Isaac Bonga Needs His Own Thread.

[Ruzious]

Bonga played far better than my expectations - a very nice first game. Glad I motivated him.

[payitforward]

Not to mention that you got his thread to the next page -- again!

[I_Like_Dirt]

Not to mention that you got his thread to the next page -- again!

It was always in the bag! Check out these mad skills!

[payitforward]

LOL!! Where you been hiding that!!

[nate33]

Cross posted from the San Antonio game thread:

Bonga is the new Satoransky (the Sato of 2017, that is). He does everything except shoot.



The advanced stats really like it. But, like with Sato early on, one wonders how effective a player truly can be when his Usage % is so ridiculously low. You've got to make the defense at least account for you. I really like that Bonga drove aggressively to the lane late in the game when it looked like the defense had gotten complacent in ignoring him.

[payitforward]

Bonga is the new Satoransky (the Sato of 2017, that is). He does everything except shoot.



The advanced stats really like it. But, like with Sato early on, one wonders how effective a player truly can be when his Usage % is so ridiculously low. You've got to make the defense at least account for you. I really like that Bonga drove aggressively to the lane late in the game when it looked like the defense had gotten complacent in ignoring him.

Well... if he's already as productive as Sato was that year, & he's only 19 & costs $1.5m, then... wow!

Plus, he's a very different type of player from Sato -- & there's plenty of headroom for offensive development. Take a look at this G League game last year:

Watch on YouTube

and this game w/ the Lakers:

Watch on YouTube

...& I'm guessing you'll agree: he's mobile & aggressive. Especially in transition.

So far this season, it looks like the Wiz are so focused on shooting the 3 that Bonga's not getting many opportunities to shoot the ball. But... only 3 games, after all.

As well, if he's really 19 (rather than a phenomenally well-preserved senior citizen!), he might easily grow another inch & gain 10-15 lbs (to me at least he already looks bigger than in that G League game video).

You never know, of course, but this kid could looks like he has a shot to be a tremendous player!

[WallToWall]

KId is 19 and his body is still developing. If he hits the weight room, and gets some training with a shooting coach, he can be pretty darn good. Arm reach, quick reaction, and awareness are 3 things that you either have or just dont by the time a player reaches this level of play. Bonga has it. I thought we had a chance for a reasonable defensive player when we got him. Now, I think his potential is quite a lot, a lot more than I initially thought. We may have committed highway robbery when we got him.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Not to mention that you got his thread to the next page -- again!

It was always in the bag! Check out these mad skills!

I’m assuming he’s mocking a soccer goalkeeper at the end of a match. Catching the ball, going to the ground, eating up time.

[I_Like_Dirt]

I’m assuming he’s mocking a soccer goalkeeper at the end of a match. Catching the ball, going to the ground, eating up time.

Looks that way to me. Seems like he set out to make a meme. It doesn't really matter what it's about, though. The point is that Bonga is awesome. It's really tough to find a comparison for him historically, too. I'd love for him to get a jumper but it's his defensive potential that really sets him above. If he can find a way to remain effective while improving his defense, he's going to be super annoying for other teams to play against. His defense is clearly what's earning him PT right now even if he isn't all that effective on offense and is largely just staying out of the way.

[payitforward]

...I'd love for him to get a jumper but it's his defensive potential that really sets him above. ...His defense is clearly what's earning him PT right now even if he isn't all that effective on offense and is largely just staying out of the way.

He's plenty effective on offense -- TS% = .644 so far -- he's just low usage.

The combination of outstanding defense & high efficiency offense, even on low usage, will keep him on the floor a lot & make him a big plus. But... can he maintain that efficiency?

One negative so far -- he's committing a lot of fouls.

[Mojo Amok]

Is Trevor Ariza as a best-case scenario unreasonable for Bonga? He seems to have very similar tools with that frame, quickness, defensive focus and then the foundation as a playmaker.

He's already tops on the team in deflections per 36 (it's more or less a tie, but still solid):

https://stats.nba.com/players/hustle/?Season=2019-20&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&PerMode=Per36&TeamID=1610612764&sort=DEFLECTIONS&dir=1

He needs seasoning, confidence, and a reliable long ball.

[nate33]

Is Trevor Ariza as a best-case scenario unreasonable for Bonga? He seems to have very similar tools with that frame, quickness, defensive focus and then the foundation as a playmaker.

He's already tops on the team in deflections per 36 (it's more or less a tie, but still solid):

https://stats.nba.com/players/hustle/?Season=2019-20&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&PerMode=Per36&TeamID=1610612764&sort=DEFLECTIONS&dir=1

He needs seasoning, confidence, and a reliable long ball.

Interesting comparison. Recall that Ariza was a pretty lousy 3-point shooter when he first came into the league as well. He didn't even shoot them in his first 4 seasons (back when you could get away with that). In his 5th year, at age 23, he launched 191 3's and only hit 32% of them. It wasn't until his 9th season (his first in Washington), that he reliably hit 35% or better.

Physically, they're almost identical. Both guys measured 6-8 this year (no shoes). The combine database says that Ariza has a 7-2 wingspan. Bonga's is 7-0. Both guys entered the league at a very young age (Bonga one month shy of his 19th birthday, Ariza at 19 and 6 months).

Of course, the problem here is that Ariza didn't become a good player until well after his rookie contract was up. We may have the same issue with Bonga.

[payitforward]

I don't know whether affects your point about Bonga, nate, but I can't see where Ariza was better for us in 2012-13 than he was for Orlando in his 3d year, 2006-7, when -- tho he didn't shoot the 3 -- he still scored more points at a higher TS% & was a better rebounder. For sure, however, 2013-14 was his best year as a player.

Perhaps it's that, no matter what the empirical data say about guys taken in R2, it takes teams a long time to value a guy taken there? We have Bonga tied up for this year & the 2 following. So, maybe that will be enough for us to extend him further along the way...?

[nate33]

It's easy to forget how young Bonga is.

He's 6 months younger than Troy Brown, a year-and-a-half younger than Hachimura, two-and-a-half years younger than Wagner and Schofield, and 3 years younger than Mathews.

[dckingsfan]

It's easy to forget how young Bonga is.

He's 6 months younger than Troy Brown, a year-and-a-half younger than Hachimura, two-and-a-half years younger than Wagner and Schofield, and 3 years younger than Mathews.

Really would like to see a starting lineup of Brown, Beal and Bonga.

[nate33]

It's easy to forget how young Bonga is.

He's 6 months younger than Troy Brown, a year-and-a-half younger than Hachimura, two-and-a-half years younger than Wagner and Schofield, and 3 years younger than Mathews.

Really would like to see a starting lineup of Brown, Beal and Bonga.

Agreed.

In the short term, I'm okay with Ish and IT at PG because they know the role well and it presumably makes things a bit easier on Hachimura and Bryant. But as the season goes on and Brown gets some reps at PG, I'm hoping to eventually trade IT for a 2nd round pick, move Brown to PG, and move Ish to backup PG.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

It's easy to forget how young Bonga is.

He's 6 months younger than Troy Brown, a year-and-a-half younger than Hachimura, two-and-a-half years younger than Wagner and Schofield, and 3 years younger than Mathews.

But look at him. Really look. He looks like he’s 38

[leswizards]

I really like Bonga, but he fouls too much. He needs to work on that.

[WallToWall]

The fouls is something he can fix. He is a pretty efficient player, taking good shots that he can make, making good defensive plays, etc. When he fixes his fouling, he can stay on the court for 30 mins and be pretty efficient in scoring 12 pts and getting 8 rbs per game. He's in there for his defense though, and getting that D for 30 mins would be good.

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[PerkinsFor3]

getting that D for 30 mins would be good.