BearsTruth Board

I was there and it was pretty cool to see Robinson, Elliott, Duncan, Parker and Ginobili celebrate Bruce. I'm a diehard Spurs fans, but I didn't agree with Avery Johnson or Bruce getting their number retired. They were role players, not franchise players. Might as well retire Steve Kerr and Robery Horry's numbers as well.

Duncan is a lock. Ginobili is a lock. If Parker stays with the organization for a few more seasons, he will be a lock, even though if you retire Bruce and Avery, you have to retire Parker. Pop's name will be up there too. Going to have to make the banners smaller I guess.

I also went to the retirement luncheon on Monday. Great thing was Pop ragged on Bruce saying that the guy had no basketball talent and neither did Avery. LOL.

Are tey retiring the jersey or the number? Ones much easier to do than the other...

I wonder if he undercut the guy hanging the jersey and stuck his foot under his landing spot...

signed,

Mavs fan

In all seriousness though, Bowen was the consumate Spur along with Duncan for a long time. He will always be remembered fondly by Spurs fans, and not so fondly by the rest of us. You could do a lot worse than having a guy like bowen's jersey hanging in the rafters.

Dirtiest SOB ever!!!!!

(And yes I would have been okay with it if he played for the Mavs)

It's just when I think of retiring jerseys, I think of the superstar athlete that the franchise could not have succeeded without. Bowen was an outstanding defender, no doubt, and considered dirty by other teams. But, IMHO he was a role player. A very good one. It seems Spurs fans are split on this. But you are right in that Pop is a defense first guy, and in his mind, Bowen's defense warranted a jersey retirement. But he's not Robinson, Duncan, Iceman, or even AJ or Elliot.

How about Dirk? I kid. I kid.

Obviously BuGrad95 the criteria for the retiring of Spurs' jerseys is not franchise player status. I think Popvich just wants to honor all his key players from the Championship run. If you go by franchise status though, only Robinson and Gervin should be retired right now. San Antonio has been lucky to have such an unselfish group of professionals assembled under Popovich. SA may never see a group quite like this again so I have no problem honoring some the role players which I feel Bowen , Johnson, and Elliot all fall in that category. Obviously Duncan, Ginoboli, and Parker will be retired as they are hall of fame candidates. In Pop's opinion Bowen made the ultimate sacrifice for the team and has a special place in his heart. Sometimes it is difficult to put a value on a defensive player, but it is hard to deny his first team defensive awards. He should of received a defensive player of the year award at least once. Duncan paid him the ultimate compliment by saying that since Bowen left the team, the Spurs have still not been able to replace him. Spurs have a different culture. Your point is very well taken though BuGrad95. I guess the Spurs/Popvich logic would not be practical for organizations like the Lakers or Celtics.

I love guys like Bowen because they never get the respect they deserve. Playing defense for an entire game and shooting the occasional 3 makes for a lot of effort extended for very little in the way of the box score. Are there times he was probably over the line...yes, I dont think anyone would question that. Were there times he was, without doubt, the best defender in the NBA...absolutely, yes.