SPURSCHAMPS
05-25-2005, 01:43 AM
Statless Wonder' simply amazing for Spurs
By Mike Celizic
NBCSports.com contributor
Suns biggest problem not stars like Duncan
and Ginobili, but scoring against Bowen
It’s easy to tell who the best players on the court are. You just look at the stat sheets and check the point totals and there they are; Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Manu Ginobili.
But who the most important player is isn’t always so obvious.
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That may never have been truer than it is now, with the Spurs holding a smothering, 2-0 lead in the NBA Western Conference finals and going back to San Antonio, where they have the best home record in the league.
Without taking anything away from the heart of Duncan or the intelligence of Parker or the slashing athleticism of Ginobili, the Spurs don’t have that lead without the man whose contribution to the stat sheet has been almost nothing: Bruce Bowen.
Bowen exploded for three points and four rebounds in the Spurs’ Game 2 win. You can say that because in Game 1, he had just two points and one board. Those totals, when set against nearly 30 minutes of court time, make you scratch your head and ask, “Why is he out there?”
Call him the Statless Wonder. And to find the answer to your question, you need to check the line of Shawn Marion, the man Bowen was guarding. Good for 19 points a game during the regular season, Marion had averaged 22 in the Suns’ first- and second-round wins over Memphis and Dallas.
Then he ran into Bowen, one of the best defenders in the game.
In Game 1, a Spurs’ win, Marion shot 1-for-6 for three points. In Game 2, another Spurs’ win, he broke loose for 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting. That’s eight points below his season’s average in a game the Suns lost by three points.
It’s a team game, but without the Statless Wonder, it’s hard to imagine the Spurs winning. And it’s not just for what he’s done against Marion.
On the last play of Game 2, Steve Nash raced the length of the court to throw up a three-pointer to tie it at the buzzer. Parker stayed with him for most of that dash, but Nash got his shoulders ahead of the Spurs’ guard just before he shot. But when he went up for what should have been an open look, Bowen was suddenly in his face, leaping at the shot without committing the foul, putting enough pressure on the league’s MVP to force a miss.
That play didn’t show up on the stat sheet, either. Even when they replayed the shot, the courtside crew barely mentioned Bowen, talking instead about how quickly Nash had run the court and how he just missed the shot.
But that’s all right with Bowen. He’s not interested in making the highlight reels. All he wants to do is make the guy he’s guarding disappear.
He does that game in and game out with a fervor and effectiveness that drives opposing players to distraction. He’s a dirty player, a lot of his victims say. In the second round, Ray Allen, Seattle’s spectacular guard, did little but talk about what a dirty player Bowen was.
You might look at Allen’s 21.5 points a game in the six-game series with the Spurs and think he did pretty well against Bowen. But Allen had averaged 32.4 — 11 more points — in the first round against Sacramento.
Not only was Allen’s scoring down, his assists dropped from 5.2 per game to 2.8, and his turnovers went up from 2.6 to 3.5. In virtually every facet of the game, from rebounds to shooting percentage, Allen did worse with Bowen on him.
And all Allen could do about it was whine about Bowen’s “dirty” play.
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Vince Carter of the Nets has said the same thing, blaming Bowen for causing a severely sprained ankle that sidelined Carter earlier in the season. Allen, too, said Bowen caused him to sprain his ankle.
But if Bowen plays dirty, the refs don’t notice; Bowen doesn’t even collect many fouls. NBA refs haven’t had any compunction about blowing the whistle early and often against Duncan, one of the best players in the game’s history. And if they’re not going to give Duncan a break, they’re certainly not going to give Bowen one.
His ability to be so effective without fouling is amazing, considering that the way he plays is to stay so close to the man he’s guarding you’d think the two of them were wearing the same uniform. His arms and hands are always going, stabbing and slapping at the ball, blocking passing lanes. Lanky and limber, he doesn’t so much fight through picks as flow through them.
Other players try to rest on defense, looking for shortcuts, now and then sitting on their heels while their man shakes free and gets his points. Not Bowen. He rests on offense, coming down with the rest of the team, then camping out at the 3-point line while watching his teammates do their thing. If circumstances demand it, he’ll take a pass and move the ball to someone else, and, if the shot clock is running down or if he finds himself utterly unguarded, he’ll take a shot — just to maintain appearances.
He doesn’t even bother trying to rebound, preferring to stay with his man and prevent fast breaks.
It doesn’t matter. With Ginobili, Parker, Duncan and Robert Horry, the Spurs don’t need more offense. If Bowen takes out one of the opposition’s top scorers, he’s done his part.
He’s doing that against the Suns, and the Spurs, after two games, have all but wrapped this series up. Give Ginobili, Duncan, Parker and Horry credit for the points. But just remember, without Bowen, the Statless Wonder, we wouldn’t be talking about the Spurs’ having this all but in the bag. We might not be talking about the Spurs at all
By Mike Celizic
NBCSports.com contributor
Suns biggest problem not stars like Duncan
and Ginobili, but scoring against Bowen
It’s easy to tell who the best players on the court are. You just look at the stat sheets and check the point totals and there they are; Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Manu Ginobili.
But who the most important player is isn’t always so obvious.
advertisement
That may never have been truer than it is now, with the Spurs holding a smothering, 2-0 lead in the NBA Western Conference finals and going back to San Antonio, where they have the best home record in the league.
Without taking anything away from the heart of Duncan or the intelligence of Parker or the slashing athleticism of Ginobili, the Spurs don’t have that lead without the man whose contribution to the stat sheet has been almost nothing: Bruce Bowen.
Bowen exploded for three points and four rebounds in the Spurs’ Game 2 win. You can say that because in Game 1, he had just two points and one board. Those totals, when set against nearly 30 minutes of court time, make you scratch your head and ask, “Why is he out there?”
Call him the Statless Wonder. And to find the answer to your question, you need to check the line of Shawn Marion, the man Bowen was guarding. Good for 19 points a game during the regular season, Marion had averaged 22 in the Suns’ first- and second-round wins over Memphis and Dallas.
Then he ran into Bowen, one of the best defenders in the game.
In Game 1, a Spurs’ win, Marion shot 1-for-6 for three points. In Game 2, another Spurs’ win, he broke loose for 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting. That’s eight points below his season’s average in a game the Suns lost by three points.
It’s a team game, but without the Statless Wonder, it’s hard to imagine the Spurs winning. And it’s not just for what he’s done against Marion.
On the last play of Game 2, Steve Nash raced the length of the court to throw up a three-pointer to tie it at the buzzer. Parker stayed with him for most of that dash, but Nash got his shoulders ahead of the Spurs’ guard just before he shot. But when he went up for what should have been an open look, Bowen was suddenly in his face, leaping at the shot without committing the foul, putting enough pressure on the league’s MVP to force a miss.
That play didn’t show up on the stat sheet, either. Even when they replayed the shot, the courtside crew barely mentioned Bowen, talking instead about how quickly Nash had run the court and how he just missed the shot.
But that’s all right with Bowen. He’s not interested in making the highlight reels. All he wants to do is make the guy he’s guarding disappear.
He does that game in and game out with a fervor and effectiveness that drives opposing players to distraction. He’s a dirty player, a lot of his victims say. In the second round, Ray Allen, Seattle’s spectacular guard, did little but talk about what a dirty player Bowen was.
You might look at Allen’s 21.5 points a game in the six-game series with the Spurs and think he did pretty well against Bowen. But Allen had averaged 32.4 — 11 more points — in the first round against Sacramento.
Not only was Allen’s scoring down, his assists dropped from 5.2 per game to 2.8, and his turnovers went up from 2.6 to 3.5. In virtually every facet of the game, from rebounds to shooting percentage, Allen did worse with Bowen on him.
And all Allen could do about it was whine about Bowen’s “dirty” play.
advertisement
Vince Carter of the Nets has said the same thing, blaming Bowen for causing a severely sprained ankle that sidelined Carter earlier in the season. Allen, too, said Bowen caused him to sprain his ankle.
But if Bowen plays dirty, the refs don’t notice; Bowen doesn’t even collect many fouls. NBA refs haven’t had any compunction about blowing the whistle early and often against Duncan, one of the best players in the game’s history. And if they’re not going to give Duncan a break, they’re certainly not going to give Bowen one.
His ability to be so effective without fouling is amazing, considering that the way he plays is to stay so close to the man he’s guarding you’d think the two of them were wearing the same uniform. His arms and hands are always going, stabbing and slapping at the ball, blocking passing lanes. Lanky and limber, he doesn’t so much fight through picks as flow through them.
Other players try to rest on defense, looking for shortcuts, now and then sitting on their heels while their man shakes free and gets his points. Not Bowen. He rests on offense, coming down with the rest of the team, then camping out at the 3-point line while watching his teammates do their thing. If circumstances demand it, he’ll take a pass and move the ball to someone else, and, if the shot clock is running down or if he finds himself utterly unguarded, he’ll take a shot — just to maintain appearances.
He doesn’t even bother trying to rebound, preferring to stay with his man and prevent fast breaks.
It doesn’t matter. With Ginobili, Parker, Duncan and Robert Horry, the Spurs don’t need more offense. If Bowen takes out one of the opposition’s top scorers, he’s done his part.
He’s doing that against the Suns, and the Spurs, after two games, have all but wrapped this series up. Give Ginobili, Duncan, Parker and Horry credit for the points. But just remember, without Bowen, the Statless Wonder, we wouldn’t be talking about the Spurs’ having this all but in the bag. We might not be talking about the Spurs at all