If not for those two supporting the big fellow, there would be no trophy. Both of these guys turns 35 next year. If the Spurs are going to make it 3 out of 4, or 4 out of 5, who is going to fill Robert Horry or Bruce Bowen's shoes if they start losing a step?
This Finals proved one thing and that is Robert Horry is just as valuable to the Spurs as Tony Parker. Manu and Horry should have been co-MVPs with Tim Duncan. Without Horry, there would be no game seven.
No one on the Spurs can frustrate someone like Bruce Bowen. As great shape as he is in, I can't see those legs able to keep up much longer with some of the best players in the league. In my opinion, besides the obvious - Tim Duncan - much of Pop's coaching success is because of him having the luxury of a player like Bowen to shut down players and make effective halftime adjustments.
Who will be our Horry and Bowen if the Spurs are to continue this dynasty? Can both of them last one more year? I think that's as far as we'll go before we see some big slippage from both of them. Is this where someone like Luis Scola hopefully comes into play? There are some tough teams out there. Amare is going to be TOUGH once he gets older and plays smarter. The Suns will be in it for a while. Detroit is young enough to last enough year.
First off I don't think you can call this a dynasty. IMO it is not. If they win next year then go ahead and throw the dynasty tag. As far as horry and bruce, I think horry has another 2 years in him and bowen has at least 2 more years as well.
I don't think you can replace 2 guys like that. Hopefully scola is as good as advertised.
Bruce Bowen is probably in the best shape of anyone on the Spurs. He hasn't missed a game in 3 1/2 seasons. And he frickin' owned the Pistons in this series.
So I'm not worried about replacing Bowen anytime soon. But next year we should get a young small forward on the bench to learn Bowen's tricks of the trade firsthand.
Horry wants to play 3 more years (I believe). But this upcoming season is definitely the time to get Scola in a Spurs uniform. It's been long enough.
Do you guys think Phil Jackson will try and bring back Horry to L.A.? What kind of cap room do they have to work with? Horry is a free-agent, right? I think we're going to have a problem signing him if we're going to be cheap, because someone out there wants a ring badly and is willing to pay big money to bring in the lucky charm. LOL
You don't replace Bruce Bowen. At least, you don't find anyone who plays the lockdown D he does. You don't find anyone as clutch as Rob. Just like we could never find anyone to replace what Admiral brought to the table. You just have to add good players wherever you can, because you're not going to find guys to fit that same role as well as the original.
I don't want to throw out the word dynasty yet. 2 out of the last 3 is freaking outstanding, but it would take a repeat before I'd begin to discuss that. I just want to enjoy this one, because you never know when it's going to happen again. When we won in 99 I just expected the next le to come easily, because the Spurs were the best then, so why would things change? Things did. Sean got sick. Tim got hurt. Tim had to learn how to pass out of the double the hard way once he got his first le. David started aging. Phil Jackson taught the most talented team in the NBA how to play as a team. Kobe Bryant became unguardable.... and then, 4 years later when none of us was expecting it and everyone was either too young or too old, this team comes together and David retires a champion with a monster performance in game 6. Next season Spurs are on a 19 game win streak in the playoffs, and then go cold and 0.4 happens. The team is reborn with a vengeance after a couple of offseason tweaks, and looks unbeatable. But it almost doesn't happen. The franchise goes down on Rasheed Wallace's foot. But it does happen.
Don't take these for granted, Spurs fans. Enjoy this le. It may never come again. All kinds of things can happen. With our core still young and locked up long term I'm guessing we'll see another parade or two down the Riverwalk in the coming years, but let's never count our chickens before they hatch.
I thought that was a dynasty in the making the first time too. If only David Robinson had been a few years younger.The Lakers were pathetic in those days. Damn you Phil Jackson!
Too early for me to think about this stuff. We'll suit up formidably again next year. We have our core.
Not likely. I know that from the interviews with Horry about 2004, he said that he sucked because he was trying too hard to beat them. He was a bit angry at the way he was cast off. Horry also has a daughter with profound medical issue who lives in Houston.
Ex, I still remember that thread le you had at the old board in 2002, after Horry sunk in a dagger to the Spurs as a Laker in the closing minutes of Game 5.
"I Hope Horry Dies"
It's amazing how things change over the last few years.
Brown will probably take some of Bowen's minutes.
Bowen is at the top of his game now, but like all guys who are all heart, once he loses 1/2 a step he will not be as effective. No disrespect to Bruce, but he can't keep giving 110% night-in & night-out forever, so it makes sense to groom Devin as his successor.
Well, Horry sold his soul to the devil long ago... we're just now getting around to seeing some benefit from that transaction..."I Hope Horry Dies"
It's amazing how things change over the last few years.
Person and Buckner.
who will replace horry and bowen:
those persons have yet to be born.
I actually think Linton Johnson is a more likely succesor to Bowen than Devin Brown. But if someone can learn under him in the next year or two, I'm happy enough. As for Horry - there is no one quite like him. But there are always veterans who are willing to come out and work hard and do their part. Steve Kerr before him, Glenn Robinson later this season. They'll find other people, because the franchise knows that these people have a lot to contribute, and most of those guys just want to play and to win.
Bowen replacement = Raja Bell
The Third is Bowens future replacement.
Scola is Horry's future replacement.
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