Bowen's role

[Supergirl]

Is this officially the transition point for Bowen, where he becomes a permanent bench guy, rather than part of the starting lineup? Will he move back to his starting position when Manu and Tony come back? I am guessing he was bumped because Pop wanted more offense in the starting lineup, and Hill, Finley and Mason starting together has worked out beautifully for the pat few games.

It's interesting though. I always thought when Bowen moved to the bench it would be because Udoka was ready to start. Is that still in the long term plans, when we're 100% again?

What do you think Pop will do? What do you WANT Pop to do?

[urunobili]

Bowen is the defensive spark off the bench... Same as Manu does with offense Bruce is now doing that with defense...

[DPG21920]

When everyone is buying into defense it makes it easier to go with Bowen on the Bench. We can start off with more scoring and bring him in to hassle whomever is hot. I like it so far as long as everyone playing from 1-12 plays defense with their brain and with energy.

[I. Hustle]

Manu and Bowen off the bench = W's

[xtremesteven33]

Once Manu/Tony come back Bowen will be in the starting lineup:

Parker/Hill
Mason/Ginobili
Bowen/Finley
Duncan/Thomas/Bonner
Oberto/Mahinmi

[wildbill2u]

Is this officially the transition point for Bowen, where he becomes a permanent bench guy, rather than part of the starting lineup? Will he move back to his starting position when Manu and Tony come back? I am guessing he was bumped because Pop wanted more offense in the starting lineup, and Hill, Finley and Mason starting together has worked out beautifully for the pat few games.

It's interesting though. I always thought when Bowen moved to the bench it would be because Udoka was ready to start. Is that still in the long term plans, when we're 100% again?

What do you think Pop will do? What do you WANT Pop to do?

I think Pop is looking long range down the season. He probably wants to give Bowen as much rest as he can in the early going so his legs will be fresh for the drive to and trhough the playoffs.

Not a bad strategy if we can win some of these early games with him getting limited minutes.

[Supergirl]

When everyone is buying into defense it makes it easier to go with Bowen on the Bench. We can start off with more scoring and bring him in to hassle whomever is hot. I like it so far as long as everyone playing from 1-12 plays defense with their brain and with energy.

I think this is exactly right.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I voted that he should, but I'll add on a "for now" on that. It's hard to argue with the results. I'll admit that I'm eating a little crow right now. I thought he'd be more valuable out there on the floor to start the game and keep guys from getting into a rhythm, but the switch has worked. The Spurs are playing such good team defense right now and with our Manu and Tony out I think it's more important that the Spurs start off with a unit that can get their offense going. Once Tony and Manu come back the issue is worth revisiting. Maybe keep Mason starting, bring Bowen back as a starter, and substitute Finley and Udoka depending on what is needed or if one has a hot hand.

[MrChug]

It's not who starts, it's who finishes the game.

(and just an observation, he really seems to be more offensively assertive when he plays with the 2nd unit).

[benefactor]

It seems to be working out pretty good. I say we keep it that way until it stops. If it ain't broke, there is no reason to fix it.

[I Love Me Some Me]

Stick a fork in Bruce.

[td4mvp21]

It feels weird without Bowen starting. I think once everyone is back healthy he should go back to starting.

[td4mvp21]

I do think he should start tonight so he could guard either Melo or Billups.

[lurker23]

I think Bowen's role for the rest of this year relies heavily on the development of Ime Udoka. If Ime continues to show progress that he can be a solid part of the rotation, as he did at times last year, then it is probably best for Bowen to come off the bench and control his minutes wisely. If Ime continues to struggle as he has done recently, then the Spurs have two primary options: either start Bowen, or go with an unorthodox lineup that is either small ball (Parker/Mason/Manu/Duncan/Oberto) or large ball (Parker/Mason or Manu/Bonner/Duncan/Oberto). Both have serious defensive problems depending on the matchups, and I think Pop would much prefer to have Udoka or Bowen at the 3, rather than Ginobili, Finley, or Bonner.


As a more general discussion, I think this year has brought the Spurs problem at SF into greater focus. I'm not saying that Bowen doesn't still have some basketball left in him- there's no doubt that he does, and he will still get key shots and stops for the Spurs down the stretch, even if he's not getting the minutes per game that he used to. However, Bowen will retire relatively soon, and what then? If Udoka is not the answer, then the Spurs basically have no one in the pipeline. This isn't any great surprise- fans on Spurstalk have been begging for a young, long 3 for several years now. However, the question is what are they going to do about it at this point? Here are the major options:

1. Trade for a young 3. This is actually a reasonable option, since the Spurs have a ton of expiring contracts next year. While they want to be a major player in the 2010 offseason, trading for a reasonable contract won't cripple them too much.
2. Use the MLE this upcoming summer. Again, they don't want to hamper their standing for the 2010 offseason, but if they see someone on the market they really like this summer, using the MLE might be a serious option.
3. Go shopping in 2010. This seems to be the Spurs major plan for the future. With only Parker, Duncan, Hill, and Mahinmi signed going into 2010/11, the Spurs will have a lot of cap space. I expect them to extend Ginobili's contract at some point as well. (I've also written that I expect them to resign Udoka- however, these options are in case Udoka is NOT seen as a future piece.) Obviously, the major player at the 3 position in 2010 is LeBron James. I give the Spurs about a 5% chance of signing LeBron, and expect that the major push by the Spurs will be to acquire Chris Bosh. However, the Spurs will also be signing the rest of their future team in this offseason. The question is, which role players can they convince to join their core for the last push of the Duncan era?

[Spurminator]

Bowen will start again when the team is healthy. The Spurs need offense right now.

[Kori Ellis]

Bowen will start again when the team is healthy. The Spurs need offense right now.

I agree. I expect Bruce will start as soon as Manu and Tony are healthy.

The only way I thought that would change is if Udoka emerged as a consistent player that would perform well in heavy minutes. But he's just not that good.

[DPG21920]

I agree. I expect Bruce will start as soon as Manu and Tony are healthy.

The only way I thought that would change is if Udoka emerged as a consistent player that would perform well in heavy minutes. But he's just not that good.

I like the idea of keeping things the same when everyone is healthy. If you can have everyone playing hard on defense, then having Hill/Ginobili/Bowen coming in would be a nice, active defensive 2nd unit with some scoring punch.

[SenorSpur]

Count me as one who believes Bowen should continue to come off the bench. However, the experiement has has mixed results. Its looked good, in terms of Bowen's motivated and improved play, off the bench. Yet at the same time, it's looked bad because the man who replaced him in the starting lineup for a stint, Udoka, has looked horrible. Pop is now using Finley in the SF role.

As has been said, the team playing lockdown defense, now makes it easier for Pop to leave Bowen on the bench for now. While I do believe Bowen should remain on the bench, I do expect Pop to re-insert him back in the starting lineup before season's end.

[DPG21920]

Count me as one who believes Bowen should continue to come off the bench. However, the experiement has has mixed results. Its looked good, in terms of Bowen's motivated and improved play, off the bench. Yet at the same time, it's looked bad because the man who replaced him in the starting lineup for a stint, Udoka, has looked horrible. Pop is now using Finley in the SF role.

As has been said, the team playing lockdown defense, now makes it easier for Pop to leave Bowen on the bench for now. While I do believe Bowen should remain on the bench, I do expect Pop to re-insert him back in the starting lineup before season's end.

It will probably be mixed up. He will start sometimes, sometimes he won't. That is the reality. As far as the results, we have to just wait and see. But I think Bowen off the bench, just like Manu, really amps up our second unit, just as long as Udoka/Finley/... play well.

[SpurSupremacist]

I'm a big believer in the psychological game. If the referees see Bowen coming off of the bench, they will automatically think that he is done. AKA can't play lockdown D anymore, etc. Therefore more foul calls against him coming off the bench. Whereas it really wouldn't effect Finley or Mason that much coming off the bench.

[tonylongoriafan]

more than anything, right now the spurs need to score some freakin' points. what did we have, 15pts in the 3rd quarter in LA the other night. that ain't gonna get it done. i love bruce and think he'll be starting again when we're whole, but right now he's an offensive liability.

[timvp]

Right now, Finley's hot and in the starting lineup. If he stays hot and remains capable on defense, I guess you keep it. But that's unlikely.

Udoka was horrible as a starter. Perhaps he'll bounce back and earn the job at some point.

I think Pop's preference is to keep Bowen coming off the bench to extend his career. As a bench player, Bowen probably can still produce for a couple more seasons. As a starter, where the opposition gets to game plan for him, his weaknesses can be exposed.

Hopefully Finley or Udoka clearly win the job .... however, I doubt that.

[hater]

don't care about regular season. but once playoffs start and we face a team with perimeter allstar player? I guarantee Bowen will start

[mrspurs]

Yall are gonna like this one. I dont have a Clue what Pop should do with Bruce. Without Manu starting the season, followed by TP going down. Oh and Ian going to the Toros. I dont what Pop is doing. But whatever it is, its working.

[Anti.Hero]

Bowen's D is slipping.

[v2freak]

Luckily he's as professional as Ginobili and Duncan, and willing to come off the bench.