why is it hard to find a Bowen?

[ohmwrecker]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160074

It's time to move on. The Spurs are not going to just find another Bruce Bowen. They are going to have to maximize the talent that they have and amp up the team defense with tighter rotations.

The thing that made Bruce special was his work ethic and individual defensive focus. He got the most out of his abilities and he didn't need anyone riding his ass to get him to work. He was fortunate to land on the Spurs where his strengths were magnified and his deficiencies did not impact the team in a negative way. It was serendipitous to say the least.

[Dalamar_the_Dark]

Defense isnt just about having an athletic body. Its about as some people mentioned, IQ etc... but also basketball smarts and focus. A lot of players have high ceilings but cant focus for a full game. If you want to play good defense, your focus has to be damn good. If you play D, you will understand what I mean. Bowen was always focused and thats why he was better than Artest cause Artest is a headcase waiting to happen.

Bowen also had basketball smarts. He knew how to work the referees and get into the head of his opponents. But imho, Rodman was better at this than Bowen. That was why imho, Rodman is a much better all round defender than Bowen. Bowen was a perimeter defender. Rodman could defend the perimeter but also the post. Rodman defended Shaq in his prime, defended Malone in his prime etc.... all the while losing out in terms of height and size but having excellent positioning and brains.

Today's players are just concerned about being the next Jordan, the next Kobe or the next LBJ. Nobody likes to be the muck up guy cleaning up the by sacrificing his body doing the dirty work.

Thats why you dont find Bowens' and Rodmans' around easily cause young kids nowadays model their game differently and cause the scouts only notice the guy who scores and dishes out assists and rebounds.

[Em-City]

as it was mentioned before, Thabo Sefolosha is as close as it gets right now... although he's a guard, not a forward.

[Trill Clinton]

Dude was one of a kind. You'll find a unicorn be you find another Bowen.

[howbouthemspurs]

He was one of the hardest working athletes in all of sports. This guy brought it every day and no one can ever compare to him! Bowen embodies everything that has to do with the spurs!

[admiralsnackbar]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he a handful of games away from setting an NBA record for most consecutive starts (ie no injuries) in the NBA before he received a bull suspension?

[JWest596]

The problem with finding "another Bowen" isn't finding someone who can do any particular thing as well as he did. It's about finding someone who can do ALL of those things at the level Bruce did.

Physical Ability: Bruce had the height, length, and footspeed to actually inhibit players at three different positions. The only thing he didn't have physically was weight, which is why some of the only guys he struggled with were the big, physical two's and three's (think Bonzi Wells).

Fundamentals: Bruce played fundamentally sound defense. Positioning, angles, not going for blocks or steals except how the situation dictates. This is why someone like Chris Paul, who gets a ton of steals, or Marcus Camby, who gets a lot of blocks, will never be truly elite defenders... because they get these stats by taking risks rather than playing fundamentally sound basketball.

Basketball IQ: Bowen had the mental makeup and intelligence to enhance his physical gifts and fundamentals. He would get inside other players' heads, finding something that irritated them and doing it over and over (Dennis Rodman was a master at this). He would study specific players for tendencies, and take them out of their comfort zones, by making them take the shots they are least accustomed to (Battier tries to do this, too). He would apply every trick, legal and illegal, that he could use to gain an edge over another player (kind of like Manu does on the offensive end).

Mental For ude: Unlike Ron Artest, Bowen had the mental makeup where other players couldn't get in HIS head. Also, if he failed to shut someone down or they scored on a particular possession, it wouldn't change his level of effort. Bowen would come at you 100%, all the time, never getting frustrated or letting up. He was relentless. Plus, few players would be happy being known only for their defense.

The Spurs System: All of those factors would have made Bowen a great defender on any team. But he was better on the Spurs, because we have a system that allowed Bowen to devote more of his energy to defense than almost any other system in the league would have. Our offense still utilized and needed Bowen's greatest strength offensively: three point shooting, particularly from the corner. But the role we needed him for on offense required little energy relative to most starting-player-playing-time roles on most teams.

Finding any one of those things is easy. Finding two or three is hard. Finding all of them together, is almost impossible.

This.


Serious lock down defensive basketball as a team or as an individual is extremely hard unselfish unique at ude, unappreciated work at practice, and a during a game. It is unglamorous, RARE, unappreciated and "boring" to the public. It goes against much what is taught and believed in school and in the street. The NBA would die on the vine over time if basketball dominated and achieved this type of majority game reality. The rules are geared toward offense, the game highlights on ESPN aren't interested. He kept his opponent out of them.

I think Bowen's greatest gift on defense was his subtlety or the ref's appreciation in doing his job. Kobe Bryant respected Bowen and challenged/judge himself against Bowen while everybody else whined and ed about Bruce's defense and their own poor performance because of him. Kobe won out but he rarely got a gift and Bowen won a few times when Kobe was in his youth. Hos corner 3 shot was a gift he developed that kept him in the game as well. And nobody mindf---ked and frustrated a player on defense like Bowen. Pejoratives explode when his name or career is discussed to this day.

A rare breed with IQ, a defensive skill set that is only learned with superb durability.

And he got robbed for DPOY far too often. Maybe it was the price he payed to be Bruce Bowen.

[admiralsnackbar]

And he got robbed for DPOY far too often. Maybe it was the price he payed to be Bruce Bowen.

I honestly believe his exclusion from the DPOY honor was a direct reflection of his salary. All the DPOYs I can think of made good money and had marquee value. Bruce was chronically underpaid and cons utionally opposed to self-promotion.

[SA210]

Dude was one of a kind. You'll find a unicorn be you find another Bowen.

[SA210]

This.


Serious lock down defensive basketball as a team or as an individual is extremely hard unselfish unique at ude, unappreciated work at practice, and a during a game. It is unglamorous, RARE, unappreciated and "boring" to the public. It goes against much what is taught and believed in school and in the street. The NBA would die on the vine over time if basketball dominated and achieved this type of majority game reality. The rules are geared toward offense, the game highlights on ESPN aren't interested. He kept his opponent out of them.

I think Bowen's greatest gift on defense was his subtlety or the ref's appreciation in doing his job. Kobe Bryant respected Bowen and challenged/judge himself against Bowen while everybody else whined and ed about Bruce's defense and their own poor performance because of him. Kobe won out but he rarely got a gift and Bowen won a few times when Kobe was in his youth. Hos corner 3 shot was a gift he developed that kept him in the game as well. And nobody mindf---ked and frustrated a player on defense like Bowen. Pejoratives explode when his name or career is discussed to this day.

A rare breed with IQ, a defensive skill set that is only learned with superb durability.

And he got robbed for DPOY far too often. Maybe it was the price he payed to be Bruce Bowen.

I've been saying this for years. I can't believe how badass he was and they robbed him every damn year. Those bas s!

[superbigtime]

Bruce was a special player. Lockdown tenacious defense and a 3 pointer that you could count on. High IQ in the basketball world and real world too. Good teammate and good citizen with lots of humor. Damn I miss Bruce Bowen. He should have gotten DPOY twice if not once. I sincerely hope the Spurs retire his number.

[silk]

I'm far from a Parket Hater, but the big 3 in 2K5 was actually Duncan-Manu-Bowen,

Defense, and clutch shooting

[Obstructed_View]

Because Bruce is not of this world...............duh!

I love seeing my own pictures pop back up years later!

[Spurs7794]

I'm far from a Parket Hater, but the big 3 in 2K5 was actually Duncan-Manu-Bowen,

Defense, and clutch shooting

Bowen was at his most ruthless that year...game 3 against Seattle with the Spurs down 1 with 3 seconds left, Bowen harrassed the outa Ray Allen into an airball...then said something to Ray Allen. Allen's response to get back at him was to say.... YOU. (you can see him mouth it on ESPN). Which, when I hear that in response to any sort of trashtalk, I interpret as "you are so far in my head and i cant stand it...just leave me alone."

[bigbendbruisebrother]

Bruce had the ability to make appendixes like Ray Allen and Vince Carter implode. Technically, he was a near perfect defender, and his corner 3 was clutch until 2008 when his game fell off. But his real skill was burrowing under the skins of his opponents. Plus, he kicked Wally Szczerbiak in the face as the prick attempted a 3. I would wager to guess that very few NBA players have been kicked in the face while maneuvering to shoot a jumper, so that racks massive bonus points.

[GSH]

What makes it so hard to find a Bruce Bown?

It would seem that hundreds of players would have the athletic ability and body type suited to playing the kind of lock down D that Bruce did.

All I know is that no one has come close to begin able to do what he did with the Spurs. Are there any other comperable players in the league right now?

It's not the athletic ability, it's the desire. Players with that kind of athleticism want to be in highlight reels, and get endorsements. Defense doesn't sell Gatorade.

The closest thing to Bruce was probably Raja Bell, and Bell is just 6'5" compared to 6'7" for Bowen. Bowen had great lateral movement for a guy that tall. I don't know if Bell can still cut it as a lock-up defender, but he can still put up 10-12 points per game. The Jazz just signed him to a 3 year deal for about $3M per.

A couple of seasons ago there was a guy who was supposed to be the next Bruce Bowen. His name was Ime Udoka, and we all know how that worked out. I'm not so sure that there really are other players out there who could do what Bruce did. He was one of a kind.

One other thing that nobody else has mentioned: if there were another player exactly like Bowen in the league, I don't think the league would give him an opportunity to defend like Bruce did. They were sending messages the last couple of seasons that Bruce played. (Especially that bull call in Washington that ruined Bruce's consecutive start streak.) Highlight reel plays sell tickets and jerseys, and that benefits the whole league. Locking down franchise players wins championships, and that just benefits the winning team.

[bejanicek]

I found one..... but it was actually Bruce Bowen. He was on my southwest flight home from Phoneix last friday. He had just got done playing Torrey Pines golf course. Chatted with him briefly waiting for luggage, pretty cool!! Super nice. Wish he still played for spurs, miss his defending.