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the Spurs will use this for good, they always do
Jackson made a bad decision and now the NBA will pay for it with a small market winning the ring again
It's no secret that I'm a Bruce Bowen fan. While Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker may garner most of the media attention, I think Bruce is really an integral part of what the Spurs do. He's worked his butt off to get where he is today and he's an essential cog in the Spurs' machine. Without Bruce Bowen, I'm not sure the Spurs would have won their last three championships.
Despite (and maybe moreso because of) his long road to the NBA and his slight frame, he has built his game through hard work and dedication to defense. First one in the gym everyday, Bowen embodies everything about what it means to be a Spur. I hope when he hangs up his gym shoes in a few years, he will consider staying on board as an assistant coach.
Year in and year out, he is the best perimeter defender in the league. I don't care if the team of so-called journalists that choose the Defensive Player of the Year haven't bestowed the award upon him, the coaches and the players in the league know it. And Bruce Bowen knows it too.
Throughout the years, Bowen has faced considerably criticism from time to time. Being accused of anything and everything, including undercutting, jabbing, kicking, punching and tripping.
And though the anti-Bowen contigent will cite a handful of instances when opponents have complained about Bowen's dirty tactics, the fact that it's just a little more than a handful is exactly the point.
Before this asinine suspension, Bowen had started 500 consecutive games for the Spurs - taking the challenge each night of guarding some of the best players in the league. Therefore, if about 10 guys complained, that's a very low percentage.
I don't watch games through Silver and Black glasses and I am not blind to how Bowen plays. He's crafty, he plays on the edge of the rules, and he frustrates the out of whoever he's guarding.
“He’s a very tough, hard-nosed defender who crowds you and tries to get under your skin,” an anonymous Eastern Conference general manager told CBS Sportline's Marty Burns in 2006. “He’s basically a pest.
“[But] I don’t think he’s sticking his foot out intentionally. He’s a defensive player. He does what he can to bother you and throw you off your game. But knowing him and knowing his character, I don’t think he’d go out there and intentionally try to hurt somebody.”
This GM gets it. And I think most other general managers, coaches and players get it too.
If you just saw the one angle of the Bowen-Paul incident, you probably thought Bowen just kicked CP3. But if you actually saw the action from several different angles and slowed it down, it appears that Paul hits (or attempts to hit) Bowen in the groin. Did the league see this clip? I'd imagine they did. So why now, after all this time, did Bowen finally get suspended?
Well this is why I'm so pissed off about this suspension. How could Bowen NOT get suspended for kicking Ray Allen in the back two years ago, but get suspended for "almost" kneeing Chris Paul? Was it just the last straw for Stu Jackson? Did the league just give in to those who complain? Is it because Chris Paul is this year's golden boy?
I don't know and I don't really care right now. I'm just angered about how this all came down. I looked at the tape a hundred times from every angle. If anything, I though both players would get fined. I didn't think Bowen would get suspended. I'm not mad because the Spurs are in a playoff race. I'm not mad because they are shorthanded (without both Brent Barry and Ime Udoka) and will probably lose to the Pistons tonight. I'm mad because I feel bad for Bruce.
500 consecutive starts in any sport is an amazing feat. It's something he can tell his kids and grandkids for decades to come. And how did the streak end, Dad? Oh ... it came on a night that I got hit in the groin when scrambling for a loose ball and I "almost" retaliated.
Nice job, Stu Jackson, thanks.
The one thing that I hope comes from this is that Bowen and the rest of the Spurs get pissed off. Not pissed off at Chris Paul and the Hornets. But the Spurs have been struggling tremendously as of late. So, I hope that they can use this incident as a somewhat of a rallying point and start beating down teams on the way to Bruce Bowen's fourth le.
When all is said in done in the world, Bruce Bowen isn't going to be looked back on in basketball history as a dirty cheapshot artist. He's going to be looked back on as a Champion.
the Spurs will use this for good, they always do
Jackson made a bad decision and now the NBA will pay for it with a small market winning the ring again
Stu blew it and he knows it by now. I will make sure he regrets what he has done.
Now let's get rid of some of the trolls who have come with vengeance like inquisitors to abuse Bowen. "Enough is Enough"
Well said as always.
Bruce Bowen is the Spurs.
He will get his number retired for all the same reasons 6 hangs up there, 32, and 50.
Will never get the accolades and respect that he deserves.
Nicely said.
Read between lines from you, Bruce Bowen is a dirty player.
Nicely done Kori.
Thanks.
I believe they will.
Loved reading it.
You know, there are some blogging jobs open.
Oh wait, you're Kori. My bad. I dont want Bruce to be an assistant coach if he doesn't want to. He's probably too tired after a hard-working career and it'd be okay for me if he wouldn't have to do anything with basketball rather start those charities.
Gotta agree 100% Kori. It escapes me too. The league is using flawed logic in discipline decisions. ty.
Shut the up you mindless idiot
Awesome post
I don't think they win any of those three without Bruce. Anyone who disagrees with me should go back and watch Kobe and the '01 WCF to see what not having Bruce is like.
Nice, Kori
All you need when Bowen gets suspended is your husbands support.
the NBA. Win this for Bruce.
League is biased.
Kori, I'm just curious...
From what I've gathered over my time here you were a big Duncan fan, if I remember correctly, from his Wake days.
I've known for a while that you list Bowen as your favorite current Spur.
Was the change gradual or was it something in particular?
I hate that Bowen is so hated and labeled so dirty. I won't call him dirty because he is one of my top 3 fav spurs right now behind Tim and Manu but he is definitely "crafty".
who would have thought that Bruce's league-leading starting lineup appearance would end this way.
My take is that Bowen frequently crosses that line, but I'd take him on my team. He's a love him if you got 'em, hate him if you don't, kind of player. I do think he is dirty.
At least this happened after Bruce's 500th consecutive game.
wow Kori... thanks... 4 real...
Kori and the rest of you would talk about Bowen if he was on Detroit or any other team. He had this coming forever. He is just lucky it had not happened sooner. Big deal.
Great post, Kori.
I have very little doubt that this "offense" netted a suspension in some sort of "lifetime achievement" sense -- moreso than on the merits of what took place on the floor. It's shameful on the league's part that they're willing to listen and bend to incessant whining about a guy who plays the game hard the way Bowen does.
Has Bowen done some questionable things in the past? Sure. Are players going to just increase the whining about Bowen now? Absolutely. And will Bowen be unfairly persecuted because the chorus of whiners begins singing more and more loudly (likely without justification)? I think so. And that's true simply because the league caved on this decision.
This puts the onus on Bruce to redouble his efforts to avoid anything that might even look dirty or chippy while still playing as hard as he always has. Fortunately for the Spurs, if there's any player who's up to that challenge, it's Bruce Bowen -- he's succeeded in overcoming every other challenge on his path to this point; why not another?
Great post.
Bruce is just my favorite Spurs.
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