timvp
03-23-2012, 10:21 AM
Those of us who were lucky enough to watch Bruce Bowen defend during his eight seasons in San Antonio don't need any statistical evidence to know that he was a great defensive player. We saw him go out there each and every night and successfully harass the world's best basketball players. Now that he's gone, it's even more apparent just how much Bowen meant to the Spurs.
But out of curiosity, I decided to see what the stats say about Bowen's D. I compiled all the regular season minutes he ever played for the Spurs ... and the resulting numbers are rather impressive.
During his eight seasons with the Spurs, opponents scored only 87.37 points per 48 minutes when Bowen was on the court. When Bowen was on the bench, opponents averaged 91.14 points per 48 minutes -- or 3.77 more points.
What's even more amazing about those numbers is the fact that Bowen usually sat when the other team's best scorer checked out of the game. Factoring in that Bowen played against more difficult lineups than any player on those Spurs teams and it's even more impressive that San Antonio's defense was still 3.77 points better when Bowen was on the court.
The Big 3 are each quality defenders but the stats point to Bowen being the best of the bunch. During Bowen's eight seasons in San Antonio, opponents averaged 87.51 points when Tim Duncan was in the game. The numbers for Tony Parker (89.72) and Manu Ginobili (90.03) are great ... but not quite Bowen.
Each member of the Big 3 posted much improved defensive numbers when Bowen was on the court. Opponents scored only 86.17 points per 48 minutes when both Duncan and Bowen were on the court. Similar improvements were seen with Bowen and Ginobili (87.25) and Bowen and Parker (87.56).
How did Bowen help the Big 3 as a whole? The numbers are surprisingly drastic: When the Big 3 played together but without Bowen, opponents averaged 93.45 points per 48 minutes over this eight-season time period. When Bowen was added to the Big 3, opponents scoring dropped to 89.52 points -- a difference of 3.93 points per 48 minutes.
The beauty of Bowen's defense is that it made the game so much easier for everyone else. With Bowen locking up the other team's best scorer, there was little need to send double-team help or be overly physical with the other players on the court. Not only was the opponents field goal percentage much lower when Bowen was on the court (42.8% with Bowen on, 44.0% with Bowen off), opponents shot fewer three-pointers (12.30 per 48 minutes with Bowen on, 13.23 with Bowen off) and fewer free throws (20.38 with Bowen on, 23.11 with Bowen off).
In the moment, a lot of the praise for the past three Spurs championships went to the Big 3. However, a funny thing has happened since Bowen's retirement. In retrospect, people who paid attention are now starting to realize what many of us said the whole time: The Big 3 never existed.
It was the Big 4.
And that Big 4, when on the court together (and they were only on the court together against the best players the other team had to offer), outscored opponents by a ridiculous 13.81 points per 100 possessions during Bowen's eight years with the Spurs. To put that in perspective, no team in history has outscored their opponents by that much over he course of one season. The Big 4 did that over eight seasons.
Thank you, Bruce Bowen.
But out of curiosity, I decided to see what the stats say about Bowen's D. I compiled all the regular season minutes he ever played for the Spurs ... and the resulting numbers are rather impressive.
During his eight seasons with the Spurs, opponents scored only 87.37 points per 48 minutes when Bowen was on the court. When Bowen was on the bench, opponents averaged 91.14 points per 48 minutes -- or 3.77 more points.
What's even more amazing about those numbers is the fact that Bowen usually sat when the other team's best scorer checked out of the game. Factoring in that Bowen played against more difficult lineups than any player on those Spurs teams and it's even more impressive that San Antonio's defense was still 3.77 points better when Bowen was on the court.
The Big 3 are each quality defenders but the stats point to Bowen being the best of the bunch. During Bowen's eight seasons in San Antonio, opponents averaged 87.51 points when Tim Duncan was in the game. The numbers for Tony Parker (89.72) and Manu Ginobili (90.03) are great ... but not quite Bowen.
Each member of the Big 3 posted much improved defensive numbers when Bowen was on the court. Opponents scored only 86.17 points per 48 minutes when both Duncan and Bowen were on the court. Similar improvements were seen with Bowen and Ginobili (87.25) and Bowen and Parker (87.56).
How did Bowen help the Big 3 as a whole? The numbers are surprisingly drastic: When the Big 3 played together but without Bowen, opponents averaged 93.45 points per 48 minutes over this eight-season time period. When Bowen was added to the Big 3, opponents scoring dropped to 89.52 points -- a difference of 3.93 points per 48 minutes.
The beauty of Bowen's defense is that it made the game so much easier for everyone else. With Bowen locking up the other team's best scorer, there was little need to send double-team help or be overly physical with the other players on the court. Not only was the opponents field goal percentage much lower when Bowen was on the court (42.8% with Bowen on, 44.0% with Bowen off), opponents shot fewer three-pointers (12.30 per 48 minutes with Bowen on, 13.23 with Bowen off) and fewer free throws (20.38 with Bowen on, 23.11 with Bowen off).
In the moment, a lot of the praise for the past three Spurs championships went to the Big 3. However, a funny thing has happened since Bowen's retirement. In retrospect, people who paid attention are now starting to realize what many of us said the whole time: The Big 3 never existed.
It was the Big 4.
And that Big 4, when on the court together (and they were only on the court together against the best players the other team had to offer), outscored opponents by a ridiculous 13.81 points per 100 possessions during Bowen's eight years with the Spurs. To put that in perspective, no team in history has outscored their opponents by that much over he course of one season. The Big 4 did that over eight seasons.
Thank you, Bruce Bowen.