# Francis Hurt, Teammates Irked At Bowen



## USSKittyHawk (Jul 22, 2005)

> Steve Francis did not play in the second half of last night's loss to the Spurs after spraining his ankle. Some Knicks felt it was caused by Francis being undercut by Bruce Bowen.
> 
> Bowen, one the league's best defensive players, has been accused by Vince Carter and Ray Allen of not giving them enough room to land when they shoot jump shots. Francis, who was injured in the first quarter and returned shortly after that, was not available for comment after the game but several teammates, who did not want to be identified, felt Bowen's play was dirty. X-rays taken at the Garden were negative but it is not known if Francis will be available for tomorrow's game against Denver.


http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/story/469082p-394741c.html

I don't usually condone someone getting their *** whip while playing a professional basketball game, but in this case I can't wait for someone in the NBA to whip Bowen's ***. He is by far the dirtiest player in the NBA right now. If this was the 90's Knick team someone on the court would have came to Francis defense and step to Bowen and sock him right in the mouth.


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## alphaorange (Jul 2, 2006)

*I saw it at the time*

Bowen actually widened his stance to get his foot into SFs landing space. Check the tape.


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## Zuca (Dec 4, 2003)

Kitty said:


> http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/story/469082p-394741c.html
> 
> I don't usually condone someone getting their *** whip while playing a professional basketball game, but in this case I can't wait for someone in the NBA to whip Bowen's ***. He is by far the dirtiest player in the NBA right now. If this was the 90's Knick team someone on the court would have came to Francis defense and step to Bowen and sock him right in the mouth.



If Bowen was playing for Pacers or Blazers, he would've been suspended even in that Vince Carter episode... But he plays for Spurs, and NBA didn't want to assign a bad image over the "Saints" Antonio Spurs, a contending team with a good image...


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## EwingStarksOakley94 (May 13, 2003)

Zuca said:


> If Bowen was playing for Pacers or Blazers, he would've been suspended even in that Vince Carter episode... But he plays for Spurs, and NBA didn't want to assign a bad image over the "Saints" Antonio Spurs, a contending team with a good image...


Yeah, that actually seems like the case sometimes.

I didn't say anything last night, but it did look like he purposely put his foot into Stevie's landing space.


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## Gotham2krazy (Nov 22, 2005)

When did this happen? Was this during the first quarter? Where Stevie couldn't get the shot off? Anyways, Bowen is dirty, he tugs jerseys intentionally to keep up with players, and the likes. He's dirty all right.


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## Mr. Hobbes (Jul 1, 2005)

Gotham2krazy said:


> When did this happen? Was this during the first quarter? Where Stevie couldn't get the shot off? Anyways, Bowen is dirty, he tugs jerseys intentionally to keep up with players, and the likes. He's dirty all right.


Tugging jerseys, arm grabbing, that's bad, but I'm ok with that. Even elbowing guys like Mutombo and Malone, that's ok with me. But injuring joints, that's crossing the line. Physical play with some elbows and grabs are fine, but anything that could cause a twist or a sprain is intolerable.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

I don't know if he actually tries to hurt people. I think he just plays without any regard for the safety of the opposition. The vast majority of players make an effort not to hurt others, even if they don't realize they're doing this. It should be natural.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

Hakeem said:


> I don't know if he actually tries to hurt people. I think he just plays without any regard for the safety of the opposition. The vast majority of players make an effort not to hurt others, even if they don't realize they're doing this. It should be natural.


it's sportsmanship. guys like ray allen and kobe may go at each other hard and try to outplay each other, but they never try to poke each other's guys out. bruce bowen should have been out of the league after that karate kick in wally's face.


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## Krstic All-Star (Mar 9, 2005)

*Re: I saw it at the time*



alphaorange said:


> Bowen actually widened his stance to get his foot into SFs landing space. Check the tape.


Exactly. There's no rational way to excuse what he did. Even karatekas don't get into a stance that wide. And it's his m.o. to do that. Another Knick should've found a way to give him a love tap later on - like Oakley used to do.


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## Mr. Hobbes (Jul 1, 2005)

Hakeem said:


> I don't know if he actually tries to hurt people. I think he just plays without any regard for the safety of the opposition. The vast majority of players make an effort not to hurt others, even if they don't realize they're doing this. It should be natural.


This argument works the first two times, but after 5-6 incidents like this, it doesn't work anymore.


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## Tragedy (Dec 9, 2002)

Where can i get footage of this?


the only way anything will happen is when he does it to a mavs player, then cuban gets ALL the footage of bowen doing this over the years and sends it to the nba while posting it on his blog and sending it out to news outlets.

some crap like that


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## kconn61686 (Jul 29, 2005)

bowen is dirty, and therefore overrated as a defender. he should never see any kind of accolades for his defense, especially when the spurs dynasty teams hype him up as the best stopper in the league. he couldnt hold his own in the olympic qualifying practices


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## TracywtFacy (Mar 29, 2005)

what can the league do, tho? are there any rules prohibiting this kind of thing, and how can you really determine whether he's intentionally trying to injure a player, or just playing tough, in-you-face D?


also, is Francis ok to play against houston tonight?


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