Bowen was great on Kobe in game 1 last year. Bryant went off when Pop put Udoka and Ginobili on him in the fourth quarter.
Wow so now he is a liability and being thrown around and it's bye bye like you are happy? Do you not know what he did for us in le years? Locked down Billups and that won the series the last two games, played Kobe great in 03 and locked DOWN NASH alot too, he seriously was KEY to our le runs since 03. Is this the love he gets in here? He is resting for the playoffs, watch him do some good things for the Spurs then.
You people can rationalize that Pop is "saving" his "big gun" Bowen for the playoffs, but the truth is that Bowen's age and offensive inep ude have forced Pop's hand to keep his minutes limited. Finally.
And you criticize Mason's defense, but overlook the points that he scored and the big shot that he made. Plus, Mason makes his defender work on the defensive end.
I am begging you to dig into the "Best of Bowen" archives and show me where he held Kobe. The bottom line is that Kobe will always get his 25 some-odd points, regardless of who guards him.
What the Spurs can't afford (and never could despite winning 3 les out of at least 5 during the Bowen era) is to carry a complete disaster on offense for 30 MPG.
And I don't want to hear about Bowen's baseline 3s. That is not an offensive skill set.
Bye, bye Bowen. You've finally been relegated to off-the-bench defensive specialist... a role that I have been pining for him to have for years.
Bowen will be playing 30 mpg when the playoffs come around. That might change a bit here and there depending on matchups, but you can bet your money it will happen.
Either accept it, or jump to the Lakers bandwagon...
How is Ghost Writer, after all the experience and knowledge of the Spurs, still an idiot?
and how's that Kidd to Dallas trade working out?
But yeah Bowen is not much of an asset anymore, I was enraged when they gave him that extension, WTF were they thinking?
Always hated Bowens game. He is a big reason most of the country can't stand watching the Spurs and call them boring. The sooner this guy gets phased out the better.
Yes, but Bowen makes Kobe work harder for those points and take more shots in order to get them. He also limits Kobe's offense to Kobe and makes sure it isn't contagious with the rest of the Lakers. There's more to defending a player than limiting the points he scores.
Saving? There's obviously nothing to save.
Haters never understood Spurs basketball.
Typical.
The argument that Bowen used to make Kobe work harder on offense is completely negated by the fact that teams never honored Bowen at all when the Spurs were on offense.
You want a more complete player that can play on both ends of the floor, because no one is stopping Kobe. Period.
The difference is that when Bowen guards him, Kobe gets 29 on 27 shots, meaning fewer touches for his teammates. He's working SO hard to just score agaisnt Bowen, he gets tunnel vision and tunes out his team. Kobe rung up 29 on only 19 shots against Mason. Everyone was involved. Everyone scored.
The Spurs defense has been slipping by small increments over the last 5 years, but it's no small coincidence that it's fallen off a ing cliff this year with Bowen playing fewer minutes than he ever has for us. The rotations are for , and teams are running on us with abandon. You've wanted the Spurs to become the Suns for years, GW. Don't be disappointed when our season ends like theirs usually does, fool.
ya know that post count really gives a false impression of how much you know about basketball.
I'd like to believe that Bowen is being saved for the playoffs, but his play, at extended minutes, early in the season, more likely suggests that Bowen is sitting because he isn't playing well.
agree with the OP at some points . by ignoring the reality ,people like to say that pop is saving Bowen for 82 games for the playoffs . but that game might be a clutch game of the whole season ,talking about the homecourt advantage . there is no reason that pop should save bowen's playing time at that game , 81 games and 82 games are no difference .
but i still believe Bowen is not done
Yeah, it's not like Bowen ever scored any points against the Lakers. Seriously, are you and Mrs. Spurs the same poster?
ex, you are better than that.
First, where is your basis for Kobe needing 27 shots to get 29 points? How many times did that happen? Are you clinging to the post-Shaq, pre-Gasol Kobe? Newsflash: Kobe has Gasol, Bynum and a team now.
Also, the Suns resemble the Spurs these days with an emphasis on the defensive end and low-post play in a more halfcourt game.
If you are going to tow the company line, please at least stay current.
Bowen is done and should never had been featured as much as he was with the Spurs in his "prime." The notion that he is being "saved for the playoffs" smacks of Robert Horry last season.
How's retirement, Big Shot?
Yeah, those three championships the Spurs won during your "pining years" sure did suck.
Quality take
Dude, look me in the eye and tell me that Bowen is a complete player and that four rings were all that the Spurs could've won in the Duncan era.Yeah, those three championships the Spurs won during your "pining years" sure did suck.
Quality take
Or at least pretend to look me in the eye.
Do you have a WebCam?
P.S.
Just because Bowen is a "friend of the family" and a terrific community philanthropist, it doesn't give you the right to create a false perception of his basketball skills.
What is so bad about bringing him off the bench as a "cooler" of sorts?
I thought you were against him getting off the bench at all.
No.
I don't just post things to get a rise out of people.
I know Bowen is a tremendous perimeter defender, or at least was.
My argument was that he should be used as a defensive specialist, not counted on for starter's minute, because having him in our offense allows defenses to sag and whoever is guarding him to catch a break, because all he can do is hit the baseline 3.
No ex is not better than that. He is one of the biggest homers on this board.
Bowen was a defensive beast in his prime, but sadly he is not in his prime anymore.
With Mason in the fold, the problem isn't Bowen, it's Finley. Pop F'd up. There was always a scoring deficit in the starting lineup, with Ginobili coming off the bench. I don't think he realized that Mason should have been plugged in for Finley, and not for Bowen. Fin is shooting well this year, but the opposing teams are just killing him on defense, and Mason could give us everything he does, and more on offense, and still play some defense. The scoring droughts of last year were a result of the Finley/Bowen combo on the floor. Neither of them can create anything beyond their own bowel movement. If you simply plugged Mason in for Finley, you improve both the offense and defense of the starting unit. By plugging Mason in for Bowen, you improved the offense, but drastically cut the defensive effectiveness.
I think ex is on to something.
I think pretty much everyone was surprised when Bowen got moved to the bench. If you rewind to the beginning of this season, and tell everyone that Mason would be guaranteed to blow up as a scorer, I think 99 out of 100 posters would've relegated Finley to the bench and put Mason alongside Bowen on the starting wing. Let Finley try to come in and score his points.
Instead, Pop's man love for Finley continues, and Bowen is now consistently only getting about 15 minutes a game off the bench. Maybe Pop is trying to save his old legs for playoffs, but it's hard to look at a dip in the Spurs defensive production, and a lack of minutes for Bruce, and think they don't go hand in hand.
While Bruce is admittedly a void on offense, Finley is equally as bad on the defensive end, and I don't remember him putting the same stamp on three championships that Bowen did.
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