Did Bowen kick Amare on the final dunk??

[gonashcanada]

this thread is stupid bowen isnt evan trying to kick amare you can totally tell its by accsident!!!

 

[msdundee]

Good lord, watch his head. He looks down as he does it -- checking his aim, apparently -- then looks back up. BOWEN is embarrassing.

 

[Gee!]

Here is a great slow-mo of it. Without a doubt it was intentional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc4yz__akIU&NR=1

In that close up you can see Bowen looking down when he kicked.. Just saying..

 

[BuddyFranklin]

He doesn't slip. Watch his left foot. He plants it then lifts his heel, whilst kicking his right foot outwards.

 

[hsandhu]

I'm not ready to make a federal case out of it. Amare is ok, nobody should be suspended, it's all good.

But anybody acting like that was an accident is fooling themselves. Why?
First, he clearly stopped, looked down to locate amare's foot, and extened his leg. And secondly, he has history of doing this exact thing.

Again, I'm not making a big deal out of it. I've actually greatly enjoyed watching bruce bowen play defense his entire career. I dont think he is dirty, just a tough defender.

But... this is clearly a pet move of his. Probably not to injure guys, just make them uncomfortable with him guarding them. Luckily no one has gotten seriously injured, but that was OBVIOUSLY done on purpose.

 

[Sundance]

We need Scott Williams back, so he can take out Bowen, like he took out Karl Malone.

 

[Greg Popovich]

I just saw the You Tube video.

I have to admit--

It does like Bowen kicked Amare.

And it does look intentional.

 

[cly2tw]

Well, the evidence isn't sufficient to prove his intention to specifically kick or step on Amare's heel. Yet, given his reputation as someone who is willing to risk injury to the shooters by undercutting or gliding in, it's quite clear he was just doing his routine in this regard here. Just step close to the guy who is about to lift or just lifted for shooting let them feel the danger of potentially injure themselves, this may distract them enough to lower their accuracy on average. That's it.

PS: actually, it is clear he stretched out his right leg with his center of gravity full on his left leg, and pulled it right back after contact with Amare's. It's very like another scene I saw in game 1 in an in-game rewind. While Nash was driving by him for a layup, he just made a quick pull on Nash's arm and raised his hands into the air right after that to pretend innocence. Nash scored and refs either didn't see it or just didn't want to call it. But the purpose of gaining so slight advantage by these "dirty" moves is consistent. It's just that dirty moves with your legs and feet are more dangerous to others' health.

Given his reputation, this evidence should warrant a fine for "irresponsibly dangerous moves" from the league, without judgment on intention.

 

[slinslin]

If that is not intentional I don't know what would be...

I mean in the slow motion you can see how his foot targets Amare's left heel or whatever and he kind of tries to stomp on it.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Well, the evidence isn't sufficient to prove his intention to specifically kick or step on Amare's heel. Yet, given his reputation as someone who is willing to risk injury to the shooters by undercutting or gliding in, it's quite clear he was just doing his routine in this regard here. Just step close to the guy who is about to lift or just lifted for shooting let them feel the danger of potentially injure themselves, this may distract them enough to lower their accuracy on average. That's it.

that's actually something I agree on, upon looking at it again. It appears Bowen was getting his foot out there to get it under Stats foot and on the way to the spot, got too close and hit Amare's foot. It's a dirty play,play hardly worth bitching and complaining about.

I've figured out who this Spurs team is (and I think hsandu made a comment somewhat like this, but not exactly). They are RIC FLAIR! An unbelievably boring champion, that depends on the fundamentals but will pull out all the stops, good and bad to win. And like Falir use to say: To be the man, YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE MAN! And that's what we must do - BEAT THE MAN. I just hope we're not the NBA's version of STING! (does ANYONE get that reference?)

 

[Linderbee]

I just saw the You Tube video.

I have to admit--

It does like Bowen kicked Amare.

And it does look intentional.

You are rapidly becoming my favorite non-Suns fan poster. It is really difficult (especially on a message board for some reason) to admit that you probably weren't right, and I admire you for it. Most people are just too stubborn.

You are classy, and you represent San Antonio VERY well. Keep it up, and I just might not hate EVERYTHING about Texas...

 

[Mainstreet]

I don't know. The replay is inconclusive to me.

However, what bothered me about the play is that Bowen had his eyes glued on Amare's feet and only raised his arms in reaction to the play when Amare was well into the air. If I'm a defensive player guarding a player in the process of dunking the basketball, I don't think I would be concentrating on the opposing player's feet unless somehow that is how I plan to defend him.

Every player has tricks so to speak as how to gain an advantage on opposing players both offensively and defensively. This applies to both teams. However, I think Bowen and Ginobili are clumsy like a fox and all play like they have been to acting school. I just don't like these tactics when they can seriously injure a player. The Spurs are a good defensive team but I'm beginning to see that they get a way with a lot with the referees watching. Also I dislike Duncan's demeanor thinking he never makes a foul and blowing his cool or giving that dumbfounded look when he is called for a foul. His loosing his cool after he ran over Nash on the charge is a good example. The play wasn't even close.

However, I will say that SA fans (thus far) have been more palatable than Mavs fans on this board. I just do not want a player seriously hurt from either team in this series. I just want the bumping, holding and other shenanigans used by the Spurs to stop but I know I'm asking too much.

 

[Greg Popovich]

There are some close ties between these two teams.

Boris Diaw= Tony Parker's Best Man (I wish he could convince Tony Parker to get a prenup).

I want the series to be played without incident or injury to either team. Spurs fans were really upset when Steve got hurt in game one--one site even argued that the rule should accomodate such an injury in the last few minutes of the game so that a player can be stitched.

I don't think that a Mavs website would ever do that.

(Mavs and their fans are in a special category--they hate everyone).

 

[sunsfn]

Here is a great slow-mo of it. Without a doubt it was intentional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc4yz__akIU&NR=1

In this one you can see where Amare kicks his right leg forward as he goes up to dunk. Then when he comes down it is not a normal reaction to the dunk. I think this kick is harder than it appears for Amare to react like that.

 

[Sundance]

As if we needed another reason to pile on that POS...

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/0510p2main0510.html

"San Antonio's Bruce Bowen quickly pointed to a drop on the floor to alert the referees so Nash would be forced out of the game. We figure that if that had not worked, Manu Ginobili would have flopped down next to the spot to draw the attention of the refs." -- Bob Young

 

[carrrnuttt]

As if we needed another reason to pile on that POS...

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/0510p2main0510.html

We can do without Pat Burke for the rest of this series, right?

 

[Michael]

After watching the close-up I have to change my mind.

It looks intentional. Just imagine, Amaré would have been hurt!

This should be send to the league. What a dirty *******!

 

[asudevil83]

Doug and Wolfe brought it up this morning on their show.

Doug suprisingly loves bowen and had no idea that Bowen was this kind of player. .....figures

after seeing the videos on YouTube Doug changed his view. Wolfe on the other had hates Bowen and was pissed after watching it.

looked pretty intentional to me, and i think if something like this happens again, we'll see action taken. the league usually doesnt hand out any punishment unless its something they find on their own. if they see vids of this, they'll be reviewing the next game for anything and go from there.

 

[jbeecham]

Here's the problem with the Bowen kick video, I can't actually tell if Bowen makes contact with Amare or not. In the super-slo-mo video, you can clearly see that Amare lands wrong and tweaks his ankle a little on the landing. This could have been a result of the Bowen kick or he could've just lost his balance during the dunk and that could be why he came up gimpy.

Bowen obviously looks at Amare's feet and kicks his foot at Amare and could easily have clipped him as he's taking off, but from that angle I can't see the contact. The 1st dunk attempt you could definitely tell Bowen was trying to step on Amare's foot and/or trip him.

 

[sunsfn]

Here's the problem with the Bowen kick video, I can't actually tell if Bowen makes contact with Amare or not. In the super-slo-mo video, you can clearly see that Amare lands wrong and tweaks his ankle a little on the landing. This could have been a result of the Bowen kick or he could've just lost his balance during the dunk and that could be why he came up gimpy.

Bowen obviously looks at Amare's feet and kicks his foot at Amare and could easily have clipped him as he's taking off, but from that angle I can't see the contact. The 1st dunk attempt you could definitely tell Bowen was trying to step on Amare's foot and/or trip him.

You are missing it, Bowan does kick Amare and there is no doubt about it.
Did you watch this one? It shows it three times in slow mo. and it also shows Amares right leg going forward from being kicked and he acts like he really felt it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc4yz__akIU&NR=1

 

[Mulli]

Not so sure, Stat's leg go forward due to the kick. The kicked leg goes up before it goes forward. Can't tell if it not just Amare moving the leg to prepare for coming back down.

 

[Linderbee]

You are missing it, Bowan does kick Amare and there is no doubt about it.
Did you watch this one? It shows it three times in slow mo. and it also shows Amares right leg going forward from being kicked and he acts like he really felt it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc4yz__akIU&NR=1

I'm sorry, but Amare's foot is not going forward from the kick. The kick happened before his foot even left the ground, and it's not until after the dunk is made that his leg swings forward. His leg swings because of the dunk, plain & simple.

Yes, I believe Bowen kicked him, Yes, Bowen is an asshat for it. But Amare's leg isn't swinging out because of it.

 

[jbeecham]

His right leg doesn't go forward until after he dunks the ball. It actually remains straight the entire way up despite the kick. The 1st time watching through the video, I was looking for Bowen kicking him on his left foot since that is the foot that came up gimpy.

 

[TucsonDevil]

Linderbee, the reason Amare's foot is not going forward from the kick was that the kick didn't have a lot of force, and Amare's foot was planted and he was jumping off it. It did however, take away some of his lift, thus he barely dunked it. Also, it did hurt him, since he came down wincing.

All of that said - I think Amare and the Suns realized what happened, but wanted to take the high road with the situation. Whether or not the NBA does anything about it is a whole different story. I believe they won't do a thing, since they haven't done anything with his 'dirty' tricks in the past. They have also been hesitant to do anything against Manu's dangerous flops (and in case you don't understand what is different with a Manu flop and a Raja Flop, look at my signature).

The Suns have to rise above it and just out play the Spurs. Don't get caught up in the mind games and dirty tricks stuff... the Spurs WANT them to get frustrated. Don't let it happen. As fans, we can complain and call it dirty - But the Suns need to focus on other things.

 

[nashman]

Who cares the point is Bowen is dirty everyone knows it....and nothing will be done about it because they are the Spurs. Suck it up beat there brains in like game 2 for 3 more games and lets move on...EYES ON THE PRIZE!