duncan228
04-22-2009, 12:17 AM
Award or not, Bowen plays role (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Award_or_not_Bowen_plays_role.html)
Mike Monroe
Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard won his first Defensive Player of the Year Award on Tuesday, likely the first of many for a player who calls himself Superman.
This was no surprise. Howard led the league in rebounding and blocked shots, just the fifth player to do so since blocks became an official statistic in 1973-74.
It was hardly a shock, either, that Spurs forward Bruce Bowen did not receive a single vote, not for first, second or third spot on the ballots of the 122 media voters.
Twenty players got at least one vote, including Hedo Turkoglu and Trevor Ariza.
Bowen was fourth in the voting last season and runner-up two seasons ago. He has been a first-team selection on the All-Defensive team for five straight seasons, but he knows he hasn't a ghost of a chance of making even the second All-Defensive team this season.
For the moment, a player who will turn 38 during this season's NBA Finals is content just to be part of the Spurs' second team.
For most of the second half of the regular season, Bowen never knew when he would make much more than a token appearance. In March and April, he averaged slightly fewer than 15 minutes in the Spurs' 25 games. Twice, he did not play at all.
The Spurs know they can win their first-round series only by preventing the Mavericks from scoring with the regularity that sparked their late-season surge, so Bowen has regained a spot in Gregg Popovich's game plans. After averaging only 18.9 minutes per regular season game, Bowen has played 52 minutes and 26 seconds in Games 1 and 2.
After the Mavericks trimmed a 21-point second-quarter lead to 11 by halftime of Monday's Game 2, Bowen was on the court to begin the third period, with Roger Mason Jr. taking his spot on the bench. He played all but five seconds of the quarter, and when it ended, the Mavericks had scored only 17 points, and the Spurs were ahead by 22.
Bowen spent part of the third period fronting Dirk Nowitzki, frustrating the 2006-07 MVP, who made only three of his 14 shots and scored 14 points. Bowen had departed the locker room after Game 1, a disheartening Spurs loss, wondering aloud if he might get the chance to pester the big German. He was happy for Monday's chance.
Spurs fans have been screeching for the past two seasons for younger players with springier legs. In just three games, super-athletic Pops Mensah-Bonsu gained a cult following among a segment of Spurs fans who continue to believe he could be helping them in the playoffs.
Bowen never will reverse dunk or smack opponents' shots into the fifth row, but he still is capable of getting under the skin of some of the league's most skilled shooters.
Popovich understands how difficult the season has been for a player who missed only one game — a league suspension — in the previous six seasons and averaged more than 30 minutes.
“It's difficult,” Popovich said. “He's been with us a long time, and his role and minutes have obviously been cut this year as we make a transition. He's handled it well. He's been at every practice and been a professional. I couldn't have asked any more of him.”
Watching the opening tap from the bench each night, not knowing when Popovich might nod in his direction, had its own brand of high anxiety.
“The waiting is the hardest part, but you just have to be ready at all times,” Bowen said. “It's that old adage coaches tell all players: ‘You've got to be ready.'”
Bowen always is. If, by the end of this series, the Mavericks deem he was such a pest they accuse him of using tactics that verge on unsportsmanlike, well, that will be his personal version of Defensive Player of the Year.
Mike Monroe
Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard won his first Defensive Player of the Year Award on Tuesday, likely the first of many for a player who calls himself Superman.
This was no surprise. Howard led the league in rebounding and blocked shots, just the fifth player to do so since blocks became an official statistic in 1973-74.
It was hardly a shock, either, that Spurs forward Bruce Bowen did not receive a single vote, not for first, second or third spot on the ballots of the 122 media voters.
Twenty players got at least one vote, including Hedo Turkoglu and Trevor Ariza.
Bowen was fourth in the voting last season and runner-up two seasons ago. He has been a first-team selection on the All-Defensive team for five straight seasons, but he knows he hasn't a ghost of a chance of making even the second All-Defensive team this season.
For the moment, a player who will turn 38 during this season's NBA Finals is content just to be part of the Spurs' second team.
For most of the second half of the regular season, Bowen never knew when he would make much more than a token appearance. In March and April, he averaged slightly fewer than 15 minutes in the Spurs' 25 games. Twice, he did not play at all.
The Spurs know they can win their first-round series only by preventing the Mavericks from scoring with the regularity that sparked their late-season surge, so Bowen has regained a spot in Gregg Popovich's game plans. After averaging only 18.9 minutes per regular season game, Bowen has played 52 minutes and 26 seconds in Games 1 and 2.
After the Mavericks trimmed a 21-point second-quarter lead to 11 by halftime of Monday's Game 2, Bowen was on the court to begin the third period, with Roger Mason Jr. taking his spot on the bench. He played all but five seconds of the quarter, and when it ended, the Mavericks had scored only 17 points, and the Spurs were ahead by 22.
Bowen spent part of the third period fronting Dirk Nowitzki, frustrating the 2006-07 MVP, who made only three of his 14 shots and scored 14 points. Bowen had departed the locker room after Game 1, a disheartening Spurs loss, wondering aloud if he might get the chance to pester the big German. He was happy for Monday's chance.
Spurs fans have been screeching for the past two seasons for younger players with springier legs. In just three games, super-athletic Pops Mensah-Bonsu gained a cult following among a segment of Spurs fans who continue to believe he could be helping them in the playoffs.
Bowen never will reverse dunk or smack opponents' shots into the fifth row, but he still is capable of getting under the skin of some of the league's most skilled shooters.
Popovich understands how difficult the season has been for a player who missed only one game — a league suspension — in the previous six seasons and averaged more than 30 minutes.
“It's difficult,” Popovich said. “He's been with us a long time, and his role and minutes have obviously been cut this year as we make a transition. He's handled it well. He's been at every practice and been a professional. I couldn't have asked any more of him.”
Watching the opening tap from the bench each night, not knowing when Popovich might nod in his direction, had its own brand of high anxiety.
“The waiting is the hardest part, but you just have to be ready at all times,” Bowen said. “It's that old adage coaches tell all players: ‘You've got to be ready.'”
Bowen always is. If, by the end of this series, the Mavericks deem he was such a pest they accuse him of using tactics that verge on unsportsmanlike, well, that will be his personal version of Defensive Player of the Year.