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Nice article. Most Spurs fans won't truly appreciate Bowen until he's gone.
Gifts aren't easily visible in Air Bruce
Buck Harvey
San Antonio Express-News
The anecdote comes from someone in New Jersey. It begins with a Nets fan pleading with Vince Carter during a game to "take over," and it ends with Carter looking back with a sigh.
"I'm tired," Carter said.
Carter will be again. Kobe Bryant has shown more toughness in his broken pinkie, and now Carter is the team veteran who is supposed to carry a franchise that just traded its Hall of Fame point guard.
Tonight, too, could be especially exhausting. Then, Carter will be chased, for the second consecutive game, by Bruce Bowen.
Does Bowen ever get tired?
Bowen will be pressed, because Carter still has the gifts that once made him the next Michael Jordan, complete with the Carolina pedigree. Last week, in the Nets' first game without Jason Kidd, Carter went for 33 points.
Carter has done the same to Bowen before. Two years ago, he scored 34 points against the Spurs, and three years ago, he scored 43. But the Nets lost both games, and the one in 2005 was most telling.
Then, Carter, still angry about tangling with Bowen the season before, came at Bowen so furiously that the ref had no choice but to eject him. Had Carter stuck around, he might have gotten 50.
At least Carter cared that night. There's often been something missing, which is why he's become the symbol of the max-out superstar who doesn't want the responsibility that comes with it.
Those in New Jersey say Kidd was disgusted with Carter's lack of compe iveness, a reason the Nets also tried to trade Carter last month. One NBA coach looks at Carter and uses the word "sad" to describe what he has become.
Marketing execs feel the same. Did the onetime Air Canada help sell one ticket for tonight?
But Carter might as well be blamed for not being 7-feet tall. It's not his nature to see the game as Kobe and Jordan have, and that leads to the talent hidden inside of athletes. Shouldn't inner drive be seen as gift, too?
That would explain Bowen's success, certainly, though this stretch proves again he's not without physical talent. During this nine-game winning streak, he's made nearly half of his 3-point attempts, and his block of Jason Terry sealed the Dallas game.
His goading of Terry, as it was with Carter in 2005, changed that game.
Bowen chased Carter on Sunday, too. But that wasn't the remarkable part of the trip. The Spurs had played in Milwaukee on Saturday night, then got into New Jersey about 3 a.m. The Spurs beat the Nets about 12 hours later and arrived in San Antonio at 1 a.m.
Talk about tired. The Spurs drove home having scheduled a meeting with their pillows.
That is, except for Bowen. He had scheduled an appearance early Monday morning with a junior high school track team. The storm that blew through San Antonio canceled the event, leaving Bowen at a loss.
What do people do when they have a free hour?
Bowen likely filled it with his two sons, or by going over the books of his businesses, or by simply rescheduling another "Get Fit" appearance. He created the program on his own when he took classes at UTSA.
It's in everything he does, from how he treats staff to his marriage. "He's not good at sitting still," said one in the Spurs organization.
It's what he is as a player, too. He sometimes shows at the Spurs practice facility at 7:30 a.m., and he usually gets in his private workout before his teammates arrive.
"Hardest working player in the league," one Spurs assistant calls him.
Carter's goal isn't to be the opposite. Those who know him say he's nice enough, and he likely has the best intentions.
When he led the Nets in that first game without Kidd, for example, he announced he hoped to play that way the rest of the season. "It's about aggressiveness," he said that night.
But that's not him. Not everyone has the drive. Not everyone can be Bowen, who will start his 500th consecutive game next week, and not everyone wakes ready to do something else.
Carter has his gifts.
Bowen has his.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.3782746.html
Nice article. Most Spurs fans won't truly appreciate Bowen until he's gone.
Bowen is as tough as they come, and he will leave a void when he laces up for the last time. When Bowen and Duncan are done that will be the end of the era. Tony and Manu may play on, but it will be a truly different team. Bowen and Duncan are the soul of this team and always have been. They are the imposing defense that other teams have come to fear.
Oh and they might as well put a 12 in the corner spot where Bowen hits his threes, that would almost be more fitting than retiring his number.
Clearly a tale of two careers that are as opposite as any can possibly be.
Carter is a sad caricature of himself now.
I will miss Bruce deeply when that time comes. More so than Sean and Gervin considering my age.
his block of Jason Terry sealed the Dallas game.
Bruce Bowen might have the most game sealing blocks by a non Center in NBA history.
He got Terry
I remember in the finals he got Billups.
In 06 he got Dirk at the end of one of those games.
I think he got Kobe for one in the 03 WCSF too.
You don't see that many guys get game ending blocks...especially guys Bowen's size.
And he always makes them look like a punk playing out of their league when he does it...I don't care how bad they think they are. Whether it's Kobe, Dirk, Chauncy, or Terry...they just look stupid for even thinking about trying to hit a game winner on him. It's always that side block he gets them with too...
The reason I don't fear the Lakers is because of Bruce Bowen...he beat the out of Kobe in 03, and even though the Lakers got revenge on Bruce in 04, I don't think this team has the smarts to beat Bowen up on picks like Malone and co did in 04...so I think Kobe's got another asskicking coming his way should we meet them in the post season.
Bruce has managed to be so dedicated to both his career and his family.
I heard that in the offseason, he would come to practice facility at 6 or 7 am in the morning to get his workouts in and be back home in time for when his kid(s) woke up around 9am. I thought that was pretty cool.
sounds like were talking about him in the past tense. Yo!! he is here now and can be appreciated now. One day soon Bowen, Horry, Fenley will retire. All these guys deserve living credit for their work.
I remember in 2001 when I first saw him in a Spurs uniform. I said to my brother in law "Who the is Bruce Bowen?"
Wasn't until I saw him match up against players like VC, Kobe, etc. that I understood.
I've been a Bowen fan and staunch Bowen defender since then. I will miss him when he hangs it up.
Number 12 belongs in the rafters when the time comes, period.
Bruce Bowen came here seven(?) years ago and has become a fixture on this team and in the SA community. The Spurs probably don't win some of those Larry O'Brien trophies without him.
500 consecutive games next week. WOW! That is mind boggling. I remember when Bruce broke a finger early in his Spurs career. Not surprisingly, the team struggled without him.
I absolutely loved Bruce's block on the little nutpuncher (AKA Jason Terry) at the end of the Dallas game last week.
The blocked shot on Chauncey Billups that essentually wrapped up the 2005 NBA championship will be etched in my memory forever - that is for sure.
It's a shame the media shills for the NBA have never recognized Bruce Bowen as the DPOY. We all know he deserved the nod at least once in his career. At least those three bright, shiny rings he has in his possession help ease the pain a little bit.
Worst starting forward in the league.
Bowen is as rare as they come.
I wonder if he'll be in the running for DPOY. I thought he would get it last year but Camby came out of nowhere at the end as the media's "obvious" choice. This year...Josh Smith?
But, but, but guys still score points against Bowen!!!!!!
And Bowen doesn't score much to offset all of the points he gives up!!!!!!!
It's a ing disgrace that Bruce has never won the DPOY.
and he's dirty!!!
Also, one of my favourite things Bruce does is outscore Kobe every now and again when they play... I think it's happened 3 times. Love it.
It's odd how Bruce can just get in some guys head. Kobe and Ray Allen come to mind. I think twice this year Bruce has outscored Kobe and I would bet there were nights when Bruce outsored Allen.
I really thought that would come into play when we played Boston, and who knows, it may yet. You know Allen just hates to have Bruce on him. Of course, probably Bruce will be given Pierce to guard on that team, so that kinda lets Ray Ray off the hook a bit.
And regardless of what Kobe says about "enjoying playing against the best", you know he just has to hate seeing Bruce in his face.
Bowen rules!! I hope he'll give Carter a tough time on the court.
Talking about comitment to yourself.
He sets the rutine and fallows it.
Thse ending blocks are impresive. Bruce is definately underrated as I can see on polish board for excample. Most people say he uses chepa shots and that somebody should injure him. Some say he is using cheap shots but that's the part of a game.
I'm saying that Bowen is using the most effective ways to stop scorers and shooters in the rules the NBA has today. And even more. He guards other teams superstars spurs system wise. And I remember when he was talking about guarding AI, Melo, Kobe, Allen and others. He had specified tactics for every player.
I must say I have something Bruce have, well I had to be strict cause the desire and that comitment to myself sometimes get loose. So I got to admit I have a Carter in me. (otherwise I would be 30 pound lighter, something I did some years ago)
Carted used to have that desire for the game, but I think after injury and than being traded he lost something and that's not good for a pro.
i wish his jersey was as easy to buy as Tony's and Manu's... he is a big as Tp and Manu... Timee is just on another level though
Kobe Bryant was asked in an interview who was his favorite guy to go up against in a playoff series, or who was most challenging, he said
"Bruce Bowen....."
gotta respect him for that...
* cough * Ghost * cough *
Bruce is a cool dude. He gets the dirty label by most fans outside of Spurs but he seems like one of the nicest guys in the league. He went on Letterman/Jay? and represented the Spurs with class.
Guys like Kobe know who "the man" really is on the Spurs, and it's Bruce. Without him the Spurs would not have gotten at least two of their championships. Thanks for putting up this thread and for reminding us why the Spurs are different from all the other teams in the NBA. Like Bowen himself, the Spurs never take the at ude that they "deserve" their rings -- they *work* for them, and afterwards they show their appreciation for their good fortune by never boasting, by showing deep respect for their opponents, and by giving back to their fans and community by leading as exemplary a personal life as they can.
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