Comments on: Giving Bowen His Due

By: Gillyluvsdaspurs

Gillyluvsdaspurs — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:17:22 +0000

Bruce’s D has been well recognized from the numerous other posters. Let me just give him his due. Bruce hit countless monster corner treys in his heyday. He not only hit his corner at a fantastic percentage, almost 39%. He hit them at crunch time. When on the court, Bruce’s will to win was phenomenal.

By: Robby

Robby — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:13:45 +0000

Bowen, you will be missed!

By: 48 Minutes of Hell » Blog Archive » 48MoH’s Greatest Hits: The Bowen Collection

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:03:36 +0000

[...] Giving Bowen His Due [...]

By: francisco

francisco — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:22:07 +0000

When my son was 10 years old, he was hit by a car and almost killed. The accident left him with several broken bones and a devastated spirit. Then, about three days after the accident, we got a huge box in the mail. It was addressed to my son Macario, and the sender identified himself simply as B.B., from San Antonio, Texas.

I took the box to my son, who was bedridden but also intrigued by the box. He opened it and found six Spurs shirts sent to him with Bruce Bowen’s name on the back of each. He also found a pair of Bruce’s shoes that he had worn in the recent NBA Finals against the Pistons. Also, the box included an official NBA basketball signed by all the Spurs.

Somehow, Bruce found out about the accident and sent the gift box, unsolicited, and it became the best medicine for my kid’s recovery, which became much more bearable thereafter. My son even took the ball and Bruce’s shoes to school for “show and tell.”

In our household Bruce Bowen is, and always will be, a class act and an unparalleled healer.

By: Ruth Ann Donges

Ruth Ann Donges — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:14:35 +0000

I am so sorry to hear that Bruce Bowen was traded. I was at a game one time and Bruce was sitting in the middle of the court with his little boy bouncing the ball with him. Bruce was my favorite all time player and I will always remember him.
Thanks for your tribute to him.

By: Will

Will — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:22:44 +0000

I guess it’s easier for Duncan to disregard that when he’s been widely labeled as “the best PF of all times” about half-way through his career

I think Bowen never got it because a good half of the voters don’t actually watch basketball and prefer to go with stats lines – much easier to defend your pick if you have a good stats line to back you up.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:53:30 +0000

I’m with you, Will. There is one other Spur who has never been DPOY and probably deserves it more. That’s a travesty.

By: ChillFAN

ChillFAN — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:42:17 +0000

Will, that post is spot on. In truth, Bowen and Tim playing together probably prevented them from getting the DPOY award.

By: Will

Will — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:58:40 +0000

I’m still not sold on the fallout with Pop – if it were the case he would have replied something like “sure – why not – if the Spurs still think they need me, why not” but not something like “absolutely”.

But anyway I of course agree with everybody that Bowen was a key part that somehow didn’t get the recognition he deserved with the DPOY award (but to be honest there’s another Spurs who never got it and deserves it even more) – but all in all still 3 rings and a lot of nominations to All-NBA defensive teams – it’s not like nothing!

By: Jaceman

Jaceman — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:13:46 +0000

I greatly appreciate Bowen’s efforts on the defensive end, and he definitely leaves a void on the defensive end that the Spurs need to fill. In my opinion, Spurs now have two needs, a defensive specialist on the wing, and a competent big man that can complement Duncan’s post play. Ideally, I’d not want Duncan playing the center. I feel that the wing position would be harder to fill, but I’d be willing to trade Roger Mason, Michael Finley’s expiring contract (should he return), and/or Matt Bonner for something. I can’t think of anyone that would be readily available immediately, but the general idea would be something like Raja Bell 3 years ago. Maybe Dahntay Jones? Give Morris Peterson another go? DeShawn Stevenson? Somebody. Arguably you could find that person as the player behind Richard Jefferson, so either way. In terms of bigs, if we could I’d say Mehmet Okur, but I highly doubt that Spurs could offer anything he’d look at, if he did opt out. Next would be Rasheed Wallace or Rasho Nesterovic.

By: buns

buns — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:58:09 +0000

Hi everyone,
A few images of Bowen in his early days when he was playing for Evreux in France (1994-1995) in ProB (second level in France). In the game on the video, Bruce posted 50 points and was considered as the best US player of ProB.

(first half of the video).
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8kqzm_michel-veyronnet-coach-de-bruce-bow_sport

He went to Besançon (ProA, first level) in 1997 and posted solid offensive numbers – best scorer with something like 23+ points.
We were quite surprised when we saw Pat Riley turning him into a defensive specialist with the Miami Heat.
His playing in Europe in he 90′s and then finding a place in the NBA (and even winning multiple titles) was not your typical journey to NBA’s pinacle. Specialy in those days where the Atlantic seemed way more larger to cross for bb players.

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:04:35 +0000

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/60174/20090629/bucks_let_villanueva_become_ufa/

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:04:15 +0000

So the Bucks have shockingly not made Charlie Villanueva a restricted free agent, which means that he is an unrestricted free agent and is not returning to the Bucks. He could be the perfect sweet-shooting 4 in our system (albeit not very capable defensively) and is far younger and not a headcase like Rasheed Wallace. Also, players not renowned for their defense (eg Michael Finley) become competent defensively in the Spurs’ system. Charlie V. could be a perfect match if we can get him…

By: este

este — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:06:33 +0000

KA1Z3R I recall things differently. Manu stating that he prefers to start but didn’t complain about coming off the bench because Pop made the case to him about needing his energy and offense when either Tony or Timmy take their usual end of the 1st qtr. rest.

By: Hollywood

Hollywood — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:16:54 +0000

It’s unfortuante that Bowen’s relationship with Pop soured. Who knows if that’s actually true, and if so, then to what degree. Nonetheless, Bowen always carried himself with class.

I’m not looking forward to Finley somehow being on the team and Bowen not, but that’s the way it will probably be.

Being very media savvy, I assume Bowen realizes how much he was appreciated here.

His jersey should definitely be retired. It would be a tough argument for the HOF, but when he retires I would hope someone here would open the conversation.

Was there a better defensive player during the “aughts” (or whatever we call this decade)?