Bowen gets a vote — why the Spurs need a recount
Buck Harvey
SALT LAKE CITY — The story is over, and it’s better for Bruce Bowen this way. Had he been voted to start next month’s All-Star Game, he wouldn’t have been the villain anymore in Phoenix.
He would have been the joke.
Instead, the story now is whether Bowen should start for the Spurs. Gregg Popovich likely is hesitant to re-examine this, because he clearly favors other options. But Popovich has to acknowledge, as the Spurs’ defensive statistics decline, that his team isn’t the same anymore.
That’s one vote for Bowen.
There aren’t many others. Some scouts think Bowen may have lost a half-step at age 37, but they doubt that is the reason he’s coming off the bench and playing 10 fewer minutes than he did a year ago. Popovich likes the punch that Roger Mason Jr. and Michael Finley can provide.
Mason comes with some defensive ability, too, and Finley has gotten better in this area the longer he has been with the Spurs. Popovich went out of his way after the Spurs beat Indiana last week to say Finley had been his best defender against Danny Granger.
There are only so many slots on the floor, and Manu Ginobili comes off the bench to take a huge one. So Popovich weighs who-gives-what, and he’s put together the second-best record in the Western Conference with Bowen weighing down the bench.
That’s the reason the All-Star voting confused everyone. Even at his best, Bowen never had All-Star stuff. But now, when his own team has turned away from him, he gets over 1.3 million votes?
The Spurs have stuffed ballot boxes in previous eras, and they may have worked the crowd for a few extra votes this time. But they only get so many ballots to distribute, and besides, their marketing department has other worries. Such as selling tickets.
So there is no explanation why Bowen got more votes than either Dirk Nowitzki or Carmelo Anthony, unless it’s that the electorate has a sense of humor. Had Bowen received another 68,000 votes, he would have replaced Amare Stoudemire in the starting lineup. In Phoenix.
Bowen says he would have “enjoyed the game” if he had been chosen. “No one would turn it down.”
There’s little else he could say. To laugh at the results would be to laugh at those who supported him.
Still, would Bowen really have wanted to get in the middle of this firestorm? Shouldn’t he be relieved he will avoid criticism he didn’t deserve?
“I’ve gotten criticism I didn’t deserve before,” he said flatly.
That’s the Bowen who didn’t mind enraging opponents. He worked to find a unique niche, making an impact as a swing player who rarely scored.
It was odd chemistry, especially since he was often paired in the starting lineup with someone such as Fab Oberto, also a shooting liability. But now Popovich leans on shooters, figuring they can learn the rotations and eventually play team defense.
Bowen didn’t start again Sunday, and Kobe Bryant had a hand in the first six points the Lakers scored. Mason picked up his second foul at the end of that run, and Bowen checked in out of necessity with 9:27 left in the first quarter.
Boos followed, suggesting yet another ballot theory: Those who don’t like Bowen also wanted to yell at him in an All-Star Game.
From there Bryant scored over Matt Bonner on a switch, and at the end of the half Bryant raked Ginobili and picked up the loose ball for a long jumper. Otherwise, Bryant scored twice off Bowen in the half.
One signature moment: Bowen sliced through a pick with Bryant, playing tighter than anyone else can, and knocked Bryant to the floor without a whistle.
If Popovich and his staff noticed, they didn’t react. The Lakers jumped out to start the second half with Bowen on the bench, and what followed went against everything that has happened the previous half-dozen seasons. Bowen didn’t play the third quarter, and Bryant, because of the rout, didn’t need to play the fourth.
Bowen wouldn’t have changed this game by himself. He also chased Bryant last season when the Lakers beat the Spurs. Furthermore, an athletic, 6-10 shotblocker next to Tim Duncan would mean more than Bowen playing an additional 10 minutes.
Still, the shooting percentage of Spurs’ opponents is rising higher than it’s been in a decade, and the Spurs once had a formula that was proven. It began with Bowen setting the defensive tone, and he did it the same way every night. From the tip.
That’s another vote for Bowen.
This is the first and best defense of Bowen's play that I've seen this year. Buck makes a good case. A really good case.
Bench Finley, start Mace and Bruce. Get back to the defensive priorities. Mason already has the green light and is as good a scorer as Finley, if not better. Finley has saved his ass with some good shooting after a terrible 2007-2008 and an even worse start to this season. I think the undiscussed issue is Pop's continuing man-crush on Finley.
Its just the All-Star game. Its not like its gonna make a difference. Plus they dont play defense in All-Star games. Its almost like Golden State against the New York. Alot of run and gunning. And in the end. It doesnt matter.
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