In praise of Bowen

[conqueso]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA012106.8C.BKNspurs.notebook.225188f9.html

In praise of Bowen: Miami coach Pat Riley has bemoaned the limitations on today's defenders. When he last coached the Heat, the league had yet to implement its crackdown on perimeter contact.

Bruce Bowen, Riley said, is one of the few perimeter defenders who has remained effective.

"He's very light on his feet and he's developed a reputation," said Riley, who coached Bowen from 2000-01. "He's very smart and he does use his hands — legally.

"He overplays, he gets a guy going in the wrong way. He's a lot like what (former New York Knicks star) Walt Frazier used to do."

Riley also compared Bowen's attitude to that of Miami's Alonzo Mourning.

"He doesn't care if he gets dunked on," Riley said. "He just wants to make the stop, contest a shot, get somebody off-balance.

"He wasn't like that when he was here. He was a physical defender here. We even used to get Bruce to hit people. It's a little different now. You can't do that."

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I'm sure this has already been posted and discussed (ad nauseum), but I just want to weigh in:

After all the Bowen-bashing that's been going on around the NBA for the last 2 years, it's nice to actually have a member of an opposing team compliment him. Especially when it's Pat Riley. And as much as everyone dogs on Bruce, it's also reassuring that Kobe, the most dominating perimeter scorer in the league and an unabashed egoist, gives Bruce the respect he deserves. At least not everyone thinks he's a dirty bitch.

[angel_luv]

Bowen is a force to be reckoned with. I am very glad he is on our side.

Side note: These were mentioned in the same link. I thought they were cool tidbits.


International coverage: Friday's game attracted an international media contingent: one reporter from China, one from Germany, one from Slovenia, two from France and three from Argentina.


Olé, Olé, Olé: Manu Ginobili signed autographs for a large group of Argentine fans after warming up before the game. The group serenaded him with "Olé, Olé, Olé ... Manu, Manu!"

[polandprzem]

I think Frazier was more agressive and had more steals.
Bowen is like "disturber" out there. And playing face to face.
Frazier was more like going from nowhere and make a defensive play.

[exstatic]

:rolleyes Still waiting for Riley to create and train that next great defender. He said he could do it when Bowen left Miami....


"He wasn't like that when he was here. He was a physical defender here. We even used to get Bruce to hit people. It's a little different now. You can't do that."
Thugs don't make All Defense, and Bowen did while in Miami. Nice to see Riley admit that he pushes dirty tactics, though. As for it being different now, it isn't in Miami, anyway. That was a CHEAP fucking shot that Posey put on Parker. Vintage Riley school of pain tactics. He and Sloan could disappear tommorrow, and the league would be SO much better.

[Solid D]

What Riley didn't say here was how much Bruce Bowen has improved as an offensive threat. He doesn't take many shots, but he has dramatically upped his game and his basketball intelligence. I can remember in Bruce's first year or two as a Spur, he would try to run the break down the middle instead of running the wing. It almost always spelled disaster when he tried to distribute and make a play because he didn't dribble very well and he didn't know the spots from which to pass on the break.

Bruce also did not finish well at the basket and he had a poor mid-range game when he first joined the Spurs. He consistently converts on his drives or catches off the break. His 3-pointer is even more consistent and he's added a new wrinkle of the ball-fake, dribble and pull-up midrange. Pretty sweet makeover.

People have also stopped fouling him so much as a strategy because he steps up and nails his FTs better now in clutch or intentional foul situations.

[Solid D]

:rolleyes Still waiting for Riley to create and train that next great defender. He said he could do it when Bowen left Miami....


Thugs don't make All Defense, and Bowen did while in Miami. Nice to see Riley admit that he pushes dirty tactics, though. As for it being different now, it isn't in Miami, anyway. That was a CHEAP ****ing shot that Posey put on Parker. Vintage Riley school of pain tactics. He and Sloan could disappear tommorrow, and the league would be SO much better.

That was one of the best responses to a "hard foul" (rib-shot) I've seen from a Spur. Tony came right back and stole the inbound pass and nailed a 3 with .4 left in the period. You know Tony had to be hurting and he just really stepped up and gave em something to think about.

[exstatic]

That was one of the best responses to a "hard foul" (rib-shot) I've seen from a Spur. Tony came right back and stole the inbound pass and nailed a 3 with .4 left in the period. You know Tony had to be hurting and he just really stepped up and gave em something to think about.

I think that shook loose his great performance. That trey gave him a LOT of confidence.

[conqueso]

I think that shook loose his great performance. That trey gave him a LOT of confidence.

I agree. And that's the kind of thing you would never expect out of Parker his first three years when he was under Pop's thumb. Because of his significantly improved play this season, Pop has loosened the reins a little bit like he did with Manu last year, and Tony has been so much better because of it. I could almost see Pop turning livid and ruddy if Tony had stolen the ball on the inbounds and stepped back to take a three a few years ago...now he lets Tony utilize his creativity much more frequently without bashing him for it.

But as for Bowen, that guy is like Popovich's wet dream. No wonder he's started every game for the last four years, averaging 33 mpg. After seeing that, it's no wonder that Pop wants to keep Rasho around, even though he's only averaging 5 and 4; it's all about the D.

[Frenchise player]

Bowen will have a huge opponent in Anthony tomorrow. He is really playing well and is tough for Bowen because he is long and strong.
If he can contain him to 20 points and 40-43 FG% I will be happy. It's even more important since Camby is not playing and Martin is usually owned by Duncan, Carmelo should be their first, second and third scoring option.

[SAGambler]

I still to this day think Bowen should have been Finals MVP. The way he shut down Rip and then completely destroyed Billups in the final minutes, in my mind, was what won the championship for the Spurs.

[T Park]

Agreed^^^^^^