Bruce is my 3rd fav Spurs after TD and Manu. I will be really sad if it is his last game with the Spurs. If there were not enough reasons to watch this game tonight, here is one more.
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Bruce is my 3rd fav Spurs after TD and Manu. I will be really sad if it is his last game with the Spurs. If there were not enough reasons to watch this game tonight, here is one more.
Nice post.Quote:
Originally Posted by timvp
Moving Bruce out of the rotation hurt the Spurs as much as any of the injuries to the big 3 this year, I think. He should have had Finley's minutes throughout the season.
I doubt this is his last game.
Pretty much gauranteed he's bought out, but Bowen comes back for the minimum.
I got to thinking that IF this is somehow the end of the road for this season, I hope that those who go to the game will stick around to the end and be sure to let these Spurs know just how much they're appreciated by this community. I realize there are many here who would consider that sentiment sappy, but it's extraordinarily disrespectful to not appreciate all that the Spurs have done in this generation.
If it's the end of the road for Bruce, it's the end of a generation in many ways. Tim, Tony, and Manu will stay (most likely), but Bowen has -- as others have said -- always been the rock-solid backbone of these teams. He's the fourth Beatle for this group of Spurs, but he's always been that quiet, steady force that has allowed this team to keep an even keel and stay in games. He's been selfless on the floor and off. He's always been there to step up after a tough loss and talk; he's been there to be the smiling face after so many big wins. His arrival in San Antonio immediately changed the mentality of a franchise that had just had its collective ass kicked by a young and charging Lakers team. And his willingness to just to a thankless job is a huge reason that the Spurs ever got over the hump against those guys.
He's been screwed out of countless Defensive Player of the Year awards (several times getting the most votes from coaches for the All-Defense Team in the same year). He really should have been the MVP of the 2007 Finals, not because he scored 6 ppg or because he led the team in minutes played, but because of the biggest number in that series -- .356 (The King's shooting percentage). Someday, kids will marvel at the statisitical accomplishments of Lebron James and, I think, they'll wonder at the anomalously bad performance in that series; I only wish there was an MVP award for Bruce Bowen to make the reason for it all the more historically memorable.
But it's the understanding of team -- and the willingness to do his job for something more than individual accolades -- that makes Bruce iconic in San Antonio. It's why the fans of this City should embrace him at every opportunity, no matter how many or few of those there might be.
I'll be shouting "Bruuuuuuuucccccceeeeee" tonight whenever he enters the game and I'll stick around to the end to thank the Spurs for surviving another day -- or for taking me on an incredible ride for the last decade (with the hope that it will continue).
Bruce is Ringo? Interesting...
It seems that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kermit
Bruce is not expendable!
I'm wearing my Bruce jersey to the game tonight.
It better F'ing not be the last game.
I have confidence it won't be in more ways than one.
I salute you Bruce. :toast
http://www.joeiverson.com/Library/fi...wins/bowen.jpg
If you can use Bowen as a trade piece to bring in a player of need, then you can use the MLE to sign a need as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by timvp
Say for example, a team is looking to straight salary dump. If you can get a SF or C that really helps (at least more impact wise for the remainder of Duncan's career) then you can use the MLE to target someone else of need.
The only way trading Bowen or buying him out makes sense is if you plan on taking on salary as in my scenario. If not, hang onto him for 2 mil.
From Bruce on Facebook:
"Just wanted to say thanks to all the fans out there for their support in this tough spot. We can only go out and give it our best. Wish us luck."
Buck's articles are often strategically placed and this one fits in that mold perfectly- you know, where he sets up in advance the explanation for what the Spurs are planning.
I remember when Spurs fans lambasted Beno for having his MySpace but this season they have clamored all over the players Twitters and Facebooks- like Manu and Bruce.Quote:
Originally Posted by spurschick
See the theme? Produce and no one cares. Have tables and bottle service reserved every night, people complain.Quote:
Originally Posted by ploto
Agree 100%.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Helicopter Jones
Bruce is the 4th best player on the team behind only the big 3. See Mason, Finley and Udoka trying to play D hurts.
I hope Bruce has one more season on him and with the Spurs
I think Bruce will be playing with more fire tonight, just to show that he still have lots left.
I gotta say, there is no way for me to know for sure since I've never been a fan of the team he played for, but I think even if he was on my team I would find it impossible to respect or cheer for a person who has twice jumped off the ground and kicked someone in the face while playing basketball.
when he gets warmed up, i defy you all to come up with a better perimeter defender in the league. see? it cant be done. hes simply the single greatest defender of the no hand check era, and the geratest single coverage defender since michael cooper, maybe better than him. is coop a HOFer? and bruce may help us pull a win out our asses. well win game 5, and likely game six will go multiple overtimes. game 7? who knows.
spurs to the death! never forget number 12
Do you root for nut-punchers?Quote:
Originally Posted by dtk
Or how about guys who constantly get into fights when they are losing?
Wouldn't it be great to see Bruce go for 21 like (once in a blue moon) back in the day?
it is one thing to lose it in a scuffle. It is an entirely different thing to kick someone in the face who is standing up...
You can find videos of just about anyone in the NBA getting in a scuffle. I've never seen anyone else jump into the air and kick another player in the face during play... twice
i'd hate the spurs letting bruce go, especially if he goes finley and to a rival. i just imagine bruce in an other teams jersey anymore...ugh.
I see Buck's been reading the forum and holding this article in reserve.
Quote:
Originally Posted by timvp
Exactly. If they are going to let Bruce go due to $ and for a 'youth movement,' then they need to embrace such a movement fully, instead of leaving enough old dudes on the team such that Pop can still instinctively go to them.
:babyQuote:
Originally Posted by dtk
And fuck you.
It would be really tempting, if you hadn't watched the Spurs routinely through the years, to boil Bruce Bowen down to just a few "dirty plays" and think him unworthy of respect because of that.
It would be really hard to watch the Spurs routinely through the years and boil Bruce Bowen down to just a few dirty plays and it would be impossible, I think, to do anything other than respect the man.
They lambasted Beno because he promoted he highlighted his douchebaggery there. Having a MySpace page says it all, IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by ploto
i will be completely pissed if the Spurs don't do the right thing and bring him back. Bruce has almost as much to do with the Championships runs as Tim. yeah, i said it.