Oh, so Bruce speaks both French and Spanish...He did play for the French league for two years a long time ago...I think that regardless of what had happened in the past, what matters is the present. And we can all clearly see that Bruce and Manu are really good friends and truly respect each other and care about each other...
Anyway, I found this rather interesting OLD article from last year's Finals...
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/06/16/sections/sports/sports_columns/article_562007.php
"Bowen leads in his battle with Hamilton, a big reason for the Spurs' series edge.
MARK WHICKER
Register columnist
[email protected]
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. – It's the Spurs and the Pistons, but below the surface it's Bruce and Rip.
It's Richard "Rip" Hamilton, face encased in a plastic mask, scurrying around human pylons as dust flies up from his feet.
And it's Bruce Bowen, eyes fixed, hands raised, a bounty hunter as grim as a shadow.
On third thought, it's really Tom and Jerry.
When Bowen, the Cal State Fullerton alum for San Antonio, traps Hamilton in his personal cage, the Spurs win games in the NBA Finals.
When Hamilton, the cardiovascular marvel from Connecticut, springs free of Bowen and runs off with the cheese, the Pistons are in good shape.
So far it's Bowen 2, Hamilton 1, and the game within a game resumes tonight in Game 4.
"It usually takes me a couple of games to get a good read on a guy," said Hamilton, who scored 24 points on 11-for-23 shooting in Game 3. That followed 12-for-36 shooting in Games 1 and 2, for a total of 28 points.
"Early in the series I was just trying to take him (Bowen) one-on-one. Last night I finally began using my teammates a little bit, using some picks, trying to get open that way. And I was trying to run the offense all the way through, which we didn't do the first two games."
"And then Rip didn't use so many ball fakes," Coach Larry Brown said. "He's a rhythm shooter. He's a lot better off when he attacks right away. But Bruce is an incredible defensive player. He'll adjust and we'll have to do something different."
Both 6-foot-7 men are familiar with such challenges, but these are unique.
Bowen got his defensive merit badge by guarding Kobe Bryant in playoff games, although there were certainly nights when he couldn't. In these playoffs he has frustrated Seattle's Ray Allen and Phoenix's Shawn Marion - a shooting guard and a power forward.
Usually, Bowen is dealing with a marquee scorer who is given half of the half-court to operate.
Hamilton operates differently. He runs continuously and from side to side, and he plays off the screens set by giants like Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace. He does what Reggie Miller did, only quicker.
"All I try to do is get him off his sweet spots," Bowen said. "He's going to score points. He's going to get shots. If he gets off a shot and I don't contest it, that's when I get upset."
Helpfully, Bowen held a large Titan hand over a reporter's eyes, then removed it.
"See the difference?" he asked, with a grin. "That's all you're doing, trying to make him uncomfortable."
Through his own diligent conditioning and fearlessness, the undrafted Bowen has become the NBA's porcupine. When asked about Bowen's defense, Tim Duncan simply said, "Ask Manu."
Seems that when Emanuel Ginobili came to the Spurs in 2003, bringing his Euroleague MVP award with him, Bowen conducted a daily strip-search in practice.
"For all Bruce knew, this was some interloper guy who was going to take his job," said Coach Gregg Popovich. "From Day One, Bruce introduced him to the NBA and to defense, and Manu was in a Mixmaster. He didn't know which way to turn."
Since Ginobili is no shrinking pampas, there had to be some confrontations.
"Well, there were practices where they had to remember that we're all Falcons, and that kind of stuff," said Popovich, an Air Force Academy man.
"It was not pleasant," Duncan said.
Now Ginobili is almost as cloying as Bowen. But Bowen not only catches the prey, he annoys it.
"I like Bruce, he's a cool-ass dude," Hamilton said, "but he's out there bumping you with every part of his body. He doesn't use his hands, that's true.
"But he's using his knees, his chest, his stomach, and he's tripping you. He's crafty. I don't want to say he's dirty. He's just crafty, and in the first two games I probably got a little too upset about it and spent too much time dealing with the refs.
"But he's different from (Indiana's) Ron Artest," Hamilton added tartly. "Artest is a big guy for their offense. They count on him for 20 points a game and then he also has to play defense. Bowen has no responsibility on offense. None."
Not really. Bowen camps out in both corners and shoots three-pointers, as long as the defense isn't in his calling area. According to Popovich, the Game 3 loss had more to do with not getting those open shots than it did with Hamilton's revival.
"I looked at the tape and nothing changed," Popovich said. "We still made 18 turnovers and gave up 20 second-chance points. Those things actually happened. The Pistons sustained a great effort for 48 minutes. We have to be stronger with the ball and make the extra pass, so we're not always playing in a crowd."
In this series, Hamilton always is.
He also has played 61 playoff games and scored 20 or more points in 48 of them. He has done most of that while wearing the mask that was originally there to protect a multi-broken nose.
"It's kinda become like a headband," he said. "I don't even think about it. But one more year, and I think I'm going to retire it.
"It'll probably wind up on my mantel, and I'll get everybody to sign it."
Maybe not everybody."
So yeah, I guess at the VERY beginning, Manu was just not used to Bruce's amazing defensive abilities. Either way, it's obvious that these two are great friends right now. Just listen to what Bruce was saying about Manu a couple of days ago...
When asked about how Manu is doing after the bad loss in Dallas, Bruce said "It's something that he'll get over. But put yourself in his shoes. I think that's the only way you can really feel for the guy. He has done so much for us. We LOVE him here. And he understands that. So when you have those that love you and support you, you feel like you've completely let them down. And that's not something he's about. He'll get better from this. As we all will. Because that's what life is about. Getting better from the shortcomings in life."
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/teams/spurs/060523.asx
Anyway, who really cares about who got along with whom a long time ago. That's the past! Besides, I heard Bruce took a big pay cut in his salary last year so that they could afford to re-sign Manu...