Question About Bruce

[Trimble87]

Bowen has had a great list of performances this season..

do people really forget that easily?..

I went back over the games, and can think of 2-3 great defensive performances, a handfull of good games, and then the rest is pure mediocracy. Bowen has had some games where he looked good, but he has had far more where he looked old and slow.

A perfect example is in one of the earlier games against the hornets this season. There was a stretch where Pop tried Bowen on Paul and 3-4 plays in a row paul blew right past him, Bruce might as well have been standing still. His experience and knowledge on defense are always going to be valuable. But he has not looked like an elite perimeter defender this year.

I imagine Pop looks at it like this: in the playoffs he can insert Bowen and if he plays well, great, but if he doesent then he needs backups ready to step up into that role. The regular season is the perfect time to get Imethe minutes he needs to be ready for that role.

I expect to see Bowen in the lineup in the playoffs, but definitely not as a starter and if his play slips to what weve seen, too often for my tastes, this season then Ime will be ready to come in.

[mexicanjunior]

I went back over the games, and can think of 2-3 great defensive performances, a handfull of good games, and then the rest is pure mediocracy. Bowen has had some games where he looked good, but he has had far more where he looked old and slow.

A perfect example is in one of the earlier games against the hornets this season. There was a stretch where Pop tried Bowen on Paul and 3-4 plays in a row paul blew right past him, Bruce might as well have been standing still. His experience and knowledge on defense are always going to be valuable. But he has not looked like an elite perimeter defender this year.

I imagine Pop looks at it like this: in the playoffs he can insert Bowen and if he plays well, great, but if he doesent then he needs backups ready to step up into that role. The regular season is the perfect time to get Imethe minutes he needs to be ready for that role.

I expect to see Bowen in the lineup in the playoffs, but definitely not as a starter and if his play slips to what weve seen, too often for my tastes, this season then Ime will be ready to come in.

I think Bowen has lost a step but he is still a much better defender than Ime is. Couple that with the fact that his corner 3 is much more reliable, I really don't see the sense in not playing him. Udoka is slow footed, fouls too much and has horrendous shot selection. I also never thought I would see a Spurs player finish at the rim worse than Bowen but Udoka is that guy, his decisions in the fast break are terrible as well. If Bowen was going to be given the cold shoulder, I would have much rather seen Hairston get Udoka's minutes...

[Spursone]

If we go down, and we don't win anything this year
ALL the blame will be on coach pop

Agreed. Remember in 2006 and how we played SMALL against Dallas and Lost.

[de Soto]

Do yall know why Pop isn't playing Bruce?
-is he in the dog house?
-did pop and him have a disagreement?
-or is pop an asshole and just doesnt want to play him?

None of the above. Bowen just isn't performing as expected.

[de Soto]

Ahhhh...let me correct my erroneous statement above. Pop is SAVING the best players for the playoffs. Now there, I'm back with the company policy.