he looked like he is going to be traded by the end of January like JVG said, if it works it works, if it doesn't it doesn't!
To blame Bonzi for the 3rd quarter debacle is just silly. I for one did not think he was too fat for his frame- JVG and his system are not easy to get used to. I think we need to take a deep breath and hope that he can play significant minutes- if after 5 games he still cant get the hang of it - fine let us castigate his plays. There was not much negative I can think of- and I am not going to rave about his brief appearance. What was apparent is that JVG altered his game plan dramatically in the 4th and we made shots ( and Kobe stayed on the bench for a bit too long). A little puzzled why we did not make a half court game after we drew close. Anyway they showed some come back power- if you told me that Jl3, Scott Padgett, Luther were the key players in the 4th quarter - we would have laughed. I look at it a slight different way- it was great basketball, we had home court behind the team and we dug too deep a hole in the 3rd quarter. Last year it was Brian Cook, this year it was Luke- so nothing really was different. I am not sure if anyone noticed- when Bynum and cook were at 4 fouls each- why did we not try to get them into foul trouble. Yao seems too cautious with 3 fouls in the third quarter- and Kwame dunked atleast 2 or 3 times. Hope battier finds his 3pointer soon. I think he is catching the bug from Rafer! I think it is time to ponder a change our rotation at the PG spot. JL3 looked great but the guy never looks to pass most of the time. Today he shot well!
we will need Bonzi... if we want to get past the 2nd round... last year Bonzi proved he could put up points in the playoffs... im willing to give him till then... to get into shape and understand the defense and offense... its obvious he wants to play with the Rox... really what 2 million dollar player are we going to get with the potential of a in shape Bonzi.... I hope JVG dosent get stubborn and trade Bonzi....
1st, he is still overweight 2nd, he needs to get used to it, but not while we play the Lakers...or while TMac is out
JL3 played very well last night. I think he should start. What do you think of this lineup? Yao/Mutumbo Hayes/Howard/Padgett Battier/Novak/TMac (IR) Head/Wells/Snyder (IR) JL3/VSpan/Alston/Sura (IR)
You have two defensive liabilities on the court at the same time (Head, JL3). And you can not play the Suns' style with Yao, and you can not afford too many fouls on Yao. Something to think about...
Alston had a bad night, doesn't mean JL3 is better; Wells is clearly not gelling with the team, he needs more practice. In the long run, I hope Bill can take over Alston's place and Rafer as a bench. If Tmac turns out to be too fragile, yes, I want Bonzi to start. For the time being, assuming Tmac is not playing. I would stick with Alston while reducing his time to Bill and JL3, I wish Bonzi and Novak get more time too but that is asking too much out of JVG's stubborn head.
IT is a little bit disappointing to me. He wasn't that effective. Players who don't get playing time and sit on the bench are always more intriguing.
I think Bonzi wasn't bad last night. he just didn't get enough time. and I am really wondering why we didn't run a SINGLE play for him. I mean, with Yao getting stormed by 4 Lakers, I dont see any sense in not drawing Bonzi a play. a simple pick and roll. or how about, an Isolation? a post up? he didnt' attempt a single shot. JVG cant do this. we cant go through Yao every single offensive pisition especially when Refs are not calling crap.
This is typical of every game. Yao blows up in the 1st half, then the defense swarms him in the second. Sometimes the open jumpshots fall for the role players, but there doesn't seem to be enough variation in the gameplan when they don't.
Slow down there buddy. It was fun seeing the bench go off, but that was against the Lakers bench in what was considered garbage time. But they showed potential to get more minutes. I think JL3, Vspan, Novak, and Head should gradually get more minutes in the rotation to prove if they can hang or not. Especially w/ out Tmac.
It may be interesting to note that Bonzi's pass to Yao was Yao's only FG of the 3rd quarter. Bonzi has played with these guys exactly once in practice in the last 3 weeks, and didn't play much (if at all?) in training camp. He's still out of shape, and he's not a special enough talent that you'd iso for him in this condition. A poor performance was expected. The most important thing to take away is the guy is willing to play hard for JVG, and is willing to do what he can to help the team win - in this case, he gave the ball to the 7-6 guy in the middle. The good news is he looks better than he did against Dallas, and should continue to improve.
We got destroyed when Jeff let him in in the second half. But I'm not saying it's his fault. I believe it was partly Yao's fault for making bad decisions in teh 2nd half when he was double teamed. And partly Jeff's for not making early adjustments. Going back tothe topic, Bonzi was a little bit tentative. He was not comforttale out there. He more like Boki Nachbar when Boki was on the floor - very self-concious. But in spite of that, he was able to make some contributions. He'll be big.
I agree with you on everything except for this one. you dont think he is a special talent? I think he is a very exceptional talent and he adds a whole bunch of stuff to the team. and considering that Tmac is out and Yao getting killed by refs and 4 defenders, I think drawing a play for him wouldn't be a bad decision. the least it can do is prove to him that we want him and that he will be treated well and given his touches.
Come on guys, give Big B a break, he's a nice guy, he was joking with us at work (Toyota Center), give him a good month of practice and a few mins in games and THEN judge. Oh yea, and that Laker game was very heartbreaking..........just hope Tracy's back by Friday.
He did look a little rusty and he has lost some weight. Bonzi really didn't do much, plus the team never really went to his strength while he was in game and that is posting Bonzi up while he is down in the blocks. Probably going to take a few a weeks, but if it works out he will be able to take this team to the next level.
