Bruce Bowen

Bruce has a come a long way with regards to offensive versatility. But then again, that's not saying much.

It's not so much his 'shot selection' that bothers me as it is his decision making with the ball in hand. The ugliest play of the game last night involved him plowing over his defender en route to the basket while Barry stood in the corner all by himself.

I'm a big Bowen fan but I would rather he limit his offense to 16 feet and out. If the corner jumper is contested take one or two dribbles inside the arc for the 16-18 footer. If that's taken away just swing the ball back around to Manu/Duncan/Parker/Barry/Brown/Beno and let them be the creators.

well said morph....

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The ugliest play of the game last night involved him plowing over his defender en route to the basket while Barry stood in the corner all by himself.

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eek....that was ugly....

Bowen blows.

We've been over this.

So does Payton. Too bad we don't have him on the cap for two more seasons at the max.

You won't bait me.

Payton is having a better season so far that your poster boy Parker.

And we didn't have to re-up Payton if we got him from Seattle. That was your stupid, untrue caveat.

Payton went to Milwaukee and walked to LA and now is in Boston.

All we needed Payton was for a season or two of titles and then he'd be gone.

How's Hedo?

Good talk.

I think MB and Morphgizmo made good points.

We all wanted Bruce to add another dimension to his game. If Bruce takes it all the way to the basket, we may have even more problems. First, Bruce is not good at finishing near the rim (I've never seen him finishing strong at the rack in traffic). Moreover, if he takes the foul, his FT% is horrid (and it will put even more pressure on him).

I also share the feeling that when he puts the ball on the floor, something bad will happen. It is not about the mid-range jumper that he usually misses. It is more about the decision making when he does. When the pull up jumper is denied by good D, he starts dribbling with the ball and doesn't know what to do with it. This usually ends up in a turnover, or a forced pass with the clock expiring. In other words, bad possesion. If he misses the pull up jumper, so be it, he doesn't take so many of those. If the shot is denied though, kick it out immediately to Manu/Barry/TP, don't wait or try to create something.

A small statistical tidbit based on these observations. Bruce TO/48min are up from 1.65 in the 03-04 season, to 3.3 in the 04-05 season. The is very telling that he is trying to create something with the ball in his hands and failing badly.

I am not concerned though. I am quite sure he will realize this, or Pop will make him do it http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/imag...es/smispin.gif.

Sorry, that caveat was real since Payton had a trade kicker which he threatened to use at the time. Try again.

Parker is all of 22 years old. When Payton turned 22 he'd yet to play in a NBA game. Parker has 3 seasons of starting experience under his belt. You weren't able to assess his talent since what you know about the game begins and ends with the boxscore.

How's CWhitney?

While I appreciate RVB's statistical analysis, you could put a 6-year-old in the front row of the SBC and by the second quarter he could tell you who is the worst starter on the Spurs.


Bowen ain't gonna expand his game at age 32.

That's like expecting Malik Rose to hit jumpshots after 8 years in the NBA.

Not gonna happen.

Ghost, if Bowen hits close to 45% from both the field and from beyond the three-point line like he did in 2003, plus play the great perimeter defense ... he's an invaluable part of the team. I'll agree that so far this season (and for much of last season) Bowen has struggled. But once he understands his role, he should be able to get back to that level.

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(and for much of last season)

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That's crap. Bowen struggled for the first two months of last season, like he does every year. And he struggled in a couple games in the Lakers series. That doesn't constitute "much" of last season.

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Originally Posted by Kori Ellis

That's crap. Bowen struggled for the first two months of last season, like he does every year. And he struggled in a couple games in the Lakers series. That doesn't constitute "much" of last season.

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I was actually being kind. It probably should have said ALL of last season. He shot worse from the field, worse from the three-point line, averaged less points, had the same number of assists yet higher turnover numbers and did so in more minutes than the previous season.

Against the Lakers, he shot 28% from the field. In 2003 against the Lakers, he shot 55.8% from the field and 65.4% from beyond the arc while averaging 11.2 points per game. You can actuall say that his dropoff cost the Spurs a championship.

It's like he concentrated on hitting free-throws at an improved rate (58%) and adding an "in-between" game, instead of just sticking with what brought the Spurs a championship.

I admit he sucked against the Lakers. But the rest of your stuff is B.S.

Don't look for him to have another season shooting-wise like 2002-03 -- it's not going to happen. That was a fluke year.

His field goal percentage last year was higher than his field goal percentage in any of his other season other than 2002-03. The other number differences you speak of are very inconsequential -- there's not much difference between him averaging 6.9 points and 7.1 points.

Bowen's one-on-one defense hasn't dropped off at all. He will always get killed on the "Laker play" of last season because he (nor almost anyone else) can fight thru those kind of screens.

The only thing I agree with is that he needs not to go to his in between game so much. But all of you are bitching about that on the wrong night -- because against Golden State his in between game was actually effective.

Well he better hope it wasn't a fluke, because without that type of production the Spurs don't win a championship and his starting job is on its last legs.

Okay enough of that ... :makeout

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Originally Posted by timvp

Well he better hope it wasn't a fluke, because without that type of production the Spurs don't win a championship and his starting job is on its last legs.

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Brent Barry's job is to hit 3's and give the offense a boost. Bowen's job is defend and knock down a couple shots every once in a while. If he sticks to basics, he's not going anywhere. Devin isn't even close to ready to take his job.

when devin brown grows a brain and a consistent jumper, then we can talk, till then??

uh, no.

I don't have any problem with Devin's offense and I want him to get minutes. I just don't think he's close to being ready to be a starter yet.

Two words, six syllables: Viktor Sanikidze

Three years from now, maybe.

However long... he should be a good player.

Wasn't it said he's the next AK?

I never heard anything like that. He's not even putting up decent numbers in Dijon or whatever.

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Originally Posted by Kori Ellis

I never heard anything like that. He's not even putting up decent numbers in Dijon or whatever.

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And if you can't cut the mustard there.....

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Originally Posted by grjr

And if you can't cut the mustard there.....

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:lol