Defensive Super Heros

The following things are true. Bruce Bowen is a great defensive stopper. Every great championship team has a guy like Bruce Bowen. To become a championship team, you need to pick up a guy like Bruce Bowen. What about Bruce makes him so great and instrumental to winning? Well, he’s a hard working, unselfish player who knows his role. His role is to torment and make it as difficult as possible for his man to score. He also needs to be able to put up a little offense himself. Not a lot, but he needs to convert a few of the open looks that come from playing with a superstar teammate. It’s a role that is best filled on the wings. A guy can start, but he doesn’t have to. If he comes off the bench he only comes off to guard superstar swingmen. This role is so effective because it enables a player with decent shooting and great defense to play and leaves a lot of open shots for a start, or several stars.

What makes Bruce so valuable is that that is exactly what he does. Look at the great championship teams of just the past ten years. They’ve all had a guy like that. Guys like Bruce, Tayshaun Prince and Ron Harper filled that role for their respective teams. Guys like Byron Russell Stacey Augmon and Shandon Anderson made careers of filling that role, even though they weren’t particularly qualified to do much else. So the question is, “Who’s Next?” Who are the Bowens of the future? Here’s a look at four guys who could be a lot of things for a lot of teams, but find themselves most proficient at the role of defensive stopper. So here they are, in no particular order…

→ Trenton Hassell, Minnesota Timberwolves

Hassell spent a few years playing in Chicago before he found himself as the defensive stopper for the Timberwolves. Bill Cartwright tried to use him in that role for the Bulls, but when a team is as weak offensively as the Bulls of two years ago were, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep a guy like this in the starting lineup. Trent and the Bulls parted ways two seasons ago and he’s found himself a starter for the Wolves. He’s the player most like Bowen. He can hit a three, and is good on steals. Unlike Bowen though, the Wolves have yet to really utilize his 3-point range. In his rookie season he shot 36% from beyond the arc on 165 attempts, but was limited to only 11 attempts this season. Hassell can hit that shot and maybe with the changing of the guard that’s occurring up in Minny, that skill can be better utilized. If the Wolves ever hope to win a championship they’re going to need Hassell to step up and be “the man” on D, like Bowen in San Antonio. Look for him to do it.

→Josh Howard, Dallas Mavericks

Arguably the most complete player of the bunch, Howard does it all well. Well, almost everything. He’s not the best long-range gunner ever, but on a team with shooters like Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, he doesn’t need to be. What he brings the Mavs is exactly what they need. He’s a Kobe Stopper. He’ll guard a guy on the inside and on the outside. Howard is without a doubt the best defensive player on the squad and because of that sees a lot of time as a starter. He has good numbers on steals, rebounds and points. If anyone in this group could step up and become a star, its Howard. Even though the Mavs are stacked, new coach Avery Johnson loves Howard’s defense so except him to see an even bigger role in the future.

→Andres Nocioni, Chicago Bulls

The Eastern Conference is loaded with great swingmen and Noc (pronounced Noch), as the fans call him, can stop any of them. Manu Ginobali’s Olympic running mate comes off the bench for the Bulls, and don’t look for that to change. The Bulls start Loul Deng at the 3, and he could be a superstar. Bringing Noc off the bench allows them to spell Ben Gordon and Deng and have an increase in the level of defensive intensity at a swing position. While his numbers weren’t great, he’s still learning the NBA game. A lot of times last year Noc would find himself on the bench because he made too many questionable offensive plays. As he learns to play more consistently on offense his ability to stay on the floor is going to increase and he’ll be a lot more effective for the Bulls. He’s a great player for an up and coming team like the Bulls.

→Shane Battier

When the Grizzlies picked Battier sixth in the 2001 draft, this wasn’t exactly the role they expected him to fall into. But, they’ve managed to find themselves with a team that plays more by committee than it does individually so Battier’s willingness to be versatile and win allows him to remain in the rotation. Just like Hubie Brown and now Mike Fratello shut down guys who don’t buy into their systems by benching them, Battier shuts down his man on defense by frustrating him. He has good steals numbers and hardly ever turns the ball over. He keeps his fouls to a minimum and is decent on the glass. The only thing keeping him from being a star offensively is the system in which he plays. The Grizzlies don’t need him to be though and he seems to be content to play the role he is playing. As the team grows and matures into winners, look for Battier’s to get a lot more attention.

While these guys aren’t going to win you a championship, you’re not going to win a championship without them. They’re the blue-collar players of the league. If you like to cheer for the underdog, these guys are your men. So when Bruce Bowen retires he can know that his legacy is safe in their hands.