Bowen, Spurs get best of Bryant, Lakers
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 4 hours ago
http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3296894
Matchups are the essence of sports compe ion.
In boxing and tennis, matchups are the whole enchilada. In football, the only true mano-a-mano confrontations are offensive linemen versus their defensive counterparts, and pass catchers versus pass defenders. Yet the directness of these pigskin pairings can be obscured by zone defenses, trap blocks and double-teams. In baseball, the pitcher-hitter confrontations, although utterly fascinating, only occur a few times per game.
Basketball is where the head-to-head battles are continuous and (for the most part) unadorned. That's why Tuesday's game between the Spurs and the Lakers was so appealing.
For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant is one of the NBA's most versatile scorers — he can run, elevate, post-up, shoot money-balls, drive in spectacular fashion, dish, spin, pull-up, finish with either hand, draw numerous fouls, and he also showcases an incredibly quick first step.
Except for his ability to bury 3-balls (his career accuracy is 39 percent), Bruce Bowen is paid to play defense. He's been selected to the NBA's All-Defense second team thrice (2001-2003), and last season he was officially acknowledged as one of the league's five-best defenders.
Indeed, Bowen has proven through the years to be the only defender who can keep Bryant from running wild. When Phil Jackson coached the Lakers, Kid Kobe took Bowen's chest-to-chest defense as a personal affront and regularly short-circuited the triangle offense to challenge Bowen one-on-one. Under Rudy T.'s regime, however, Bryant's individualistic forays are integral parts of the Lakers' game plan.
So, let the game begin and let's concentrate on this fascinating pairing of an irresistible force and an immovable object. Exactly how does Bowen try to limit Bryant's spectacular point-making? And exactly how does Bryant attack and counter-attack?
By comparison
Player MIN FG 3FG FT REB A ST BS TO PTS
Bryant 35 5-19 0-5 7-8 5 2 2 0 3 17
Bowen 35 9-19 5-11 1-2 4 2 0 0 0 24
(Neither Bowen nor Bryant left the bench in the fourth quarter. During the brief seconds that Bryant was on the court and Bowen was on the bench, Kobe was defended by Brent Barry. Bryant's output was a single forced 3-pointer that missed.)
In the natural flow of the game, not every stat was recorded in head-to-head compe ion. For example, Bryant snatched an errant pass directed to Bowen, then was fouled by Robert Horry as he approached the basket — and converted both free throws. Likewise was Kobe the beneficiary of two loose balls that simply bounced into his hands and led to easy layups. Bowens similarly tallied a deuce on a fast-break situation while Kobe idled in the backcourt.
Nobody can unilaterally shut down an explosive scorer like Kobe Bryant on a consistent basis — but here's what Bowen did when the two of them were in the same neighborhood:
# Bowen always fronted Bryant in the low post. The only way, then, to get the ball into Kobe was a lob pass. But throwing such a soft pass, with its high trajectory, gave the Spurs big men ample time to dash over and double Kobe as soon as he caught the ball. Under this kind of maximum pressure, and with the baseline limiting his available operating space, Bryant's only option was to harmlessly kick the ball back out. Meanwhile, the shot clocking was ticking and the Lakers set play was busted.
# On two occasions, instead of trying to dump the ball down low into Kobe, Chris Mihm and Caron Butler formed a double-pick at the foul line. The first time this play was attempted, Bowen was erased by the picks and Kobe curled to the ball, made the catch, but missed the open shot. The second time around, Bowen stood his ground and illegally impeded Bryant's progress toward the picks. While all of the refs sucked on their whistles, the timing of the play was upset and Kobe never got to touch the ball.
# In screen/roll situations, Bowen tried to get to the screen before Kobe did. This maneuver forced Kobe to move away from the screen and toward the baseline where a big man was waiting to greet him. In essence, the Spurs were cramping Bryant's ability to move freely and, indeed, forcing him to move where THEY wanted him to move, and then trapping him when he reached his destination.
# Just to show Bryant a few different looks, Bowen went under several screens. Two or three times, the man defending the screen also jumped at Kobe and arrested his forward motion until Bowen could catch up. And the same defender occasionally stepped back and let Bowen slip through the space between him and the screener.
# In general, Bowen always maintained his balance. He NEVER jumped at any of Kobe's fakes, he threw a hand at every shot, he only gambled once (and lost), he ALWAYS tried to push Kobe to a prearranged help area, and his perpetual goal was not to block a sot or snatch away a dribble, but simply to keep Bryant in front of him.
# Bowen's fast hands are also critical components of his superlative defense. He's quick enough to wait until the ball is released from a shooter's hands before leaping to try to block the shot. And whenever Kobe exposed the ball as he lifted it to initiate his shot, Bowen lightning jabs were profoundly discomforting. Twice Bowen flicked the ball as Kobe prepared to shoot.
# As ever, Kobe frequently overdribbled, and he launched several forced shots (I counted four). Bad shots always makes for good defense.
So how did Kobe score with Bowen attached to his chest hairs? Long step-back jumpers. Twice he beat Bowen to a proffered pick and bagged open shots. And taking advantage of a pair of fortuitous bounces.
At the other end of the court, Bowen had a career game. Most of the time, Bowen's job is to linger near the baseline on the weak-side and make himself available in case any of his teammates get jammed in the paint. And since Kobe was overly conscious of sinking toward the ball, Bowen was left with plenty of good looks-most of which he converted into points.
Frequently, Bowen starts in the corner, runs baseline to set a cross-pick for Tim Duncan or Rasho Nesterovic, then pops to the top of the key. Whenever Bowen ran this particular route, Bryant always stayed within touching distance of the ball and never followed Bowen through the pack. This also resulted in an abundance of open shots.
Bowen also ran himself into a lefty layup when Bryant made a listless transition from offense to defense.
From the get-go, the game belonged to Bowen and the Spurs. The final score, 100-83, gave no indication of how lop-sided the game was. Nor how unequal was the compe ion between Mr. Defense and Mr. Offense.
I agree with Bruce, it was just another game...It'd have been different if it was in the playoffs....Too bad it wasn't.
What it was, was Bowen shooting 23% and Kobe putting up better numbers against us than he did against any other team in the playoffs....a damn shame we gotta get old.
Rosen can be a fuddy-duddy, but he consistenly writes down-in-the-trenches technical stuff that no one else does
WTF???
the point here is whether lakers will make it to the playoffs?
I doubt it!
why would they not?
their current pace the lakers will have a better record then wolves
wolves are lossing alot lately
Where's all the Brent Barry can't play defense folks?
During the brief seconds that Bryant was on the court and Bowen was on the bench, Kobe was defended by Brent Barry. Bryant's output was a single forced 3-pointer that missed.
"Swinging from Pops nutsack", as whottt would put it.
I also recall Barry getting a blocking foul (bad call) that resulted in two FTS for Kobe. I guarantee you that if Pop put Brent on Kobe for a quarter, the rapist will ring him up to the tune of 15-20 points. Hopefully you were joking, AHF. Barry is starting to "get" the team concept, but is in NO way ready for primetime solo work.During the brief seconds that Bryant was on the court and Bowen was on the bench, Kobe was defended by Brent Barry. Bryant's output was a single forced 3-pointer that missed.
I think Bowen may be one of the all time FA values. What a bargain for a 2 time 2nd team (with SA, and once more in MIA) and current first team All NBA defender who can space the floor with 3pt shooting. Pat Riley was ing stupid to diss his ass when he wanted to sign in SA. Thanks, Bruce, for trusting the Spurs, and busting your ass for them. Thanks for working tirelessly on your game as well.
Don't forget his voluntarily giving up his option year, then re-signing at less money so that the Spurs would have more money for Manu and Tony.
And, at the age of 33, is averaging career highs in ppg, FT%, and APG, and is having his lowest-ever (as a Spur) TO per game.
The guy should be a Spur for as long as he wants to be.
And that was the second time he signed with the Spurs for less money. He did so when he first arrived here as well.Don't forget his voluntarily giving up his option year, then re-signing at less money so that the Spurs would have more money for Manu and Tony.
I'm sure Bowen will be part of the Spurs organization for a long time.
Rosen is Phil Jackson's mouthpiece, and it seems like every article I see of his is bagging on Kobe Bryant in some way. I hate Bryant too, but the same crap over and over is boring.
No kidding. Are they cousins or what?
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