Bruce Bowen.

[IceColdBrewski]

Anyone seen him lately? Just wondering. Someone might want to let him know that the playoffs have started.

[J.T.]

Word.

[RON ARTEST]

he sure as hell isnt in sacramento thats for sure.

[Leetonidas]

He's been useless this series. There's no perimeter players, what's he supposed to do? He can't guard big, strong, physical guards.

[baseline bum]

Bruce can't check post players. We've known this since he got here. It's time to put some goddamn size on Wells.

[IceColdBrewski]

He's been useless this series. There's no perimeter players, what's he supposed to do? He can't guard big, strong, physical guards.

Fair enough. But 3 points per game?

[Leetonidas]

Fair enough. But 3 points per game?

You can thank the Kings not doubling Duncan and Tony not sucking in the defense.

[xcoriate]

Fair enough. But 3 points per game?

I dunno what you were expecting?

The most you can rely on Bruce for is a three a game, sometimes he gets two and layup....

[gospursgojas]

Are yall really calling out Bruce on his offense???? :rolleyes

[xcoriate]

I certainly wasn't.

These matchups just don't work well for Bowen.

[Kori Ellis]

I dunno what you were expecting?

The most you can rely on Bruce for is a three a game, sometimes he gets two and layup....

Well he averaged 8 in the season but that's irrelevant.

Bowen is too slight to be very effective on Artest or Bonzi. The best bet is to let him guard Bibby the whole time. Or perhaps let him guard Brad Miller. He can stay with him on the perimeter and front him in the post. Then one of the bigs can try to guard Bonzi or Artest.

[gospursgojas]

I certainly wasn't.

These matchups just don't work well for Bowen.
:tu
These matchups dont work well for any of the Spurs really....

I was thinking, man if the spurs are having trouble with Sac then how are they going to beat Dallas or Detroit, but then I thought... of all the teams Sac is probally the hardest to matchup for the Spurs.

Bonzi and Artest are too big for Manu and Bruce, SAR and Thomas, although smaller are too quick for Dunc, the only thing that is about equal is Parker and Bibby.

The difference will be the bench and with Martin playing the way he has, it makes it a pretty even series....But none the less the Spurs are the the better team and will prevail in the end

[J.T.]

Homecourt Advantage will be the best player on our team.

[xcoriate]

I know he averaged about 8ppg Kori, I just found it bemusing to chastise him because of his offense of all things. My point was at best your getting a three or 2 a game and maybe a transition layup at best from Bowen. It's not like his point output is the largest of our concerns.

[xcoriate]

:tu
These matchups dont work well for any of the Spurs really....

I was thinking, man if the spurs are having trouble with Sac then how are they going to beat Dallas or Detroit, but then I thought... of all the teams Sac is probally the hardest to matchup for the Spurs.

Bonzi and Artest are too big for Manu and Bruce, SAR and Thomas, although smaller are too quick for Dunc, the only thing that is about equal is Parker and Bibby.

The difference will be the bench and with Martin playing the way he has, it makes it a pretty even series....But none the less the Spurs are the the better team and will prevail in the end

Good post. Bonzi and Artest despite not actually being that tall would ideally be guarded by the elusive long 3. Instead we have to try with Bruce or Manu who are both skinnier than most 2s in the league. Despite there not really being the huge height difference, that bothers us most most against long threes, the disparity in weight is overbearing.

Dallas still concern me in this respect, as do the lakers. Lamar seems to have his best games of the year against the Spurs (at least until Kobe started sharing the ball, now he does it more often :lol) and Dirk seemed to figure Bowen out a bit towards the end of the last game.

The thing is once you put Bowen on Bibby where do you put Parker? Wells? No. Artest? No. That leaves Parker covering a 4 or a 5, hell no.

Bowen on Miller? I don't think Miller warrents having Bowen cover him he has not been enough of a factor for me as of yet. I don't know but maybe you have to keep playing him on Artest or Wells and hope he figures it out. Cause otherwise as much as I love Bruce I don't see a role for him in this series.

[SA Gunslinger]

Bruce is nice to have just in case Bibby goes off.

Other than that, Finley should get more minutes at the three because Wells is abusing Bruce on the low block and offensive glass. At least Finley can make Wells work harder on the defensive end.

Bruce is an essential part of the championship formula. But it's pretty apparent that he is not a good matchup against the Kings.

[timvp]

One thing is for sure. Artest has proven he's the best defender in the league. Artest has played Manu awesome and Bowen has gotten destroyed by Wells. I've never seen Bowen get destroyed like this. I've seen him guard Dirk, Chris Bosh, Zach Randolph and other bigs but he can't do anything to stop Bonzi at all.

Pop gave him a shot in the first half by playing him 18 minutes and Wells still went off. I realize it's a tough matchup for Bruce but he's taller and isn't outweighed by THAT much.

That said, the obvious person to put on Wells is Horry. Horry could at least slow down Wells from being Rodman on the boards.

Honestly, I'm stunned at the level Bowen is playing. I don't see any fight in him. That's the disturbing thing.

But I expect him to come out in Game 5 and prove he's still a top flight defender .... whoever they put him on.

Believe.

[Kori Ellis]

Pop needs to decide who he is going to play Bowen on.

Up until today Bowen spent most of his time on Artest (while switching sometimes onto Wells or Bibby).

Today from the get-go he was on Wells. So is that going to be his assignment now?

I don't think Pop can keep switching him and expect any results. He switched him so much from possession to possession in game 3 it was ridiculous.

Either play him or don't play him, but make up your mind who is going to be his primary assignment.

[xcoriate]

Great point.

And if Bowen struggled then whoever you switched him with was having even more trouble. Game 4 was much more consistant though, and it still didn't matter, its getting to the point where I'm just hoping Wells cools off, that was such a dominant performance. 25 and 17 on 11 shots?

Fuck!