By Various Media

San Antonio Spurs swingman Bruce Bowen spoke with the media on Tuesday. The Spurs currently have a 2-1 lead in the NBA finals. Game 4 is Wednesday night in New Jersey.

Q: Do you think these Finals lack sizzle?

Bruce Bowen: I think true fans of the game appreciate this kind of Finals because it’s a situation of what we were taught from Day 1 in basketball, which is that defense wins championships. Now you have two defensive teams playing for a championship. Those people that really understand the game are happy with what’s going on.

Q: Was Miami the place where you really started to develop as a shooter?

Bruce Bowen: Yeah, because that’s the way their offense was. Alonzo Mourning inside and Tim Hardaway creating at the top. Before that, I was more or less a scorer. When I played in the CBA and college and Europe, I could score. But it’s totally different now because everybody does see me shoot threes, and they’re like “Wow he’s such a good three-point shooter,” but it took time and lot of work for me to get where I am now. And it doesn’t stop there. I’ve accomplished a goal that I didn’t set out for, and that was to lead the league in three-point percentage, and that’s a plus. But now it’s going to take more work to become more consistent.

Q: What’s the mindset of your team right now?

Bruce Bowen: We have to improve on what we did last game. We didn’t play particularly well, so our focus today is working on the things we didn’t do well, so we can come in better prepared.

Q: Do you ever worry that the free throw problems of your team can come back to haunt you?

Bruce Bowen: You can’t worry about that. You just have to play the game and if you do miss free throws, you have to be solid on defense or try to at least, because we’ve played a lot of games in which we didn’t necessarily shoot free throws well, but we were in the game until the very last minute.

Q: Do you shoot more free throws in practice during the Finals?

Bruce Bowen: I don’t think anybody goes to the line saying, “Oh Boy, I hope I make this.” It’s just a matter of relaxing and not being upset about missing. We want to succeed just as much as anybody else. My struggles at the line I think are more a function of not getting to the line. I haven’t gotten there this series. I knew I would get there in the Dallas series because I knew Don Nelson would do what he did. I got better with that. That’s not an excuse. I have to get better in that aspect.


InsideHoops.com is the online leader in pro basketball coverage.