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Sure he was. But he wasn't an offensive liability: He had his corner three and was smart enough not to take bad shots most of the time.
It's always amazing to see the myths develop and take hold in the popular mind.
Myth: Bowen was a dead-eye 3 pt shooter who was extremely important for his performance in making 3 pt. shots in almost every game.
Facts: Bowen was pretty good percentage-wise with a career average of 39.3% BUT in his career he only made 0.9 3 pt shots per game and only took an average of 2.4 3s per game. Yes, that's right. He made less than one shot per game.
He was slightly better at regular FG percentage at .409% average--but that is at the low end of acceptable NBA FG. average. He was terrible at putting the ball on the floor and driving to the hoop. He only made 2.2 FGs per game average.
And his FT shooting was absymal at .575%. Of course he shot very few per game at .7 made out of 1.2attempts. This low FT attempt stat is probably because he was shy about going into the lane.
Let's face it. Bowen was a defensive specialist--period.
Sure he was. But he wasn't an offensive liability: He had his corner three and was smart enough not to take bad shots most of the time.
Bruce must have big hands.
only KINDA true...
The .9 % includes years not playing for SA where did rarely shot at all. His true 3pt made per game % is a little better w/ SA at about 1.2%.
More important, he averaged about 6.5 pt per game from 2001-08 for a team that was among the league lowest in scoring. He was usually somewhere around 5th, 6th or 7th in most minutes per game and averaged being 6th-8th on the team in scoring.
Kid made 110 out of 145 free throws last season which was 76%. Not bad for someone with big hands I guess...Tony also shot 76% from the FT line this past season. Just saying..
No doubt he'll be good at the midrange jumper. I just don't think he'll be able to play in the starting lineup because his job would be to space the floor, which will be a problem. He'll defenitely have a solid role on the team backing up Jefferson and maybe some small ball 4 in certain situations.
So, you play him with Bonner. Matt spaces the floor and Kawhi takes the Dice type midrange shots. He can rebound extremely well, covering for Bonner's lack, and then turn around and guard a 2 or a 3 on defense.
Personally, I'd much rather see him playing small ball 4 with Tiago or Blair at the expense of Bonner's minutes rather than the other way around.
I was pretty much done with the Bonner experiment back in 2008.
if we don't play Leonard then the Spurs are a joke. The Memphis Grizzlies made the second round of the playoffs by starting a defensive oriented rookie with next to zero offensive game. Spurs greatest need is at the 3. He should get 18 minutes a game at least his entire first season, period.
That's why you see his minutes as limited. Those lineups really couldn't space the floor.
You would often see teams leaving Bruce all alone in his corner because they could afford to risk his occasional three. And he almost never drove to the basket or was a threat to do so if he caught the ball in the corner, so he wasn't going to get many foul shots either. Because he shot so seldom and was such a poor offensive threat he could be ignored.
Essentially the Spurs had to go four on five a lot of the time on offense because their opponents would have the man who was ostensibly guarding Bruce cheat over to the lane to help close down drives by Manu and Tony.
An argument can be made that Bruce's low offensive production and lack of a true perimeter threat was responsible for bringing Bonner in. Bonner could definitely help space the floor with his better outside shooting.
I think that strategy might make sense on paper as far as the regular season. But in the playoffs I think we've seen that Bonner is not effective. And so knowing that, the team needs to approach the regular season as a way to get ready for the playoffs - and not just by focusing on regular season victories. We saw how that turned out.
That is why I am excited to see Alexander get some minutes the guy can create his own shot off the dribble and can hit the set shot as well. I think him at the 2 and Kawhi at the 3 gives us offense and defense and both will work well with each other.
Alexander can't defend the NBA 2 position.
Pop rolling back into small ball mode for the majority of every game would probably not be a good trend to see.
If he's starting alongside RJ opening day the then Tim Duncan might as well give AFLAC a call. He may have a great "motor" but he's too short & skinny and will get pushed around by most starting 4's in the league. I only advocated the spurs using him as a small ball 4 in favorable matchups and only in the 2nd unit.
And I'd bet good money if Leonard is starting alongside Jefferson then it will be Jefferson guarding the other teams' 4 in most cases, not Leonard.
Pop's probably fapping to the thought of all the possibilities already.
Last edited by TJastal; 07-18-2011 at 05:24 PM.
Does Leonard have Shaq size hands, TJ?
Yes or no.
Jason Kidd might.
wow
tim duncan has long fingers!
Does Leonard have Shaq size hands, TJ?
Yes or no.
Leonard better contribute fast or it might not matter, Timmy's legs are about to fall off.
You don't believe he does apparently? I think so. And making things worse is the fact that Leonard's hands are slender with long fingers which makes the problem even worse, harder to control where the ball rolls off.
Does Leonard have Shaq size hands, TJ?
Yes or no.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/7...blem-for-spurs
Now I think he’ll still do well in the NBA, but every player that’s ever had too big of hands has almost always had difficulty shooting the basketball.
Last edited by TJastal; 07-19-2011 at 06:46 AM.
And that's why he often has trouble shooting free throws.tim duncan has long fingers!
Tim's problems with FTs are all between his ears.
Are you really trying to say that long fingers limit manual dexterity?
You are an idiot.every player that’s ever had too big of hands has almost always had
You think Leonard's hands are as big as Shaq's. That really says all that's need to be said about your player hating.
You just said he had Shaq like hands. Shaq's hands are not slender.And making things worse is the fact that Leonard's hands are slender with long fingers which makes the problem even worse, harder to control where the ball rolls off.
You can't even keep your own bull straight.
Slender with long fingers, you say?
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