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bowen's gonna out-mcgrady mcgrady
Jeff McDonald: Tuning up for T-Mac
HOUSTON -- Bruce Bowen, the Spurs human padlock of a small forward, prepared to defend Houston's Tracy McGrady in peculiar fashion Tuesday morning.
By taking extra shooting practice.
Long after the official portion of the Spurs' shootaround ended at the Toyota Center, where the Spurs are gearing up for tonight's Southwest Division showdown against the Rockets, Bowen was still in the gym, giving lift-off to jump shot after jump shot.
It seemed an odd prelude to what will be Bowen's first big mano-a-mano defensive assignment of the season.
Through four games, McGrady is the NBA's leading scorer at 33 points per game. In three of the Rockets' four contests this year, T-Mac has crossed the 30-point barrier.
Judging from the extra work Bowen put in after shootaround this morning, his plan is to fight fire with fire. To out-T-Mac T-Mac, if you will.
(This, of course, is a joke. It isn't uncommon for Bowen to take some extra shots after shootarounds on the road. It's not necessarily a sign that he plans to explode for 40 tonight).
So what's the secret to defending an indefensible player like McGrady? A short memory, Bowen says.
"There will be times when things may not look good, as far as him making shots and making tough shots," Bowen said in between jumpers. "You just have to weather the storm."
Who knows? Maybe by the end of the night, McGrady will say the same about Bowen. But probably not.
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblog...onald_t_5.html
bowen's gonna out-mcgrady mcgrady
It'll be interesting to see if Pop will use Udoka when Bowen is resting and TMac is still on the court.
I know McDonald is making a joke, but actually, scoring off of T-Mac's (lack of perceptible) defense is a really good way to counteract him. He spends all this energy scoring at one end and -- zap -- Bowen is hitting an open 3 from the corner at the other end. That'll slow him down as he starts worrying about his man scoring and making him look bad.
Bowen is completely capable of ripping off like 5 out of 6 threes in a 4 minute span, if you don't guard him.
Its going to be a fun matchup tonight. I can't wait.
In true Pop November fashion, Udoka will probably get a DNP tonight.
Definitely a situation to use Udoka.
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