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Does he mean Game 1?Carlisle fooled Popovich with a curveball in Game 2. Pop knew it was coming last night, and he hit it out of the park.
Spurs' answer to J.J. Barea? Bruce Bowen
Tim MacMahon
Dallas Morning News
Starting J.J. Barea in the second half of Game 1 was a stroke of genius by Rick Carlisle. But Gregg Popovich had an answer in Game 2.
The Spurs also tweaked their starting lineup at the beginning of the second half last night, putting Bruce Bowen on the floor instead of Roger Mason. That change played a major role in the Spurs putting the game away, stretching their lead from 11 to 25 in the eight minutes Barea played in the quarter.
Bowen's presence on the floor meant Tony Parker didn't have to chase Barea around on defense. Barea, who was such a spectacular sparkplug in Game 1, made only one of six shots during his third-quarter stint.
It's not that Bowen, who has lost a step since his days as one of the league's elite defenders, locked down the little Puerto Rican. Barea got good penetration five times in the quarter, but big men Tim Duncan and Matt Bonner prevented Barea from capitalizing on those opportunities. He missed four contested shots after getting inside -- two of which were blocked by Duncan -- and committed a turnover after making a poor decision when he was swarmed under the basket.
Parker, having saved some energy while guarding Jason Kidd (only one post-up?), pick-and-rolled the Mavs to death on the other end. He turned the corner too quickly, and when the Mavs made him give the ball up, their defensive rotations were too slow. The pesky Barea was no match for Parker at his best. Carlisle, after calling a timeout in an effort to halt an 8-0 Spurs run, went to a 2-3 zone, which didn't work any better.
Carlisle fooled Popovich with a curveball in Game 2. Pop knew it was coming last night, and he hit it out of the park.
Does he mean Game 1?Carlisle fooled Popovich with a curveball in Game 2. Pop knew it was coming last night, and he hit it out of the park.
Was waiting for this article.
This is crap, and I hate when people assume that because it's the popular uneducated thing to say about Bruce these days.
well he did look like he lost his step against him. , pop laid into him in that timeout so hard one of the commentators mentioned it.
Bowen made a stupid mistake. If he'd lost a step Pop wouldn't have yelled at him. If he'd lost a step he wouldn't have been able to shut down the quickest guy on the floor.
yeah, there's really nothing like dogging on roleplayers when you have no clue what you're talking about. Bowen has lost, at the very very most, one "step" since 2003. I would personally opine that he has lost essentially nothing. It won't stop others from reiterating time and time again that he's lost a step because some one ed up on a rotation (or he just made a mistake)
This is crap, and I hate when people assume that because it's the popular uneducated thing to say about Bruce these days.
The answer for Barrea is to enforce the ing rules of the game. Give him credit for playing aggressive defense. But if the refs call the blocks and hand-checks, he's not going to be in the game long enough for it to matter.
Last edited by GSH; 04-21-2009 at 06:43 PM.
btw Spurs answer to __________'s offense is always Bruce Bowen.
I saw that.
but on the next few plays after that Bowen was masterful. Pop is a genius
I think it's a sign that the Playoffs have arrived when Pop delivers a good ass-chewing or two.
He might be slightly slower at 37, but he's still more agile than Matt Bonner:
(apologies for posting this vid twice):
Bruce leading the Spurs to another championship!
it's funny that this guy doesn't understand how playing the angles works..Bowen didn't get "beat" by Barea..he gave him a horrible angle every time, leading him into Duncan..it's called playing smart defense..
Good point!
They started playing off Barea and cutting under screens. Berea bricked 2 of his 3 3's and couldn't get into the lane. Bruce just doubled off him leaving him at the wing all game long.
Yeah, seems to me like on the play in question, he did a poor job of fighting through a screen set by Dampier.
I think some folks fail to realize that "losing a step" isn't something you can yell at a guy to correct.
J.J. Barea is a non-factor in this series and isn't a player that any team needs an "answer" to. For a 5'10" guy to come out and hit 6 shots vs. the Spurs in Game 1, that gained about 5 minutes of fame, but he won't be doing anything of note the rest of the series. It was one of those games where any player on any given night can come out and hit a couple of shots. That's all Barea did. So, non-factor here.
Bruce Bowen will NEVER truly get the credit he deserves. He is the defensive engine of this team and has been for years. It's gonna be sad when the day comes that he has to step away from the game. We gotta appreciate him right now while we have him because players like him just dont come along every day...he is a special one. Tell me who else in this league could cover almost every position of the opposing team? No one. Bruce has guarded everyone from Kobe to Dirk to Pierce to LeBron...and now Barea. The man is simply amazing..
bruce is still an effective perimeter defender eventhough others may argue that he lost a step. Against barea in that particular play, Pop was mad at him because he went under a screen instead of going over it, that's why Barea got away. But after that he played brilliant defense.
Bruce is a Boss.
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