Dallas giving away game 1...

[Rotj]

that bowen pic is priceless.. pretty impressed with that kick

[vonkaar]

Sure kicking people in the head is bad form, but it has nothing to do with how he guards.

[Zanchief]

He guards with his feet. It's resourceful.

[vonkaar]

I see a lot of other 'great defenders' who can defend without kicking people in the face.

Dallas' own snuggly Josh Howard has never been fined or suspended for beating people up on court.

Ben Wallace has never kicked a man in the face.

Dikembe Motumbo won the defensive player of the year award 4 times and he's probably going to die pennyless because he gives all of his money to the poor. Also, he was never fined or suspended for kicking someone in the face.

Ron Artest...

Andrei Kirilenko's wife lets him have sex with a random chick, once a year. That might explain why he's such a relaxed guy on the court... defending so well despite the fact that he doesn't need to kick people in the face (or the back).

Lots of great defenders in the game... only one of them has been suspended TWICE for KICKING people in game.

[Zanchief]

He's also notorious for slipping his foot under people while they jump, so they twist their ankle and possibly retard their entire career.

Class act.

[vonkaar]

yup... I argued that a few years ago... I might look up that post just for grins

[Zanchief]

Watch him try that shit with Lebron AKA the little jesus, and let's see how much slack the league gives him.

[vonkaar]

Wow, I've bitched a LOT about Bowen... there was like... 3 pages of shit to sift through... I've said "Bowen" almost as much as "Dirk" on these forums. Craziness.

Anyway... this was another post I made a long time ago...

Tell me that this isnt' cheap:

Oops! Sorry about that Wally...

There are 3 teams that boo him when he enters the court... he's dirty... WAY dirty on the court. I TOTALLY understand that this is just 'life' in the NBA, but even the players think he's dirty.

A quote from Nellie..

"You can put me down now as one of the many who have called him dirty," Nelson said. "I've never cast an aspersion toward Bruce Bowen ? but he's a dirty player. And I'll remember it. I'm shocked he wasn't suspended."

From Finley:

"You look at Ben Wallace or Dikembe Mutombo, they don't ever play dirty," Finley said. "They get into guys in the flow of the game. But when you give a cheap shot away from the play, that's not basketball."

Another superstar in the NBA speaks out:

"I was at a point where I wanted to fight him," Allen said after Seattle's 96-90 defeat at KeyArena last month. "I wasn't thinking about playing basketball. I wanted to fight him."

He's cheap... He's a little guy that wants to get physical with bigger guys. Too often, it's key players that the opponent can't live without. He's thoroughly pissed off Wally Sczerbiack, Ray Allen, Vince Carter and now Michael Finley. None of those guys are known whiners... it's one thing if Barkley calls someone cheap, he wouldn't flinch at calling Mother Teresa cheap. Sure Ray and Vince are a little soft, but Finley? Finley NEVER snaps... he's one of the most calm and collected players on the court. He's also the cornerstone of Dallas' defense.

That was after a game where he elbowed Finley too many times and Michael snapped, shoving Bowen to the ground. Fin got ejected and the Spurs won. Bruce did his job... he got in the head of the player.

[Zanchief]

I had fun reading the 2005 NBA thread.

Reading about the Vince trade, the brawl, and Marquis deserving ROY over Lebron was pretty interesting.

Plus I was still right about Phoenix. Utah, not so much.

[Phlegm]

Bowen was named to the all defensive team today for the sixth consecutive year. Wallace, Bryant, Kidd, Artest, and Kirilenko also made the first team.

[Zanchief]

Kidd was a bit of a head scratcher for me but I guess they needed a PG.

[Phlegm]

Kidd was a bit of a head scratcher for me but I guess they needed a PG.

Actually they just take the top 6 vote getters regardless of position for the first team and the next 6 for the second team.

http://www.nba.com/news/alldefensive_060511.html

[vonkaar]

Incoming Shawn Marion's whining

Kidd plays excellent D for a point guard. Actually... I'm struggling to think of a better defender at the position... I think Livingston will be amazing some day. Chris Paul too... but... nope... Baron Davis aint bad... Billups isn't bad... Hinrich has potential to be great... Bobby Jackson I guess, but he's pretty 1/2. Still, Kidd is a better on the ball defender than any of them.

[Zanchief]

Raja Bell.

[vonkaar]

See Bobby Jackson. Bell is almost specificaly a '2'. He handles the point only in very specific circumstances.

It's a lot easier to find defensive 2s out there... but... go around the league and look at the point guards... seriously... they all 'suck' at defense.

bibby - sucks... smush - meh... baron- decent... ridnour - sucks... telfair - too early... nash - sucks...
oh yeah, Andre Miller... he's not bad at all. He's a ridiculously underrated guard...
moving on...
minnesota... who the fuck starts for them now? Hudson? no clue
billups - decent, but I think it's his system more than anything...
Hinrich - pretty good... eric snow - sucks...
Iverson - sucks
Mike James aint bad
Starbury / Franchise?
Dickau - sucks
Kidd - pretty good
Wallace - meh
Arenas - no D
J. Williams - meh
Arroyo - sucks
Atkins - decent
Paul - lots of potential in the right system
Parker - no D
Terry - I think he's a great defender and would argue that but I know the rest of the nation thinks he sucks... so... whatever...
Wesley - sucks... although, bobby sura IS a good defender... too bad he was IL the whole year

[Snero]

Hinrich would have been my choice, course he has played a lot of 2 but he does end up guarding the point guards often

[Zanchief]

Of that list I would say Billups and Hinrich.