There is no place in the league for someone who undercuts the high flyers of the league like VC, the ones who provide the highlights and the fan excitement. Bowen undercut VC bad in 2004, thereby injuring him. And with VC going off for more than a point a minute tonight, Bowen does the same thing - after headbutting him earlier in the game! How would we feel if in the future he gets away with the same garbage w/ T-Mac? Tonight's Spurs victory only encourages him to do the same to the other high-flying wing men. Who pays to see Bruce Bowen? I hope the league does something significant here. The NBA should have been suspending players like Dirty Malone to set a good precedent, but he was too much of a star. With Bowen, there is no star power to protect. Suspend him.
I support a suspension but there is no where in the rule book that the NBA front office can use to justify such suspension. I am really begining to really "hate" Bruce Bowen. Anyone I "hate" and eventually put my spell/curse on never live to tell about it - the absolute curse of doom. Bowen better ask somebody.....
The Rockets can pay me $5 million a year to act as nemesis. I mean to undercut the opposing teams's star players. I will do that in a heartbeat for that money.
Thats what hes paid for. To aggrevate the other team. I seriously think that he doesnt try to injure them (I hope, maybe im just naive) but his job is to play physical to wear them down mentally or physically. I think he meant to bump Carter but not hard enough to injure him. His job is to get the star frustrated and uncomfortable. But if he does injure somebody cuz of something like that than he should get suspended.
All it takes is one ejection by a referee with "guts" (especially if its a home game for the spurs) after one of Bowen's "leg extensions" and then he'll get the message. It was one thing when "superstars" like Malone and Stockton got away with plenty, because they actually had some skills. Bowen has NO skills... whatsoever. He's an overrated defensive player (see tonight, or see T-mac against him), he hits threes better than he does free throws, and if his job is truly to "get under the skin" of the other team... he's got some twisted morals of how he wants to carry his NBA career. But in the end, he helps the spurs...
Overrated? Who would you pick in the nba, besides artest, to guard the likes of kobe, tmac, or carter?
Don't get me wrong, I love great perimeter defense. But if you look at last year's highlight when BB injures VC, he appears to be deliberately sticking his leg right where VC needs to land. Tonight on the ejection play, it's a bad camera angle but I can see where VC would believe BB is out to hurt him again. At the very least, BB is far too reckless. Having sprained many an ankle, and accidentally spraining a couple other guys ankle's by accident. I've learned you don't put your legs or feet in places where they might land, and you expect the same courtesy from your opponents. In the NBA, it is remarkable how this almost never happens in spite of all the leaping - because players understand they shouldn't stick their feet and legs underneath the other players. Knowing Bowen's history, and his headbutt earlier in the game, I suspect the worse when it comes to him. I think it's a bad precedent to encourage this kind of reckless if not malicious play. If they can't nail him for the headbutt and resulting altercation, I would hope the league is at least pulling Bowen aside and giving him a stern warning. If I was in the league office, I'd say, "Shape up Bruce, or the officials are going to give you the J.R. Reid treatment." (For those that don't remember, Reid was the Spurs' foul scapegoat in order to keep the Admiral on the floor the whole game. J.R. would be unfairly officiated against so that the other Spurs' players could get their star treatment).
Nobody... you can't guard these guys, you can only hope to contain them (and even then... they will still get their calls, and still get their numbers... unless they get ejected or injured). Bowen is a solid defensive player... but he plays on a GREAT defensive team... one that traps, double-teams, and rotates better than any other in the league right now. And, they have Duncan to erase anything that comes into the paint. Bowen had a couple games against Kobe where he held him down pretty well... and somebody made a big deal about it... and ever since then, Bowen has become the "ultimate" stopper. I'm sorry, I just don't see it... T-Mac's two explosions against SA this year, and Vince's nearly 50 points on him in about 3 quarter reaffirm my beliefs.
agreed with nick. there's no such thing as stopping those players with one man. bowen is a good defensive player but he's one of those guys that looks like a prick so i don't like him. also see pau gasol. geez has there ever been a bigger baby in the nba?
Bowen's a punk ass who plays recklessly to try and hurt folks. And for the same reasons as I hated Malone and Stockton...anyone who plays the game just to play it dirty I have no respect for.
Here, here. Is there an email at the NBA office we can write to voice our opinion on this punk? He's done it way too many times already!
Bruce Bowen I saw the confrontation between Bowen and Carter on highlights this morning. Bruce Bowen is a dirty motha. I remember some people in here having clips of several of the bad plays he has been a part of. One that has stuck in my head was him jumping up acting as if he was going to block somebody's shot but ends up kicking them square in the jaw. Does anybody have any of these clips?
anyone got that video of him knocking down Wally? it was posted in the past, another discussion about Bowen's dirty tactics
Anybody remember one of my favorite Rocket role players, David Wood? He used to beat the crap out of anybody going up for a layup on a fast break. He'd undercut them or more likely throw them litterally into the first row of the fans. Then he'd walk over and offer them a hand up, and apologize or whatever. This went on until he went to give James Worthy(?) a hand up and Worthy responded with a hand of his own -- specifically a fist thrown at Wood's face. After that, Wood wasn't quite so congenial to the people he'd just knocked down.
Talk about PUNK ASS! I saw the reply last night as well. First we get a HEADBUTT from Bowen (which is returned by VC). They both got technicals but I would have thrown out Bowen on that first headbut for STARTING IT. Then we have Bowen undercutting VC. I guess Bowen just couldnt keep up with VC lighting him up and tried to put VC out of the game. Even upstanding guys like Ray Allen have complained about Bowen which to me really says something. Hey, being a pesky defender is fine. I think Wesley is like that. He is quick and pesky. But what Bowen is doing at times is just totally punk ass. I think those dirty plays by Bowen REALLY overshadows many of his LEGIT good defensive plays. And in my mind now, I consider Bowen a dirty player and a player I will always root against!
T-Mac can definitely guard Kobe and Carter. To guard T-Mac, I would say Kobe. Kobe and T-Mac are strong and athletic enough to guard almost anyone in their respective positions, and they do so without being dirty or cheap. Bowen is OVERRATED because it's not like he has extradionary defensive capabilities. He relies on these cheap little dirty tricks that anyone can do. I'm not saying he's not effective mind you, I'm just saying he's cheap and OVERRATED on his defensive capabilites.
I'd look down, see his foot, kick him really hard in the nuts, and say I was trying to avoid his foot.
i would wholeheartedly support a suspension. i never had any real problem with bowen until he did this to carter last year and then you find our ray allen is saying the same thing. he did it to kobe earlier this year and kobe got up and pointed at the official like "you ****ing saw that, call it or i'll do something about it next time." and now he does it to carter again unbelievably. while getting lit the F up. and what's the worst thing is he's on the spurs so he's glorified. he's a POS player who is dirty but he's on a great team so he can always get away with it. and say things like "maybe they shouldn't worry about me, they should worry about getting the win next time" or some such thing like that. and of course bowen is about 7th down on the list of reasons why the spurs win and carter trashing his ass was gonne be the #1 reason they lost, but bowen gets to always come off with the upperhand b/c he's dirty, the refs allow it, and his team wins for him. if he was on atlanta, no one would know about him and he'd be getting ejected for stuff like this. i really think the league needs to find some way of sending a message. you can't have a guy purposely trying to break the ankles of star players lighting him up and getting away with it. it's so bush league it's in karla territory.
