Spot Number 10 - Top 50 Spurs

[timvp]

SpursTalk's Top 50 Spurs
1. Tim Duncan
2. David Robinson
3. George Gervin
4. Gregg Popovich
5. Angelo Drossos
6. Manu Ginobili
7. Tony Parker
8. Sean Elliott
9. James Silas

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To pass the time until the start of preseason, let's see how SpursTalk.com ranks the Top 50 Spurs. Those eligible for the list include all players, coaches and owners. I don't want to define "top" too narrowly, but I think the best way to do it would be to think of the list as a list of the 50 most influential people who have helped make the Spurs one of the most successful franchises in the history of sport.

For more information on what we are doing, check out this thread.

In this thread, we will vote for spot number ten. Please place your vote. If you will, also explain in this thread why you voted how you did.

Thanks.



P.S.

Poll options listed in alphabetical order. If you want to vote for someone not on the list, post in the thread and I'll add the person.

Voting will end 2AM CST Tuesday morning.

Please vote only once.

[Brutalis]

Bruce Bowen rounds out the Spurs top 10 for sure.

[century]

Hank Cisneros

[manufor3]

bruce

[SenorSpur]

Definitely Bowen

[naico]

The underestimated Larry Kenon!

[rascal]

Bowen is just fortunate to play with Duncan. Put him on the spurs teams of the 70's and 80's and he rides the bench.

Would Bowen play before Kenon? No way, so Kenon gets my vote.

[urunobili]

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce!

[Texas_Ranger]

Well I gues Bruce will win this one!!
GO BRUCE GO!

[rascal]

You put a proven 20+ point scorer and 10+ rebounder with good defense, high Steals numbers and a long sf on the spurs today and Bowen goes to the bench.

Kenon is better than Bowen

[FromWayDowntown]

I agree with the underestimation of Larry Kenon. Had Kenon played for the Spurs over the last 10 years, he'd be seen as a God in this forum; he played here in the late 70's and he's become the forgotten man in Spurs history.

[timvp]

While I do agree Kenon is underrated in Spurs lore, I do think it speaks volumes that his jersey isn't retired. It's hard for fans to give him more recognition than the actual franchise. Bowen's jersey is for sure to be retired. It doesn't appear as if Kenon's every will be retired.

That in itself makes voting for Bowen over Kenon not a bad vote. Stats wise, Kenon probably could have been fourth on this list. All things told, I expect him to go 11-15 with the main thing holding him back being the fact his jersey wasn't retired.

[2centsworth]

I voted Kenon too. The guys stats are awesome and rival the Iceman. Kenon on the Spurs right now would be the second best player on the team IMO. His Jersey not being retired has something to do with him converting to Islam. Plus, since Larry made peanuts in his playing days he made a point to try to forget his basketball past and focus on making money for his family. Larry has been outstanding.

[Capt Bringdown]

Kenon was a stud, but I gotta go with defensive anchor Bowen. Bowen's impact and legacy trumps Kenon's funky gamesmanship by a country mile.

Kenon played a big part though...

[Capt Bringdown]

It's hard for fans to give him more recognition than the actual franchise. Bowen's jersey is for sure to be retired. It doesn't appear as if Kenon's every will be retired.

My memory's shaky, but wasn't Kenon something of a locker room lawyer? I seem to recall he might have thought he was too good to be second fiddle to Ice.

[MrChug]

Kenon was awesome, but the things that Bruce has done to DIRECTLY contribute to the success of this dynasty is 2nd to none (or 10th to none...whatever). lol

[I Love Me Some Me]

No love for Junior?

[SenorSpur]

I voted Kenon too. The guys stats are awesome and rival the Iceman. Kenon on the Spurs right now would be the second best player on the team IMO. His Jersey not being retired has something to do with him converting to Islam. Plus, since Larry made peanuts in his playing days he made a point to try to forget his basketball past and focus on making money for his family. Larry has been outstanding.

Wow! I never knew Kenon converted over to Islam. Yet I don't see how that would or should factor into the recognition of his basketball accomplishents.

Last I heard, he was running a successful car dealership in San Antonio.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I'll be the first to admit that I don't really know anything about Kenon, but everyone else from the last three championships are on the list, and there's no denying Bruce's worth in those le runs. If there were any justice in this world he'd have a shelf full of DPOY trophies.

[baseline bum]

Bowen. Bruce transformed this team from one that got owned by every single shooting guard in this league to one of the best defensive teams in history.

[FromWayDowntown]

It's a close call for me. I think the fact that Kenon only played 5 years in San Antonio is a big reason that his jersey isn't retired; that and the fact that he chose to go to Chicago as a free agent. What's telling to me, however, is that in Kenon's 5 years in San Antonio, he made 3 All-Star games (1 ABA and 2 NBA). He was a 20-10 guy who shot almost 50% from the field while averaging a boatload of steals. But more than that, the image of Kenon streaking up the sideline on the break, ready to attack the basket is, along with Ice's finger rolls, one of the classic images of those early Spurs teams. You can point, certainly, to the fact that Bowen wears rings that Kenon doesn't have -- and I think Bowen's longevity (rolled into timvp's jersey retirement argument) is a factor in Bruce's favor -- but that '79 team came perilously close to reaching the Finals (damn you, John Vanak) and was in that spot at least in part because Kenon was exceptional during the 1979 playoffs (21.1 ppg, 11.4 rpg).

It's close -- and I'm undoubtedly a homer for the newer guys.

I think the best argument for Bowen, by the way, must include part of the idea about what makes Parker so important to Spurs history. With those two guys, it's not just about the rings they've ac ulated. Bowen and Parker, to me, represent the at ude change from the soft-ish Spurs that got bullied by LA in 2001 to the mentally and physically tough Spurs of today. Before 2001, even with a sublime talent like Duncan, the Spurs were notorious for their inability to bounce back from deficits at playoff time; that all culminated, for me, in the '01 WCF in which the Spurs just simply rolled over. Add Parker and Bowen to the mix (and later Ginobili) and suddenly the Spurs had a quiet toughness that they'd never really had before. Before 2002, the Spurs had never won a series when losing Game 1 (0-16) and had never rallied from a deficit to win a series (0-19). Since that time, the Spurs lost Game 1 on 7 different occasions, but have come back to win 5 of those series. It's not entirely Bowen and Parker, but I think there's an intangible toughness that those guys have brought to the franchise and I think it's difficult to underestimate the importance of that to the history of the Spurs.

I voted for Kenon because I think he's the better player and because he played a huge role on some damned good Spurs teams from the early years, but I certainly can see the reasons that one might put Bowen ahead here.

[rascal]

While I do agree Kenon is underrated in Spurs lore, I do think it speaks volumes that his jersey isn't retired. It's hard for fans to give him more recognition than the actual franchise. Bowen's jersey is for sure to be retired. It doesn't appear as if Kenon's every will be retired.

That in itself makes voting for Bowen over Kenon not a bad vote. Stats wise, Kenon probably could have been fourth on this list. All things told, I expect him to go 11-15 with the main thing holding him back being the fact his jersey wasn't retired.

Unfortunately sometimes there is a lot of politics behind retired jerseys so I don't use that as any criteria at all. And what makes you think Bowen will get his jersy retired anyways?

[Kona]

Bowen.

[2centsworth]

Bowen. Bruce transformed this team from one that got owned by every single shooting guard in this league to one of the best defensive teams in history.

I love Bruce, but Sean defense compares favorably IMO. Sean was the original Kobe Stopper and also had the ability to stay in front of the quickest guards in the NBA. I remember Sean guarding Kevin Johnson when Kevin was eating all of our guards alive. Plus, Sean use to guard Rasheed Wallace too. With a healthy Sean there would be no Bruce.

One more thing, if Kenon played today he would be close to if not a max player.

[Spurminator]

I think it's a matter of defining who you think of as the top "Spurs"... The best players to put on a Spurs uniform, or is it more than that?

I don't want to define "top" too narrowly, but I think the best way to do it would be to think of the list as a list of the 50 most influential people who have helped make the Spurs one of the most successful franchises in the history of sport.

On one hand Bowen's number of seasons with the team, his contributions to the success of the Spurs this decade and his status as a fan favorite make him a strong selection at #10. He has personified the dominant Spurs defense that has lead to three Championships, as well as the unselfish team-player at ude that has been so crucial to their success.

On the other hand, I think it's safe to say Kenon, Robertson, Gilmore and Mitc were all better players... They were All Stars, and in Robertson's case had a similarly decorated Defensive career to Bowen. I think you can make a case for all of them ranking ahead of Bowen.

The only knock on these guys, I think, is tenure. Each of them was with the Spurs for only about half of his career (5 seasons each, except for Mitc 's 6). Meanwhile Bowen is beginning his 8th season with the Spurs and has played during the most successful era in franchise history.