Kori Ellis
05-08-2005, 12:34 AM
Offensive defense: Bowen-Allen a key battle within Spurs-Sonics showdown
Web Posted: 05/08/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA050805.1C.BKNspurs.sonics.adv.251600783.html
Not long after Brent Barry arrived in San Antonio last summer, Bruce Bowen invited him to lunch.
Barry had spent the previous five seasons in Seattle, so Bowen advised him about his new city, as well as the Spurs' culture. The two discussed the teams' players and coaches. If Barry needed help with anything else, all he had to do was ask.
After Barry returned home from their get-together, his wife, Erin, had one question: Did you make it through the meal without getting elbowed by Bruce?
About the same time, Bowen's wife, Yardley, was asking a similar question of her husband: Did you two really get along?
"Both of us said, 'Hey, it's the game,'" Barry said. "What happens in the game, happens in the game."
At least one of Barry's former teammates doesn't seem to share the same opinion. During the past 21/2 seasons, Seattle's All-Star guard, Ray Allen, has accused Bowen of everything from playing "sissy basketball" to throwing punches and elbows.
The pair's professional rivalry, in Allen's opinion, also has altered their personal relationship.
"Bruce used to be a good friend of mine," Allen said. "Used to be. Until he started playing a brand-new game of basketball."
Depending on how one views Bowen's "brand-new game of basketball," he is either one of the NBA's best perimeter defenders or one of its dirtiest thugs. Maybe both.
As the Spurs and Seattle open their Western Conference semifinals series tonight at the SBC Center, Bowen's defense on Allen — and how the officials evaluate it — could play a large factor in determining which team advances.
In the Sonics' two victories over the Spurs this season, Allen averaged 26.5 points while shooting 48.7 percent and making 9 of 13 3-pointers. When the Spurs beat Seattle on March 30, Bowen limited Allen to 14 points — his fewest in a full game since the All-Star break — and helped force him into missing 11 of his 17 shots, including all three of his 3-point attempts.
After watching Allen average 32.4 points in five games against Sacramento, Bowen will do his best to make the Sonics guard work for his shots. The Sonics will counter by making Bowen run through multiple screens.
"There is still nothing personal, as far as me to him," Bowen said. "He's a tremendous player, an All-Star, and rightfully so. He deserves all the credit he's received this year.
"But on the court, it's about me competing with one of the elite players in the league, and that's about it."
Bowen and Allen admit to being friends earlier in their careers when their mothers joined a group for parents of NBA players. Even now, the two seem to have much in common. Friendly, media-savvy and free of off-the-court troubles, they are the type of player-citizens who league officials love to push in front of the cameras.
Both also got married last summer, and Allen hired Bowen's agent, Lon Babby of the Washington-based law firm Williams & Connolly, to represent him in his contract negotiations.
"I do find their rivalry amusing," said Babby, who also lists Tim Duncan among his clients. "But I think it's more professional than personal. One of the reasons we like representing Bruce and Ray is that they're both great competitors."
Allen's feelings toward Bowen seemed to change after Milwaukee traded him to Seattle midway through the 2002-03 season. When the Sonics played the Spurs on April 11, Bowen was ejected after receiving two technicals: the first for a hard foul he delivered on Allen; the second after he tried to clear out Barry by swinging his elbow.
Allen, Barry said, "might have been trying to stick up for me."
The next time Allen and Bowen met, midway through last season, Bowen walked into Allen, who answered with a shove. Each received a technical.
Afterward, Allen said Bowen "cheap-shots" him and plays "sissy basketball." His comments were the first lodged publicly against Bowen, but not the last. By the end of the season, Vince Carter, Michael Finley and coaches Don Nelson and Flip Saunders had also complained about Bowen's tactics.
"Anybody in the league will tell you he's one of the guys that you can't stand because of the way he plays defense," Allen said. "It's not like he's standing in front of you or keeping you from scoring. You know how Reggie (Evans) and Danny (Fortson) can get under people's skin, they play so physical. He's similar, but he does those things that make you want to fight him."
Said Barry: "Ray speaks his mind, on anything, from politics to supermodels to basketball to babies, him being a new father. That's the way he always has been and I appreciate it."
Allen's comments also are likely attached with a purpose: If the referees take a closer look at Bowen, all the better. Earlier this season, he also complained about the way the Chicago Bulls were guarding him.
With the league limiting the contact perimeter defenders can make, Bowen already has had to adjust this season.
"Sometimes it's going back to the basics," Bowen said, "making sure you stay low and show your hands."
The Spurs' Glenn Robinson said both players' success is rooted in preparation. Bowen studies film and keeps a file on each player he guards. Allen arrives at the arena as many as three hours before a game to shoot.
"Even in practice, every shot Ray shoots is actually a game shot," said Robinson, who played with Allen in Milwaukee. "Most guys who won the 3-point contest are arm shooters like me: wrist, arm, catch and shoot. But Ray catches the ball and jumps and shoots on every shot."
Bowen will try to keep Allen from taking uncontested shots by forcing him to put the ball on the floor and drive into the Spurs' big men. In the first round, he frustrated Denver's Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony, however, didn't complain about Bowen. But Allen?
Said Babby, laughing: "Let's just say I won't be seating them side by side at the Williams & Connolly barbecue."
Web Posted: 05/08/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA050805.1C.BKNspurs.sonics.adv.251600783.html
Not long after Brent Barry arrived in San Antonio last summer, Bruce Bowen invited him to lunch.
Barry had spent the previous five seasons in Seattle, so Bowen advised him about his new city, as well as the Spurs' culture. The two discussed the teams' players and coaches. If Barry needed help with anything else, all he had to do was ask.
After Barry returned home from their get-together, his wife, Erin, had one question: Did you make it through the meal without getting elbowed by Bruce?
About the same time, Bowen's wife, Yardley, was asking a similar question of her husband: Did you two really get along?
"Both of us said, 'Hey, it's the game,'" Barry said. "What happens in the game, happens in the game."
At least one of Barry's former teammates doesn't seem to share the same opinion. During the past 21/2 seasons, Seattle's All-Star guard, Ray Allen, has accused Bowen of everything from playing "sissy basketball" to throwing punches and elbows.
The pair's professional rivalry, in Allen's opinion, also has altered their personal relationship.
"Bruce used to be a good friend of mine," Allen said. "Used to be. Until he started playing a brand-new game of basketball."
Depending on how one views Bowen's "brand-new game of basketball," he is either one of the NBA's best perimeter defenders or one of its dirtiest thugs. Maybe both.
As the Spurs and Seattle open their Western Conference semifinals series tonight at the SBC Center, Bowen's defense on Allen — and how the officials evaluate it — could play a large factor in determining which team advances.
In the Sonics' two victories over the Spurs this season, Allen averaged 26.5 points while shooting 48.7 percent and making 9 of 13 3-pointers. When the Spurs beat Seattle on March 30, Bowen limited Allen to 14 points — his fewest in a full game since the All-Star break — and helped force him into missing 11 of his 17 shots, including all three of his 3-point attempts.
After watching Allen average 32.4 points in five games against Sacramento, Bowen will do his best to make the Sonics guard work for his shots. The Sonics will counter by making Bowen run through multiple screens.
"There is still nothing personal, as far as me to him," Bowen said. "He's a tremendous player, an All-Star, and rightfully so. He deserves all the credit he's received this year.
"But on the court, it's about me competing with one of the elite players in the league, and that's about it."
Bowen and Allen admit to being friends earlier in their careers when their mothers joined a group for parents of NBA players. Even now, the two seem to have much in common. Friendly, media-savvy and free of off-the-court troubles, they are the type of player-citizens who league officials love to push in front of the cameras.
Both also got married last summer, and Allen hired Bowen's agent, Lon Babby of the Washington-based law firm Williams & Connolly, to represent him in his contract negotiations.
"I do find their rivalry amusing," said Babby, who also lists Tim Duncan among his clients. "But I think it's more professional than personal. One of the reasons we like representing Bruce and Ray is that they're both great competitors."
Allen's feelings toward Bowen seemed to change after Milwaukee traded him to Seattle midway through the 2002-03 season. When the Sonics played the Spurs on April 11, Bowen was ejected after receiving two technicals: the first for a hard foul he delivered on Allen; the second after he tried to clear out Barry by swinging his elbow.
Allen, Barry said, "might have been trying to stick up for me."
The next time Allen and Bowen met, midway through last season, Bowen walked into Allen, who answered with a shove. Each received a technical.
Afterward, Allen said Bowen "cheap-shots" him and plays "sissy basketball." His comments were the first lodged publicly against Bowen, but not the last. By the end of the season, Vince Carter, Michael Finley and coaches Don Nelson and Flip Saunders had also complained about Bowen's tactics.
"Anybody in the league will tell you he's one of the guys that you can't stand because of the way he plays defense," Allen said. "It's not like he's standing in front of you or keeping you from scoring. You know how Reggie (Evans) and Danny (Fortson) can get under people's skin, they play so physical. He's similar, but he does those things that make you want to fight him."
Said Barry: "Ray speaks his mind, on anything, from politics to supermodels to basketball to babies, him being a new father. That's the way he always has been and I appreciate it."
Allen's comments also are likely attached with a purpose: If the referees take a closer look at Bowen, all the better. Earlier this season, he also complained about the way the Chicago Bulls were guarding him.
With the league limiting the contact perimeter defenders can make, Bowen already has had to adjust this season.
"Sometimes it's going back to the basics," Bowen said, "making sure you stay low and show your hands."
The Spurs' Glenn Robinson said both players' success is rooted in preparation. Bowen studies film and keeps a file on each player he guards. Allen arrives at the arena as many as three hours before a game to shoot.
"Even in practice, every shot Ray shoots is actually a game shot," said Robinson, who played with Allen in Milwaukee. "Most guys who won the 3-point contest are arm shooters like me: wrist, arm, catch and shoot. But Ray catches the ball and jumps and shoots on every shot."
Bowen will try to keep Allen from taking uncontested shots by forcing him to put the ball on the floor and drive into the Spurs' big men. In the first round, he frustrated Denver's Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony, however, didn't complain about Bowen. But Allen?
Said Babby, laughing: "Let's just say I won't be seating them side by side at the Williams & Connolly barbecue."