Bonner searches for place with Spurs
TORONTO (CP) - Matt Bonner knows it won't be easy to earn the same kind of adoration in Texas that he enjoyed in Toronto.
The former Raptors forward, a fan favourite in his two seasons here, was traded to the San Antonio Spurs along with Eric Williams in the off-season in the deal that brought centre Rasho Nesterovic to Toronto.
Bonner was back at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday as his Spurs beat the Raptors 103-94, but he saw little action. After not playing in the Spurs' two previous games, parked at the end of a bench loaded with talent, Bonner made his season debut, playing seven minutes and grabbing one rebound.
"It was cool. I was getting the goose bumps, definitely. It feels great to comeback," Bonner said. "I definitely miss the fans and the people of this city. But you'd just better be mature about it and understand it's part of the business. You can't control it so why worry too much about it."
Williams didn't dress for the third straight game. Nesterovic fared the best of the three that were part of the trade, finishing with five rebounds, two points, and a block for the Raptors.
Bonner received a huge ovation from the fans when he entered the game late in first quarter Sunday.
"The ovation was great when I got in. It took my focus off the game for a minute and let the memories flood in again," said Bonner. "I'm not trying to be too sentimental."
The red-headed Bonner garnered the nickname Red Rocket - the same as Toronto's streetcars - when he was here, because it was his preferred means of transportation. (Since moving to San Antonio, he's given in and purchased a car, a white 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix.)
Bonner never had a bad thing to say about Toronto in his time here, and admitted Sunday the news of the trade hit him hard.
"Initially it was a crazy shock," said Bonner. "I never thought in a million years I was going to get traded. It was a little bit hard to swallow at first, I had to call coach (Sam) Mitchell, coach (Alex) English, coach (Jim) Todd, everybody here.
"But once I got down there and met the media as a Spur, it kind of sunk in, `I'm on a different team now.' It's a great team, a great organization. I just had to understand it's part of the business, and move forward with a new team."
He admitted he was blown away Sunday playing at the ACC for the opposing team.
"It was one of the weirdest feelings in the world sitting on the other bench out there. I was talking to Eric (Williams) about it. I said `Eric, do you feel as weird as I do?' He was like, `I've been through this a few more times than you."'
Bonner averaged 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 21.9 minutes a game for Toronto last season, but was probably best remembered for the game he was ejected - to a rousing applause - for a flagrant foul on Minnesota's Kevin Garnett.
He likes this season's newlook Raptors squad.
"I was looking forward before I got traded to be part of the team this year, and I was telling everybody, `Watch out, we're going to be making the playoffs next year.' And I still think they will," said Bonner.
The three-point specialist had nothing good to say though about the NBA's new ball. The league introduced a new ball this season for the first time in 35 years, which has drawn complaints from players around the league.
"I hate it. No one likes it, ask any player, no one's going to say they like it," said Bonner. "I don't like it because the Spalding symbol is rubbery and it's really big, so when you're shooting, you don't feel the seams, you can't get the flick.
"Another thing about it is when it gets wet, and your hands get wet, it's almost impossible to handle it."
