Reaction on Bonner’s performance vs. the Lakers from around the Net
The Spurs beat the Lakers by one point last night and some controversy surrounding Bonner inbounding the ball has filled many a forum and newspaper site. Betting77.com’s recap has Bonner barely beating the five-second limit for inbounding and Dime magazine puts the count at 4.97 seconds while a commenter on Dime’s story swears it was a full six seconds (and of course it was the ref’s fault the Lakers lost).
Kevin Ding at the OC Register gave Matt props for his defensive prowness on the last shot of the game:
You’d expect the Spurs’ defense to get better as the season goes on, but I’m not sure Roger Mason and Matt Bonner are ever going to give Gregg Popovich what he expects there. Kobe Bryant wanted Trevor Ariza to shoot over Bonner on the last Lakers chance of the game, but Bonner actually did a pretty good job rotating off Lamar Odom and over to Ariza behind the 3-point arc after Manu Ginobili left Ariza to help Mason on Bryant.
Jeff McDonald saw the inbound pass a bit more dramatically than others on the Net:
After a harried inbounds play at midcourt, Mason took a thread-the-needle pass from Matt Bonner in the corner, then knocked down a jumper and drew a foul on Derek Fisher.
Bonner talked about the play with McDonald post game:
Bonner, attempting to inbound, couldn’t find him. This was a problem.
“There really wasn’t a Plan B,” Bonner said.
Meanwhile, time was ticking toward a five-second violation. Out of options, Bonner rifled a pass to Mason in the near corner, with Fisher draped all over him.
Mike Monroe actually lead with Matt Bonner in the story he filed about the game. Bonner admits to having butterflies before the game and says he had to improvise on the inbounds play when the Lakers threw a wrench into the plan Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich, drew up:
Bonner had to improvise when the Lakers disrupted the play Popovich had drawn up.
“The play was to get Manu the ball at the top,” Bonner said, “and he never got to the top.”
Ginobili said he ran into Mason as he tried to get open, and then discovered no good route to get to the spot where he was supposed to catch Bonner’s pass.
“Kobe (Bryant) was with me,” Ginobili said of his attempt to get free. “I think I ran into Roger at the beginning. Then, I saw Kobe going over the top, so I tried to flare, but it was a bad decision, because Matty was guarded, and was not going to risk a full-court pass.”
Bonner said Mason did a good job of finding an open spot in the left corner.
“There wasn’t a Plan B,” he said. “Roger made a great catch on a pass I just had to whip it in there as hard as I could.
A) I love the fact that Manu Ginobli refers to Bonner as “Matty” and B) definitely click the link to read Monroe’s story – I haven’t put all his Bonner copy here, just the part that pertains to the inbounds play last night.
Finally – I’d like to call out Art Garcia at NBA.com. In one of his postings he writes:
How far will Spurs center Matt Bonner go to insure an invite to the 3-Point Shootout? The league’s leading 3-point shooter won’t stoop below bribing the man who will choose the field in Phoenix, NBA vice president Stu Jackson. “I’m going to send him some flowers,” Bonner quipped, “or maybe one of those cookie bouquets.”
Sound familiar? Of course it does, we reported that Jeff McDonald over at mysanantonio.com got these great quotes from Matt about his desire to be in the three-point-shooting contest at the All-Star game in Phoenix.
Hey Art, I know this is the Intnernet and all, but I’m pretty sure plagerism is when you propose another’s work or thoughts as your own. Give credit where it’s due and link to the original story and/or give the original author the credit. I wouldn’t be as critical if this was some personal blog, but Garcia is listed as a feature writer for NBA.com
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