I don't view the regular season as being all that relevant. What happens on night x out of 82 and what happens over the course of a seven game series, especially the finals, are two completely different animals.Quote:
Originally Posted by duncan_21
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I don't view the regular season as being all that relevant. What happens on night x out of 82 and what happens over the course of a seven game series, especially the finals, are two completely different animals.Quote:
Originally Posted by duncan_21
not as tough as carmelo, ray allen and shawn marion
That's what the suns fans said. I believe right now they've gone fishin'.Quote:
Originally Posted by geerussell
Hamilton's #'s vs. the Spurs in the regular season ...
Dec 3, 2004
Mins: 33
FGs: 4-14 (28.6%)
Pts: 8
Mar 20, 2005
Mins: 28
FGs: 4-12 (33.3%)
Pts: 11
:owned
So it was just a coincidence that RIP happened to have 2 bad games against Bruce Bowen.
Most people that are predicting that the Pistons will win this series are really ignorant by how well San Antonio is playing. I could see it be a close series but saying that Detroit will win is ignoring how dominant San Antonio has been.
Thank you nomoneydown. Does that look like 20 ppg or even good shooting? NO would be the answer.Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMoneyDown
:owned
Why are his minutes so down? Was he injured?
He was injured for a few games here and there during the regular season, so that could be. If you look at the second game, Arroyo played 24 mins and Delfino played 21 mins. Brown was probably just trying to get the other guards into the game more. This could have possibly thrown off Rip's rhythm too.
geerussell,
1. the EC is a basketcase, don't trot out Rip's playoff performances against the EC as being meaninful, season or playoffs.
2. the only playoff team that played defense that Rip faced in the last 3 playoff was the 04 Pacers.
Rip and offensive friends haven't faced any defense in the last 3 years of playoffs as tough as the Spurs defense.
Detroit went 19-11 vs WC, while the Spurs went 36-16 vs WC. Large advantage to Spurs.
Spurs went 23-7 vs EC while Pistons went 35-17 vs EC, another large advantage to Spurs.
ie, Pistons did worse against their own, much weaker conference than the Spurs did against the EC.
one mitigating stat I'd like to see is how many total season games missed by the starters for Pistons and Spurs. I have feeling the Spurs superior season record was in spite of the Spurs starters missing many more games than the Pistons starters.
Of course, the "season don't mean shit" for the playoffs, but it sure beat the dumbshit coming from Pistons fans in the Spurs board.
I don't recall if Bowen was even guarding Rip that much in the 2nd game. Bowen played 19 minutes.
Plus, they don't play each other enough to establish any sort of trend.
Do you expect Manu to turn the ball over 6 times like he did in the first game? Or Brent Barry to miss all his shots like he did during the season series(0-6)?
I know he didn't play a lot in that game, but Bruce always guards Rip when they are on the floor at the same time. Rip doesn't always guard Bruce, but Bruce guards Rip unless he gets switched onto someone else late in the game who is hot (i.e. Billups).Quote:
Originally Posted by DisgruntledLionFan#54,927
Compared to the sonics and suns, the nets, pacers and heat all play better defense. The EC is a basket case when it comes to offense and superstars however there's a lot of down and dirty defense played in the conference.Quote:
Originally Posted by boutons
See above. The 05 Pacers while diminished still maintained 100% of their work ethic on defense. Miami too put forth a credible defensive effort.Quote:
2. the only playoff team that played defense that Rip faced in the last 3 playoff was the 04 Pacers.
True. Spurs and Pistons are the top two defenses in the league. Your comment applies 100% to both teams.Quote:
Rip and offensive friends haven't faced any defense in the last 3 years of playoffs as tough as the Spurs defense.
Like you said, the season don't mean shit. Playoff performance does. Like I said originally, if Rip gets shut down for a series it will be a first. Bowen has a playoff track record of superlative defense. Rip has a playoff track record of stepping up his game and scoring in the face of whatever is thrown at him.Quote:
Detroit went 19-11 vs WC, while the Spurs went 36-16 vs WC. Large advantage to Spurs.
Spurs went 23-7 vs EC while Pistons went 35-17 vs EC, another large advantage to Spurs.
ie, Pistons did worse against their own, much weaker conference than the Spurs did against the EC.
one mitigating stat I'd like to see is how many total season games missed by the starters for Pistons and Spurs. I have feeling the Spurs superior season record was in spite of the Spurs starters missing many more games than the Pistons starters.
Of course, the "season don't mean shit" for the playoffs, but it sure beat the dumbshit coming from Pistons fans in the Spurs board.
" SHOW ME SOMETHING: Shaquille O'Neal called out Ben Wallace during the Eastern Conference finals, challenging him to guard him, though O'Neal outweighed Wallace by more than 80 pounds.
``I think when a guy does that, it's a form of a compliment,'' said Wallace, the NBA defensive player of the year.
Asked if he thought he showed Shaq anything, Wallace replied: ``I'm going back to the Finals.''
LMBO! That is classic!
Bowen does defensive heavy-lifting for Spurs
T.A. BADGER
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO - Bruce Bowen already has done a lot of defensive heavy-lifting this postseason.
In the first round, the San Antonio Spurs' perimeter ace covered Carmelo Anthony, and after that, it was Ray Allen and then Shawn Marion. The result has been the same - each of these prolific scorers saw his production drop, which helped the Spurs win each series and advance to the NBA Finals.
Now he has what may be an even tougher assignment - Detroit's wiry and elusive Richard Hamilton.
"He runs very well and he understands the game well," Bowen said of Hamilton, who has scored 20 or more points in seven of the Pistons' last eight playoff games. "He's doing things that Reggie (Miller) did early in his career."
Hamilton knows what he's in for from Bowen, whose physical approach to defense has inspired more than one opponent to call him a dirty player. A frustrated Allen once took it even further, accusing Bowen of playing "sissy basketball."
"He's a guy that really comes out and tries to use every part of his body," Hamilton said. "He'll try to bump you with his hips, his legs, his knees and everything else."
Bowen's teammates, of course, see it another way.
"Inevitably, Bruce finds a way to stop somebody," said Brent Barry, who subs for Bowen at small forward. "It might not even be a way we talked about before the game. He just comes at you relentlessly with his athleticism, and he's smart. What higher compliment can you give a defensive guy who just keeps getting the job done?"
This season Bowen was named to All-Defensive first team and he was runner-up to Detroit's Ben Wallace for the league's defensive player of the year.
The achievement is all the more impressive given that Bowen went undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton in 1993 and kicked around pro leagues in Europe and Latin America before catching on with the Boston Celtics in 1997-98. There were brief stops in Philadelphia and Miami before he was signed as a free agent by the Spurs in 2001 and immediately became a starter.
He has made an All-Defensive team for five straight years, yet in his mind he's a journeyman who never will win the same type of accolades as the offensive stars he often shuts down.
"I'm committed to do what I have to do to stay on the court," Bowen said. "It's not a matter of getting upset that I don't get all the glory. Guys would give their right arm to be where I am right now."
He played in Philadelphia for then-coach Larry Brown, who said Wednesday that the 76ers loved Bowen but traded him to Chicago in a salary cap-related deal. The Bulls then waived him, and he quickly was signed by the Heat.
"He was one of the best defenders I had seen yet," said Brown, now the Pistons coach. "He had some deficiencies offensively, but I never would have imagined he would be a starter on a championship team."
Bowen still has offensive deficiencies, but there are fewer of them than when he joined the Spurs.
In 2002-03, when San Antonio won its second NBA title, Bowen made 44 percent of his 3-point attempts, best in the league. His shooting is particularly accurate from the deep corners, and he also has developed a reliable pull-up jumper and gotten better at driving to the basket.
This season he averaged a career-best 8.2 points and 3.5 rebounds, and he hit 40 percent of his 3-pointers. In the playoffs, he's 16-for-38 (42 percent) behind the arc - nearly all of them from the corners.
"I don't think you can leave him alone like you can maybe four years ago," said Spurs point guard Tony Parker. "If he's open and that's Detroit's strategy, we're going to try to look for him because we have confidence in Bruce that he's going to make that shot."