San Antonio Spur Bruce Bowen: Dirty Player Or Hardworking Champion? ... Don’t Ask Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter Or Steve Nash

October 09 07

ESPN.com news services reports on the Spurs inking Bruce Bowen to an extension:

The San Antonio Spurs signed Bruce Bowen to a contract extension, the team announced Sunday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the team, but the San Antonio Express-News said it was a two-year contract that will pay Bowen $4 million in each of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.
The second year of the extension is not fully guaranteed, an NBA executive familiar with the details told the newspaper.

My Quick Take: It’s easy to hate on Bowen. His opponents show him contempt and in many stadiums he’s public enemy number one. But hate him or love him, Bowen is one of the NBA’s best defenders, using quick feet, endless stamina, and creative tactics to neutralize opposing superstars. This has made him a ’cult’ hero or villain depending on your perspective.

But Bowen is more than a ’dirty’ lockdown specialist and super pest to the stars. He has bucked the odds and carved out a solid NBA career in San Antonio, when nobody thought he was anything other than a 10 day contract. Remember, he bounced around Europe and the NBA before becoming a fixture on the All-Defensive team with the Spurs. So you have to respect his persistence, dedication to defense, and NBA Titles.

I’m a little surprised he’s going to be around until 2010. Bowen will be 38 years old when his extension runs out and the Spurs do have Ime Udoka waiting in the wings.

Is Bowen a great defender or super pest? Get at us in the comment box below with your thoughts.

Click here to read and subscribe to Oly Sandor’s NBA Blog.

13 Comments: San Antonio Spur Bruce Bowen: Dirty Player Or Hardworking (...)

Posted by
gangell- tassie- AUS
on 10.14.2007 bruce is hardworking. you cant be defencive player of the year by being dirty. .

Posted by
iceman 360
on 10.13.2007 i believe bruce bowen is not playing defense, he suit’s the wwe better than the nba. come on bruce, learn from ron artest himself, a true lock down defender considering he still has an impact in his team’s offense. try the wwe! they’ll love you there. .

Posted by

on 10.10.2007 to "painkiller"was mj ever caught doing things like...kicking people in the face? kicking people’s ankles? kneeing people in the crotch? uh....no....bruce bowen has been cited on all of those actions and more...sure he’s a great defensive player, but you simply cannot deny the fact that the guy has had too many incidents where he’s caught doing something dirty.and as for other superstars not playing as intense of a defense as bowen...thats ridiculous to ask for from all players, because it’s not that they can’t do it, it’s that some of those players need to conserve their energy for offense because that’s their role on the team. using your example in rip; the pistons can afford for rip to play intense d cuz they have so many other scoring options...on the other hand, bowen is PRIMARILY a defensive player, he doesn’t NEED to do anything else, especially since the spurs have: duncan, ginobili, and parker....SO DUH! get yo ish straight before you start blabbing all this nonsense in CAPS .

Posted by
PAINKILLER!
on 10.9.2007 HOW COME NO ONE EVER CRITIZED MJ WHEN HE PLAYED SOLID DEFENSE FOR THE BULLS? JORDAN WOULD DO THE SAME THINGS TO INHIBIT THE PROGRESS OF HIS OPPONENT...GRANTED JORDAN IS THE BEST PLAYER TO EVER PLAY THE GAME...BUT HE DID THE SAME THINGS AS BOWEN DOES TO DEFEND THE OPPOSING TEAMS BEST PLAYER...ITS ALL PART OF THE TEAM PLAY FOR THE SILVER AND BLACK...THE PROBLEM NOW DAYS IS THESE "HIGHLIGHT REEL PLAYERS" DON’T WANT TO PLAY BOTH SIDES OF THE COURT...ALL THEY WANT TO DO IS SHOOT OR DUNK AND THATS IT,,,I LIKE TO SEE THESE OTHER WANNABES RUN AROUND SCREENS CHASING THE OTHER TEAMS TOP PLAYER...RIP FROM DETROIT IS ONE OF THE FEW AS IS BOWEN...ONE THING IS FOR SURE THAT IF YOUR TEAM WAS ABLE TO PICK HIM UP YOU WOULD CHANGE YOUR TUNE IN A HEARTBEAT...MAYBE THATS THE PROBLEM TODAY...THESE "AVERAGE TALENT-TRADE DEMANDING PLAYERS" HAVE NO HEART!...5 IN 08’! .

Posted by
Nevalies
on 10.9.2007 I hear about that Mr. Truth Face...what a tool he is! .

Posted by

on 10.9.2007 I hate Bruce Bowen with a passion..ok he plays good D when he isnt kicking people in the face and ankles..but cmon..he does dumb stuff like that then acts like he’s innocent..Bruce can blow me..id crack him in his face if he ever did sumtin like that..he could put someone’s career in jeopardy..which is what he was probably trying to do .

Posted by
Mr. Truth Face
on 10.9.2007 I was playing Bowen in a summer league game I tried to elbow him in the head and he came back with a punch that missed and hit a innocent old man who was collecting money to help pay his medical bills. Bowen then tried to trip him on the way in a way that would tear his ACL. He is a BAD BAD MAN. First the cheap shot punch...then the tore ACL trip. He also smells like cabage .

Posted by

on 10.9.2007 Posted byYoung Rome Is BurningBowen is one of the best players in the NBA?? If i give you my address will u send me some of that s---ur on? .

Posted by
Mormon 4 Life!
on 10.9.2007 Young Rome you can BURN IN HELL! The comments you made are clearly wrong. Anyone with two good working eyes can see Bowens playing style is dirty and unacceptable. he has been throwing cheap shots at players for years and thats why every player complains because it’s getting ridiculous. Stop giving him so much credit. He is solid, but is overrated at times .

Posted by
Weezy on Fire!
on 10.9.2007 I’m wit young rome. I support Bowen. Do doin yo thug thizzle my nizzle, fo sizzle, holla! .

Posted by

on 10.9.2007 Bowen is a dirty cheap shot artist .

Posted by
danmarino
on 10.9.2007 Well, i think he is a little bit of both......I mean, he is famous for undercutting very talented players after they take a jumpshot. I’ve seen him do it at least two times, and thats a lot since i dont watch a lot of spurs games. But he is definately an amazing defender, but he’s also ruthless in the sense that i believe he is even willing to injury some poor guy to take him out....Peace from belgium .

Posted by
Young Rome Is Burning
on 10.9.2007 Bowen is one of the best players in the NBA. He is the top perimeter defender. ANd his offense is underrated. He used to average more than 20 pts overseas. He just never needed to be the offensive guy while in San Antonio, and only shots when needed. He is a hard working player, that gets a bad wrap sometimes. Every once in awhile he might slip up and do something that isn’t 100% safe, but player doesn’t? The only time other players complain about him is after he shut there team down, so they come up with some lame B.S. excuse about why and try to discredit his playing style. Forget them Haters Bruce, 50 told me go head and switch the style up and if they hate then let them hate and watch the money pile up! That’s exactly what you did. I ain’t mad at cha play boy, do you thang for 3 more seasons, homie, and get some more blinging rings on yo figure and stick the middle one up at the complainers and haters. I got yo back kid! .

Post your comment:

No profanity or inaproppriate remarks. All i.p. addresses will be saved and abuse/hate posts will be reported to providers and authorities as part of the anti-spam act of 2003, thank you for posting comments on the articles only.

Any message or comment?

Who are you? (optional)
Your name (or alias):
Your e-mail address:
Please leave this field empty:

	About Oly Sandor
Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More

San Antonio Spur Bruce Bowen: Dirty Player Or Hardworking Champion? ... Don’t Ask Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter Or Steve Nash

AboutOly Sandor

About
Oly Sandor