RTB - Lightning struck twice: Robinson and Bowen the perfect stonecutter's tools

[Mark in Austin]

Doing my best (worst?) Harvey impersonation. I've been thinking about this nearly all year.


There is an implicit conceit in Jacob Riis' now famous quote that hangs framed in the Spurs locker room: The stonecutter has to have the right tools to get that rock to split - even after a hundred strikes.

Greg Popovich might not be able to address that now, but what he said recently about Kieth Bogans is just as telling:

“He’s really the centerpiece of the whole thing...It sounds strange. You’ve got Timmy out there, and Tony and Manu — to say he’s the centerpiece. By that I mean … I like to have a starter who doesn’t need the ball, who gives us a defensive iden y … somebody I can say, ‘Go play him. Go do your best to stop him.’ For us, that’s been our style for 12 years.”

In an NBA replete with $5 discount rock hammers, the Spurs managed to thrive in the Duncan era with a pair of HoltCAT-quality tools on the defensive end:

There aren't many obvious similarities between David Robinson and Bruce Bowen that you could point to that would lead them to playing similar pivotal roles on championship teams. One grew up in a stable home background, the other's was anything but. One's ascent to NBA greatness was all but ordained after his first post-growth spurt starring season at the Naval Academy; the other's circuitous route to defensive s om had him crisscrossing the globe and the NBA before settling in San Antonio. And defensively, one arrived at his most effective role on those Spurs teams from a logical, almost duty-like perspective, while the other seemed to relish the constant challenge as much as his greatest opponent - a certain Laker who is still a nightmare for defenders - relished the spotlight. But both share a common bond:

They were at their most effective on the defensive end; and found their iden ies as champions not as crunch time scorers (although both threw in their share of last second shots) but as crunch time, smother you to death, all-universe defenders. What other big man in history could have played an in-his-prime Shaquille O'neal as effectively and thanklessly as Robinson did year after year? Much less with the balkiest back in the league since Bird retired? And what other perimeter defender could have gone from effectively defending Steve Nash to LeBron James in the same playoff run, much less at an age where most perimeter players are relegated to spot minutes and elder statesman locker room roles?

Kieth Bogans and George Hill both share one trait with these defensive greats: they're willing. The effort is there. But the tools just aren't the same. Any sane basketball observer will tell you it would be unfair to expect them to be. Popovich might not be able to admit it publicly, but he knows the odds are good that the Spurs won't see that combination of supreme defensive talent and a willingness to fully commit to it again. Need proof? Even this front office - as tight-lipped as any in the league - has publicly admitted that finding a Bowen successor has been a priority every offseason for the past five years.

And it brings us to the central issue at the heart of this version of the Spurs, even before Parker's latest injury: In the past, the "pounding the rock" metaphor has made perfect sense. Getting the stone to split - cracking the secret to some of the greatest team defense the NBA has ever seen - was always a psychological question. If the players trusted themselves to perform their roles enough, trusted each other enough, and yes - trusted the system enough - usually sometime around March that stone would split.

But in those years the stonecutter always had the right tools.

[Interrohater]

Wow, great article, and of course spot on.

There have been quite a few defensive suitors that we've tried but just haven't worked out. I wouldn't say it's a rare talent, but it certainly is uncommon. For a player to not only be committed to playing defense, but also have the talent to take that commitment to the next level is a trait that is difficult to find.

Out of the four that we have now (Hill, Bogans, Mahinmi, RJ), I think George Hill may be the closest to filling that defensive void.

We have been pleasantly surprised at Hairston, but I can't see him as a "lock-down" defender, and the term "lock-down" is relative.

Oh well, we are what we are. A good team that no longer has the defensive presence that makes us great.

[StoneBuddha]

Man, I hate to belabor an old topic, but the events of the last few weeks show the Spurs probably shut the door too quickly on Bowen. I mean does anyone think that he wouldn't be providing better defense than Bogans at this point?

He was old but still better than what we have now.

[duhoh]

battier! do it!

[boutons_deux]

Bruce was only one man.

Pop used to INSIST on team defense, and you sat if you missed your team defense role.

Now he seems just to suggest that team defense might be a good idea, and pretty please do it, guys.

[Mark in Austin]

Bruce was only one man.

Pop used to INSIST on team defense, and you sat if you missed your team defense role.

Now he seems just to suggest that team defense might be a good idea, and pretty please do it, guys.

Pop pulled players for missing defensive rotations last night too. The difference imo is that Duncan has until recently always been the all-time greatest secondary or help defender in the history of the league; first behind David Robinson and then as a tag-team partner with Bruce. Both 5-0 and Bowen were DPOY-level players that took the lead defensively, which made Duncan deadly in his defensive role. There's nobody on the team now at that elevated level to pair with Duncan.

[Blackjack]

Nicely done, Mark.

[Spurminator]

You know who would have been a pretty good Bruce Bowen replacement? Bruce Bowen.

[spurs10]

Nice read, thanks. Reinventing oneself is hard to do, and whatever we end up with, we know it will never be the same. If everybody shows the effort that Manu did last night, with or without the extraordinary talent of BB and DRob, we could still be hard to handle. If of course TP can come back rested and find his game.