Spurs’ Bowen looks sharp in Game 2
Web Posted: 04/26/2007 12:33 AM CDT
Mike Monroe
Express-News
The other four Spurs starters were long gone from the locker room after their 97-88 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 at the AT&T Center on Wednesday, so Bruce Bowen found himself surrounded by more than a dozen reporters.
The Spurs’ defensive standout fussed with a multi-hued tie, getting the knot just right under the collar of a lilaccolored shirt, a monochromatic match for a suit only slightly darker.
“Man, that is some purple suit,” said a reporter from Denver, breaking into laughter.
“He laughed awfully hard at his own joke,” Bowen said to the rest of the media members. “You know, you have to be secure in your masculinity to wear a purple suit, and I’m right there.”
Indeed, in a game in which the Spurs locked down their defense against one of the NBA’s most explosive teams, Bowen had been “the man” at the defensive end. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich matched Bowen alternately against Denver’s 6-foot-8 Carmelo Anthony, the NBA’s No. 2 scorer, and 6-foot former MVP Allen Iverson, who finished seventh in the scoring race.
The two had combined to score 61 points, on a combined 21-for-40 shooting, in Denver’s 95-89 victory in Game 1. Bowen was largely responsible for their needing 46 shots to score 46 points Wednesday.
Though he played only 19 minutes in Game 1 after getting in early foul trouble, Bowen approached Game 2 with an agenda.
“He takes it really personal when somebody scores on him,” said teammate Manu Ginobili. “He studies his opponents a lot, but I really don’t know what he did different. I just know it was really hard for them to score on him today.”
Bowen said he did not get angry about Game 1, but did want to play more intelligently and intently.
“If you’re part of a situation where things didn’t go well, there’s no need for arrogance,” he said. “It’s about accepting that you didn’t do a good job and making adjustments next night out.”
Bowen made one subtle change Wednesday, making sure he showed the referees his hands when he attacked either Anthony or Iverson.
“It is very important with the way this league is,” Bowen said. “As soon as you touch an offensive guy, it’s a foul. If I show my hands, at least (the referees) can say, ‘OK, he’s not hand-checking.’”
Bowen stayed on the court for nearly 34 minutes Wednesday and stayed out of foul trouble. It helped that he also was an offensive threat, making 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range.
The challenge of defending two such different offensive threats as Anthony and Iverson in the same game requires double the preparation time. Bowen clearly did his homework in the two days between games.
“We know what to expect from him,” Ginobili said. “He’s one of the toughest, most annoying defenders in the league, and he did a wonderful job on both, knowing, that sometimes, even with the best defender, they are going to make shots. But he did a really good job.”