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June 11, 2007

In San Antonio: Rejecting the Media's Label


By Travis Heath

 

If you're an NBA fan, chances are you are well aware of Bruce Bowen. Before he donned a San Antonio Spurs' jersey, though, very few people had a clue who the skinny kid from Cal-State Fullerton was.

Now, NBA fans know him for one reason... his defense. However, that's not the way he intended it to be when he made his NBA debut with the Miami HEAT in 2000.

"All this stuff about what I do defensively not only comes from what I do on the court but a lot from what the media has seen and wanting to label people," Bowen explained. "Unfortunately in this game there are labels. It's not a bad thing to be labeled, but with all the labels sometimes you all make it sound like this is football -- defense, offense and special teams. It wasn't a situation for me coming in and saying, 'I have to play defense to be here or play defense to get me wherever I want to go. ' It was a talent that I had and I continued to work on it because it kept me on the floor. So if that's going to keep me on the floor, I'm going to do everything I can to stay on the floor.

"I came up old school. If you didn't play any 'D' you didn't get on the floor. We didn't have AAU and things like that when the kids are playing 50 games a summer and not learning too much about the basic fundamentals of the game. But when I grew up defense was the way you got onto the floor."

Bowen's first chance to get meaningful minutes on the NBA hardwood came courtesy of Gregg Popovich. The Spurs often get called lucky for landing Tim Duncan in the draft. While that may be true, unearthing gems like Bowen has allowed the Spurs to find the kind of success and consistency few NBA teams ever experience.

"He stuck with me," Bowen said of his head coach in San Antonio. "He sought me in a time when I didn't know anyone was necessarily looking. During my last season in Miami evidently he had taken notice of me. So he pursued me. I had to really try to catch the attention of others and he saw the talent I had and pursued me."

After arriving in San Antonio, Bowen quickly carved a niche for himself on the defensive end. As time has progressed, though, Bowen has evolved into a player capable of providing substantial contributions on both ends of the floor.


"It's not just defense," Bowen asserted. "I tell people this all the time. When I get the opportunity to take a shot, I have to understand that it's because of one particular job I have as far as defense that can lead to other things. A big game offensively can only happen because of my defense having me on the floor. So if you are very good at defense don't try and prove the press or critics wrong when they say you have a bad jumpshot. Just work on the jumpshot and hopefully as you continue to go on it will get better."

It has most certainly gotten better for Bowen. In fact, it's gotten so much better that he is routinely among the league leaders in three-point field-goal percentage. His favorite spot is in the corner, often right in front of the visitor's bench. This propensity for knocking down the corner three has led former Spurs' player turned analyst Sean Elliot to call Bowen "The Roach," because as Elliot says, 'He just hangs out in the corner.'

Even despite his constantly improving offensive prowess, the life of Bowen is one of a lot of dirty work and not too much individual glory. This is not a recipe for lots of accolades being thrown his way since scoring is what dominates the modern day NBA headlines.

" There are a lot of guys that played defense when they were in college and then when they got to the NBA some of the coaches say, "Ahh, don't worry about that. Just score.' "

Bowen will never just score. But he is also more than just a defensive specialist despite the label the media has thrust upon him.

When asked if he should get more notoriety for what he brings to the table for the Spurs, Bowen responded: "I'll allow you to be the judge of that. I don't think it's necessarily my place to say, 'Oh yeah, you have to look at the job I do.' Whenever you hear a player doing something like that, it sounds like sour grapes, and maybe they didn't do the job they were supposed to do. You do the reporting of the game and you tell it how you see it, and that's more or less what it's about."

Okay, Bruce. The way your friendly neighborhood columnist sees it is simple... Perhaps it's about time NBA nation starts giving Bowen the credit he truly deserves as a good basketball player as opposed to pigeon-holing him as a one-dimensional specialist.

That's real.