SpursFanFirst
12-31-2007, 07:22 PM
I looked around for a while, and didn't see this posted.
It was written on 12-21, so there's a chance this is a duplicate.
I only posted the part about Bruce, but provided the link for the rest.
Weekly Countdown
Recognizing the best elder statesmen in the NBA
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/ian_thomsen/12/20/weekly.countdown/index.html
2. Bruce Bowen, F, turns 37 in June
Though Bowen is listed as a forward offensively, at the other end of the court he is the league's top defensive swingman at 6-7 and 200 pounds, a stopper of guards and forwards alike for San Antonio.
Of all the players in his 1993 draft class -- including Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Allan Houston and Nick Van Exel -- no one would have forecast that Bowen would join Detroit's Lindsey Hunter as the only NBA survivors. That's because Bowen went undrafted and had to spend most of his first three years as a pro playing in France and the CBA. He was waived twice in the NBA before arriving in San Antonio as a 30-year-old in 2001. Since February 2002, he has started every night, extending his consecutive games streak to a league-leading 461 and winning three NBA championships along the way. Over the last decade, only four players -- Tim Duncan, Robert Horry, Nash and Rasheed Wallace -- have contributed to more regular-season wins than Bowen has.
Offensively, Bowen turned himself into a three-point specialist, enabling him to help space the floor around Duncan. At game-day shootarounds, you can find Bowen spending extra time practicing his jump shot after the rest of his teammates have gone home. He led the league in three-point shooting (44.1 percent) in 2002-03, has never shot worse than 36.3 percent from beyond the arc in any season with the Spurs, and is currently hitting 46.3 percent (seventh best in the NBA).
"Bruce would be in at 9 a.m. virtually every day, whether there was a game the night before or we were just back from a trip,'' recalled Carlesimo, a Spurs assistant coach the previous five years. "When you walked into the facility and heard the ball bouncing, you knew it was Bruce out there shooting with [assistant coach] Brett Brown. He's fanatical about the way he eats, takes care of himself and works out.''
Bowen has been on the All-Defensive team each of the last seven seasons, and I always imagined that he must study film of opponents religiously like an NFL quarterback.
"No, I fall asleep studying film,'' he said. "I get tired of it; I don't see how the coaches do it.'' Instead, he watches just enough video to develop an intuitive feel for the opponent.
Bowen rarely tires in the postseason, and despite his age, the Spurs recently extended his contract through 2009-10 (though the last year isn't fully guaranteed).
"He totally deserves everything he gets because of the commitment he makes,'' Carlesimo said. "He figured out what it took to be in the league, to get 10-day contracts or get invited to camps. He goes from that to being an integral starter on a three-time NBA champion.''
Heir Apparent: Renaldo Balkman, F, 23. The Knicks' stopper already guards multiple positions, but can he -- like Bowen -- develop the offensive niche that will extend his career?
It was written on 12-21, so there's a chance this is a duplicate.
I only posted the part about Bruce, but provided the link for the rest.
Weekly Countdown
Recognizing the best elder statesmen in the NBA
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/ian_thomsen/12/20/weekly.countdown/index.html
2. Bruce Bowen, F, turns 37 in June
Though Bowen is listed as a forward offensively, at the other end of the court he is the league's top defensive swingman at 6-7 and 200 pounds, a stopper of guards and forwards alike for San Antonio.
Of all the players in his 1993 draft class -- including Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Allan Houston and Nick Van Exel -- no one would have forecast that Bowen would join Detroit's Lindsey Hunter as the only NBA survivors. That's because Bowen went undrafted and had to spend most of his first three years as a pro playing in France and the CBA. He was waived twice in the NBA before arriving in San Antonio as a 30-year-old in 2001. Since February 2002, he has started every night, extending his consecutive games streak to a league-leading 461 and winning three NBA championships along the way. Over the last decade, only four players -- Tim Duncan, Robert Horry, Nash and Rasheed Wallace -- have contributed to more regular-season wins than Bowen has.
Offensively, Bowen turned himself into a three-point specialist, enabling him to help space the floor around Duncan. At game-day shootarounds, you can find Bowen spending extra time practicing his jump shot after the rest of his teammates have gone home. He led the league in three-point shooting (44.1 percent) in 2002-03, has never shot worse than 36.3 percent from beyond the arc in any season with the Spurs, and is currently hitting 46.3 percent (seventh best in the NBA).
"Bruce would be in at 9 a.m. virtually every day, whether there was a game the night before or we were just back from a trip,'' recalled Carlesimo, a Spurs assistant coach the previous five years. "When you walked into the facility and heard the ball bouncing, you knew it was Bruce out there shooting with [assistant coach] Brett Brown. He's fanatical about the way he eats, takes care of himself and works out.''
Bowen has been on the All-Defensive team each of the last seven seasons, and I always imagined that he must study film of opponents religiously like an NFL quarterback.
"No, I fall asleep studying film,'' he said. "I get tired of it; I don't see how the coaches do it.'' Instead, he watches just enough video to develop an intuitive feel for the opponent.
Bowen rarely tires in the postseason, and despite his age, the Spurs recently extended his contract through 2009-10 (though the last year isn't fully guaranteed).
"He totally deserves everything he gets because of the commitment he makes,'' Carlesimo said. "He figured out what it took to be in the league, to get 10-day contracts or get invited to camps. He goes from that to being an integral starter on a three-time NBA champion.''
Heir Apparent: Renaldo Balkman, F, 23. The Knicks' stopper already guards multiple positions, but can he -- like Bowen -- develop the offensive niche that will extend his career?