GW wants to see the Spurs win 7 of 10 games before he declares the season turned around, but he's willing to start Udoka and play him 30 mpg after seeing him for the first time this season.
Not time to pass the torch, share the torch. Bowen still great defender, keeps getting under other franchise player's skin and frustrates them to where they don't always play their best . does not make sense to let a player get "hot".. and then have to get Bruce in to try to stop them..
That was such a dumb sentiment SD21 that I think it's time to kill you.
I love that the Spurs have fans that don't understand how stops relate to the final score. Shoot, mother ers, SHOOT!
Looks like somebody missed the whole 07 finals.
Premature ejaculation forum!
Do you people understand point differentials?
For example, what is better?:
Bowen holds Kobe to 28 and scores 12
or
Udoka holds Kobe to 32 and scores 18
Do the math.
I'll wait.
you guys need to root for the SUns if you think Udoka > Bowen.
BTW, Kobe had a bad night last night. and NO it was not because of Manu+Udoka's defense
Bowen was a key contributor for 3 championships. What has Ime done? I'm all for the kid getting some more minutes, and his offensive contributions look promising, but on the defensive end, Ime Udoka is no Bruce Bowen. How quickly we forget.
Just trying to think of specific examples of Bruce's contribuitons to le runs, I think about the playoffs in 03 when he set a franchise playoff record hitting 7 three pointers (broken by Finley in 07 with 8), hitting the go ahead 3 point dagger against the Suns in game 5 of the 07 semis, shutting down Nash and turning him into a whiny in game 6, blocking and stealing Chauncey Billups 3-point attempt to tie at the end of game 7 in the 05 finals, keeping LeBron James way under his average every game in the 07 finals, I'm just brainstorming, I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
Not to mention the time the Spurs played the lakers earlier this season when Bowen had 23 points I think it was, outscoring Kobe.
Ime has a long way to go, not sure its time to stick Bowen in the doghouse just because Udoka had a good game.
Agreed, after tonight its obvious that Bruce Bowen has lost his standing as the best perimeter defender and should be relegated to the bench. Also, its obvious that Ime Udoka has shed his journeyman label and established himself as our new starter.
Brilliant ! Who knew we could pick up a guy that Portland didn't want and make him into a starter ? Stay tuned next week when Jaque Vaughn edges past Tony for All Star consideration.
is that you Mike D'antoni??
"we can score more points than them!!!" "7 seconds or less..."
Ghost Writer, you do understand that when Bowen plays defense on one side of the court, another Spur can put the ball in the basket on the offensive side?
I'll wait for numbers that aren't pulled out of your ass.
I like bowen to continue starting. Udoka did great in the win against the lakers, but he needs more time to mature into his role. Defensively , Bowen is still at par with him. Bruce can defend in three different position (4,3 and 2). The best position for Udoka is the SG position and he can be rotated to the SF position for defensive purposes. He is a natural 2 and only 6'5 in height. Considering this, he can only guard players within the no. 1,2 and 3 positions, beyond that it would be a field day for the opposing player.
I think Pop is thinking of developing a third player that can be a perimeter defender. With bowen, Ginobili and Udoka rotating on the best offensive player of the other team-surely the spurs would be great defensively come playoff season.
Bruce is still an important piece. We all know that his O is suspect at times but that isn't why he was brought here - as stated before He does the job he was hired to do. This situation is what I was anticipating/hoping for with the signing of Ime. I thought he would fit in this year but later on and not now. Now we have a lockdwn perimeter defender on the second team, too. Leaving him there would be the best right now, IMO. But I'll leave that up to Pop. Either way we two perimeter feenders that can be interchanged with one another. Nice situation to be in don't you think?
I don't care which one of them plays, just don't play them together. And FTLOG, no more Robert Horry.
Please.
Udoka is good but his defense is no where close to Bowen's.
Hasn't Bowen held Kobe under 20 before?
If I'm correct, I believe Bowen has outscored Kobe on occassion.
Ghost Writer, Bowen is not overrated. There are a variety of analysist around the league who would say he is deserving of DPOY. However, I'm sure your creditials far outweigh the opinions of such analysists.
Udoka is a great player, I've been on the bandwaggon since he got here, but I still feel Bowen's defense is too valuable to give more PT to a player who hasn't fully adapted to our system yet.
As you've summarized to those calling this a turnaround, IT'S JUST ONE GAME....I'll wait till we win 7-10. Well then, why not wait for Udoka to play 10 games where he becomes a significant contributor?
Gotta love these threads. Bowen always goes through a midseason shooting slump and Spurs fans write him off. They want the new guy to start over him or trade for a "real" small forward. Same song, different verse.
There's no way in Bowen loses his starting job this year. Udoka is a good defender but Bowen is one of the best perimeter defenders in NBA history. There's a big difference. Ime had a solid game but this is just a redokulous thread.
And it's good to see GW brush off his cobwebs and come through with the Bowen hate. This is the same GW who said in 2002 that the Spurs would never win a championship with Bowen as a starter. He also called Bowen the worst starting small forward in the league and was on record as saying he'd rather the Spurs start Eric Williams than Bruce Bowen.
Three les later it's pretty impressive that GW can come with the same take with a straight face
Scoring 29 on 27 shots isnt that impressive, whether it was Bowen or Udoka on him. Not to mention the 9 turnovers.
Udoka did a good job on Odom last night. There is a height difference but Udoka is heavier and seems more capable of defending players in the post.
I think it too harsh to say that bowen should be put to bench because of one game. Next game would be against the heat. Let's see if Udoka can play a key role in stoping Wade. We all know what bowen can do...let's see if Udoka can do it consistently. Then let's do this again...
People who can't see what Bruce Bowen means/has meant for this organization are re ed.
uuuuu it's getting little tense
Bowen sucks. The Spurs have won les in spite of him, not because of him.
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