Kori Ellis
04-30-2005, 12:09 AM
Buck Harvey: Missed chance: No award for Bowen, just usual impact
Web Posted: 04/30/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA043005.1C.COL.BKNharvey.22854434c.html
San Antonio Express-News
DENVER — Bruce Bowen won't be the defensive player of the year, and there's reason to believe he never will be.
If he couldn't win the award this season — with Ron Artest out and so many of Bowen's victims out of their minds — what's the chance he will after age 33?
It's a shame. Voters missed a chance to recognize a rare defender, someone who applies more than shotblocking instincts to the defensive end, and they missed a chance to do this at precisely the right time.
Bowen is changing this series as much as a perimeter defender can.
Bowen will be disappointed when the award is announced next week and someone else wins. He's been listed as a favorite in some newspapers, and Bowen has said he thinks he deserves the trophy.
There's no clear winner, and that's true of most postseason awards. Ben Wallace and Marcus Camby, among others, also impact games on the defensive end, and Bowen gets help from the Spurs' defensive system.
Carmelo Anthony talked about that this week. He semi-praised Bowen, calling him "a fly" who annoys. "He's an agitator," Anthony said then, "and he's not going to let you get on a roll."
But then Anthony added something else. "I wouldn't say it so much is just him. I see him, I see Tim Duncan, I see Nazr Mohammed, I see all of those guys."
It's not inaccurate. The Spurs' system is based on a basic philosophy, and it fits against Anthony better than most. For example, the Spurs would rather Anthony shoot 20-footers than drive. When Anthony does penetrate, he often goes baseline, which is precisely where the Spurs want Bowen to force him anyway.
There Anthony sees Duncan, Mohammed and all those guys.
But that account isn't fair to Bowen, nor does it explain other defenders around the league. If it were this easy, wouldn't there be 50 players like Bowen?
Vince Carter knows the answer. Bowen did more than funnel Carter inside this season; he funneled Carter off the court with an ejection.
Then there's Ray Allen. Last season Allen announced Bowen played "sissy basketball," and this year Allen said Bowen didn't do even that.
"He doesn't play basketball," Allen said. "I don't know what he does. They put him out there to throw punches and throw elbows."
Forget what sportswriters do with their defensive-player-of-the-year ballots. Carter and Allen, with their frustration, have in effect already named Bowen as the winner.
Bowen doesn't throw punches, nor is he known for elbows. He simply pays attention and understands the angles and watches film. He has a book on each scorer, and Bowen also isn't without physical gifts.
Ask any scout. Bowen moves his feet as few defenders do.
He's struggled to move them as well on the other end of the floor, which never made sense. The same man who could move with Kobe Bryant couldn't begin to move like him.
Was there a worse finisher on the Spurs? A worse pull-up jump shooter?
What followed this season, then, is worth another award. Bowen kept dribbling through drills until he no longer was a liability on offense, and a sequence in January showed that. Then Bowen outscored Bryant one week and Anthony the next.
But it's as a defender where he changes the Spurs, and Duncan knows that. Duncan calls him "Elmer Bowen," as in Elmer's Glue, as in the glue of the defense.
Elmer sure sticks to Anthony now. Anthony had a key putback late in Game 1, and Anthony has kept his composure. But those are his high points, and the lows are more numerous. Anthony followed a 6-of-14, three-turnover opener with a nearly identical 5-of-14, three-turnover sequel.
"Carmelo hasn't been himself in this series," Camby said.
But it isn't just this series. Anthony is shooting 31 of 94 in six games against the Spurs this season.
The Nuggets will want more tonight, and for good reason. If they can't score in transition and they can't get much from Anthony, then where will they get points?
Bowen will react as he always has. He will move his feet, bother his opponent and change the game.
As if he were the defensive player of the year.
Web Posted: 04/30/2005 12:00 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA043005.1C.COL.BKNharvey.22854434c.html
San Antonio Express-News
DENVER — Bruce Bowen won't be the defensive player of the year, and there's reason to believe he never will be.
If he couldn't win the award this season — with Ron Artest out and so many of Bowen's victims out of their minds — what's the chance he will after age 33?
It's a shame. Voters missed a chance to recognize a rare defender, someone who applies more than shotblocking instincts to the defensive end, and they missed a chance to do this at precisely the right time.
Bowen is changing this series as much as a perimeter defender can.
Bowen will be disappointed when the award is announced next week and someone else wins. He's been listed as a favorite in some newspapers, and Bowen has said he thinks he deserves the trophy.
There's no clear winner, and that's true of most postseason awards. Ben Wallace and Marcus Camby, among others, also impact games on the defensive end, and Bowen gets help from the Spurs' defensive system.
Carmelo Anthony talked about that this week. He semi-praised Bowen, calling him "a fly" who annoys. "He's an agitator," Anthony said then, "and he's not going to let you get on a roll."
But then Anthony added something else. "I wouldn't say it so much is just him. I see him, I see Tim Duncan, I see Nazr Mohammed, I see all of those guys."
It's not inaccurate. The Spurs' system is based on a basic philosophy, and it fits against Anthony better than most. For example, the Spurs would rather Anthony shoot 20-footers than drive. When Anthony does penetrate, he often goes baseline, which is precisely where the Spurs want Bowen to force him anyway.
There Anthony sees Duncan, Mohammed and all those guys.
But that account isn't fair to Bowen, nor does it explain other defenders around the league. If it were this easy, wouldn't there be 50 players like Bowen?
Vince Carter knows the answer. Bowen did more than funnel Carter inside this season; he funneled Carter off the court with an ejection.
Then there's Ray Allen. Last season Allen announced Bowen played "sissy basketball," and this year Allen said Bowen didn't do even that.
"He doesn't play basketball," Allen said. "I don't know what he does. They put him out there to throw punches and throw elbows."
Forget what sportswriters do with their defensive-player-of-the-year ballots. Carter and Allen, with their frustration, have in effect already named Bowen as the winner.
Bowen doesn't throw punches, nor is he known for elbows. He simply pays attention and understands the angles and watches film. He has a book on each scorer, and Bowen also isn't without physical gifts.
Ask any scout. Bowen moves his feet as few defenders do.
He's struggled to move them as well on the other end of the floor, which never made sense. The same man who could move with Kobe Bryant couldn't begin to move like him.
Was there a worse finisher on the Spurs? A worse pull-up jump shooter?
What followed this season, then, is worth another award. Bowen kept dribbling through drills until he no longer was a liability on offense, and a sequence in January showed that. Then Bowen outscored Bryant one week and Anthony the next.
But it's as a defender where he changes the Spurs, and Duncan knows that. Duncan calls him "Elmer Bowen," as in Elmer's Glue, as in the glue of the defense.
Elmer sure sticks to Anthony now. Anthony had a key putback late in Game 1, and Anthony has kept his composure. But those are his high points, and the lows are more numerous. Anthony followed a 6-of-14, three-turnover opener with a nearly identical 5-of-14, three-turnover sequel.
"Carmelo hasn't been himself in this series," Camby said.
But it isn't just this series. Anthony is shooting 31 of 94 in six games against the Spurs this season.
The Nuggets will want more tonight, and for good reason. If they can't score in transition and they can't get much from Anthony, then where will they get points?
Bowen will react as he always has. He will move his feet, bother his opponent and change the game.
As if he were the defensive player of the year.