -Tsakalidis He is a career 16MPG player with reasonable effectiveness when he plays (rbs, points, blocks). Nothing special but a lot better than most 3rd centers. So off the bench we have 4 real excellent bench players who would play for about anyone (Wells, Deke, Head, Hayes), and two other legit NBA players (Snyder, Taskalidis). That is very good depth. Much stronger than it has been for the Rockets in years, and much better than the vast majority of the NBA. But we have never got even the top 6 healthy at one time--something has ailed one or more of Wells, Yao, and/or Tmac all season. If we can get healthy we are loaded and have a super 8-9 man rotation. Really the only obvious bench weakness is a true PG who can score efficiently, but if Tmac, Alston, and Head stay healthy we should be able to get by. Howard is a heck of lot better than Fabricio Oberto. Further, the Spurs would be down right scary if they had Deke. Alston is at least equal or better than Smush or Fisher or Snow/Gibson. Deke or Howard are as good as Haywood. So depending on who you call elite, they have similar averagish players in some starting positions. So yeah we don't have as polished of starting 5 lineup as Phx, Dallas or Det, but if we get healthy we are pretty very solid 9 deep and have the best 2 pair of superstars (something Dallas, Phx or Det doesn't have).
Can we please jettison the Bonz now? I mean even the Kings announcers were talking about how he really doesn't fit on this team. DD
