The thing about Bruce Bowen's dirty play is that it overshadow's his great defense. He's one of the greatest defenders of all-time, but he'll be remembered for the plays where he took cheap shots.
Not only does he have 3 rings, but he was one of the best lockdown defenders in the league even as he was getting older. Throughout the Spurs 2000s championship runs, Bruce Bowen was the guy who would ALWAYS guard the best player on the other team. So he was guarding Kobe, among other elite players all those times they met in the playoffs and made the Finals.
1. Try kicking your opponent in the knee while he's taking a jump shot 2. Extend your foot underneath your opponent as he lands from taking a jump shot 3. If all else fails kick an opponent in the face while he's taking a shot. All three tactics have a good chance of injuring your opponent and taking him out of the game completely and if your lucky end his career. Oh yeah shout out to Zaza!
I will admit as a Spurs fan, Bruce's defense could be dirty at times, but when he was at it and on a roll, other players would just say he was dirty because he was very good at defense
NUMBER one you need the attitude an will to stop people from scoring. There are two general types of defenders: the deny ones and the steal ones. As a great defender you need to master them both BUT great defenders mostly player the deny defense. Escpecially these days with zone defense - you deny passes and drives.
Not exactly true Bowen would not do shit without the great offence of Duncan,Parker or Ginobili.Sure he is a great defender,dirty as fuck and hated in my book,but still great.Regardless, TEAMS wins championships, combination of amazing scorers such as T-Mac,Vinsanity and Melo and solid defenders such as Battier,Artest,Ariza and while i hate to admit it Bowen is in there too.But still,everyone is important.
Or maybe just maybe having a great point gaurd like tony parker , the greatest pf in nba history tim Duncan not to mention one of the best 6th mans of all time in manu ginobili and not to mention one of the greatest coaches of all time lol just sayin
This is the type of defender that would shut down the other teams star. Curry, harden, durant, giannis and any position from guard to forward in the 2010's would definitely struggle. A true dirty lockdown defender, but i like him especially in the 05-07 spurs champ team.
man you know what? with his reputation and his name alone i tought he was like the baddest man out there. straight animal. but after seeing this he sounds pretty nice.
Great stuff and Bowen has always been my favorite defender. 2 things thoug: 1) with his active hands he would get the likes of James Harden ALWAYS pinning on him shooting fouls these days 2) he never played zone defense because during his active NBA days everytime the defender left his man they were called for illegal defense. None the less noone was able to stop Kobe and other Superstars from scoring 30+ the way Bown did. And therefore he was an integral part of Pops team around TD, TP, Ginobili, Horry...etc
and the best players in the league still dread playing against him. that just showes how good he really is. Good enough to help add a 4th banner in that gym.
he's great. cause he's a though competitor, hes not affraid to take the hardest job on the team (dfense people!) and not recieve all the credit he diserve for it. a true player.
Bowen...KG...Rodman... Dirty? Sometimes... or often. Then again, Spurs, Boston, Detroit & Chicago were all happy having them in their teams. All these 3 guys are all GREAT DEFENDERS. Amen!
... I'm not even sure what the first half of your comment means but referring to the parts I do get... Bowen has been on multiple Spurs championship teams and has been a key contributor. Not only did he, until recently, hold the record for most 3-pointers in a game by a Spur but also is arguably the second most important person on the team after Duncan. The Spurs win on their defense because they have a great inside defender and a great outside defender.
for those of you hating on bowen just listen to these last seconds of the video. DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS BABY. THAT'S RIGHT HE CAN SHOW OF HIS RINGS.
@dbtbandit67 off-ball defense doesnt typically get called for hand checking. on-ball defense is likely to be called. meaning if they dont have the ball you can put some physical pressure on them (not too much) but if they have the ball you can only put physical pressure on them in the post or in the paint.
My problem is when defending on a post up. I steal the front position of the person I'm guarding, his teammate will just throw the ball over me. I'm like "fuck, all that effort stealing the front position."
this is the reason why i love Bowen. All these fans who despise him so much because he somehow finds away (even if its illegal) to stop the oppposing team's best player. You haters have to give him props. If he wasn't so good at being dirty, he wouldn't be so infamous would he?
I read an article where a scout talked about Bowen's defense, and he said 'Well, if you think about it he's defending all the Kobe's, Lebron's, and Carmelo's out there and they get 20 shots a game. If he contests 15 of them a night, he ends up in so many plays that he's going to look dirty in some of them'. But he's really good at defense any way you look at it, he's really got both legs and arms working on you.
"So what you want to do is when you see someone think they're going to shoot a three, run over and kick 'em in the face. They'll think twice before they try that again."
if you're fronting you have to make sure your teammates know and understand the concepts of team defense and are helping you out on the back side. while fronting your opponent, aggressively push your back against your opponent, forcing him closer to the basket. this will make the pass more difficult. while the pass is in the air, you have to try to intercept the pass as well.
give the guy a break, he does play good defense and those drills look really useful. i wish i could play as good defense as he does. he doesn't leave anyone alone that often, which is good in the NBA
Do people have to be lame all the time? Love him or hate him, it was a really good tutorial. If you take his advice during pick-ups, you will be really thankful you did bcuz you will really notice the difference in how badly almost everybody struggles to score on you... if they do at all, since most people's skill level is much lower than NBA players.
Anyone know what is Spovelax Training Program about? I hear many individuals become a better basketball player with Spovelax Training Program (google search it).
Bruce Bowen was an integral part of 3 championship teams. He is the best perimeter defender in the league and a winner. For anyone who calls him selfish, the guy doesn't look for personal accomplishments, his own shots, or anything else of the sort. PLease define selfish..or at least think before you speak.
Bruce Bowen is a great defender people should stop hatin, the guy works his ass of every night coz he's not as gifted as most guys in the NBA so u gotta give him props for gettin where he's got.
i don't see kobe complaining, but kobe did said it himself that out of everyone in the nb...bowen really does give him a tough time on the offensive end...
Hahah sorry guys, but that is one of the reasons he is such a defensive threat. He hits people and trips them, but he gets in their heads, and does get more possessions for his team. I'm not exactly a Bruce Bowen fan but hey, respect.
You may not like him, but he is one of the best defenders in recent years. Outstanding, tough defender. Spurs might have been a "boring" team to watch, but real basketball fans would have appriciated the Spurs at both ends...real fundamentals and coaching.
