To say that Malik played a bigger role than Bowen is ludicrous. Malik was a spark player while Bowen was a starter that wreaked havoc on the defensive end.
However, I will say that Malik did contribute to 3 le teams. He won two with the Spurs and helped bring Nazr over in 2005.
If anyone is being blinded, it is you. You claim that Bruce "only" played defense, ignoring the fact that he was arguably the best defender in the league during the 3 les run. He was just any defender, he was the premier defender in the league.
The Spurs had Duncan and Bowen anchoring the defense, and while Duncan is a great, defender, this year we saw what happens when you don't have a perimeter defender to cause trouble for opposing teams best players.
Yes
We wouldn't have gotten any of the last three rings without him locking down the best opposing player night in and night out!!
Last edited by spursncowboys; 07-22-2009 at 08:18 PM.
No Bowen = at least one less le.
Not a bigger role, but an equal role or at the very least very close to an equal role...people praise Bowen for guarding players as small and quick as Nash than the next series guarding players as big and explosive as Lebron. Are u guys forgetting some of the players Malik D'd up? The dude would stand his ground against en Shaq, who had like 5 inches and who knows how many pounds on him. Than go out and guard guys like Dirk out on the perimeter the next series. He was also a much more polished offensive player than Bowen ever was, u bring up his 7 treys against LA in 2003 and I remind u of Malik's 20+ points off the bench against the Nets that same year. I think people forget how important Malik was as well.To say that Malik played a bigger role than Bowen is ludicrous. Malik was a spark player while Bowen was a starter that wreaked havoc on the defensive end.
However, I will say that Malik did contribute to 3 le teams. He won two with the Spurs and helped bring Nazr over in 2005.
Malik deserves a huge tribute, as does Bruce but thats it. Having the Spurs retire Bruce's jersey would be the equivalent of the Lakers retiring Fisher's or Rick Fox's...its laughable.
Are the Bulls's retiring Rodman's jersey?
I think it should possibly be retired for the 2005 run by itself. Made AI put up lousy numbers in round one, made Ray Allen cry in round 2, made Shawn Marion flat DISAPPEAR in the WCF, and then did a very credible job on Rip Hamilton before being switched onto Billups (who was murdering the Spurs up to that point) which was probably the key adjustment to winning the Finals.
If they handed out MVP's for the entire playoff run and not just the Finals, he might have gotten my vote that year. Throw in the defense he's played night in and night out, the big shots he's hit in the playoffs, and his dedication to the team as well as being a model for what it means to be a Spur, I don't see how this is up for debate.
dont forget the run he had in the 2007 finals on Lebron.
The mistake came when they retired Johnny Moore's number. Then when Avery took over the assist leadership, they had to put his up there as well. Second mistake. The third mistake would be adding Bowen up there.
It should be reserved for only the very best. On the current team, we'll add the big 3. That's plenty for one era. Besides, we have to save some room for a couple more championships.
You tell me one person that Kobe can't get points on?...He was a huge part of why the Team played great D all of those years...I say definately retire his number here...That would be a huge slap in the face not too?...
Yes.
Last time I checked it takes a team to win championships?...So being a mistake would be stupid to say?....He deserves it....
How hilarious would it be if the Lakers retired Fisher's jersey?
That is exactly how idiotic it would be to retire Bowen's. Spurs would and should get ridiculed for it.
The celtics have like 22 numbers retired.
You're telling me all of those players scored 20+ a night.
Bruce was the part of the very best.
Playoffs 2005
Carmelo Anthony
Against Spurs, 19.2 ppg on 42%.
Ray Allen
Against Spurs, 21.5 ppg on 43%. (In the first round he had averaged 32ppg)
Shawn Marion
Against Spurs, 7.8 ppg on 39%. (Over the first two rounds he had averaged over 22ppg on over 50% shooting)
Rip Hamilton
Against Spurs, 16.7 ppg on 39%. (Over the first three rounds he had averaged over 20ppg on nearly 50% shooting)
Here's an old post of mine about Bowen. It still applies:
if bowen goes up than horry dose and if horry dose that rose dose and if that happenes lets put the whole 03 team up there for drob a le his last year
stephen jackson was crazy good one year and so was jarren jackson so let's get them up ther too
damn i forgot nazi the spurs don't win in 05 with out him
when dose it stop
Who cares if they get ridiculed for it.
That's comes along with being a Spur...not caring or responding to what critics say.
Appreciating what a player can do other than scoring is in the fabric of the Spurs. So maybe in LA they wouldn't see being the best lock down defender of his time worthy of a distinguishment like a jersey retirment, but in the Spurs organization it is.
I belive if Fish did for the Spurs what he has done for the Lakers he would be getting his # retired
+1There is absolutely nothing anyone can learn about Bruce Bowen by sitting and compiling stats. But if you watch this guy 82 games a year and see this ~6'6, under 200 pound guy doing whatever it takes and whatever you ask of him, night in and night out, you'll really appreciate him.Kori
That makes no sense whatsoever. Bowen was on the Spurs team for EIGHT years. Every guy in the locker room will attest to huge part in those les.
Don't start talking about players with one good year. And it's "does" not "dose."
I don't think everyone from 03 should go up, but I don't believe the team would have advanced without Bowen's in-your-shorts defense and I don't mean advanced just thru the finals - I mean year after year he flat out helped. His hard work has EARNED his # being up in the rafters, I believe.
Well, two are non-players and most of the rest are in the Hall of Fame. Oh, by the way, they've been around since 1946.
In this current Spurs era, if you could choose a player not named Tim Duncan to be the embodiment of the Spurs, Bowen's name would pop up more than a few times.
Bowen did whatever it took to win. He wasn't stylish and didn't make SportsCenter, but he was a professional through and through. Night in and night out he did the dirty work needed to slow down elite players.
Kobe may have scored points on Bruce, but he scored at a clip of a point a shot, which is not a good percentage. The more shots an elite player takes, the less he's getting his team involved and is actually hurting the team's cause. That was Bowen's job.
Bowen's game is never going to show up in the numbers. Bowen's game was about winning, not stats, and in that, he was up there with some of the Spurs greats.
BTW, the Lakers equivelant of retiring Bowen's number would probably be Horry. Horry hit countless big shots, but the underrated part of his game was doing whatever it took to win, especially defensively.
Horry and Bowen are smart, smart players who win games without showing up in the boxscore.
There should be no doubt that his jersey get retired. He was a very big help in our latest championships on his defense that guarded the top players on the oposing team. Hopefully he returns back to the Spurs though.
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