Spurs' Popovich seeks small forward to 'spell defense' or shoot

In his ongoing hunt for a backup small forward, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has pored over old film, scoured the Development League and rummaged through the NBA scrap heap.

To find exactly what he's looking for, Popovich would need to build a time machine.

“If I had my druthers, and it was a perfect world, I want Bruce Bowen to be 28 years old and back on our team,” Popovich said, echoing a persistent preseason theme.

What Popovich wants most in a backup to Richard Jefferson is a defensive menace who could be, in the coach's words, “a pain in the ass.” He isn't certain anybody on Sunday's charter flight to Mexico City for Tuesday's game against the Clippers fits that description.

“If I can get somebody who can at least spell defense and say the word once in a while, then I'll know they have some interest in it,” he said.

Bobby Simmons, an eight-year NBA veteran hoping to make the team on a non-guaranteed contract, would like to be that guy. To that end, he has spent a lot of time watching tapes of — who else? — Bowen.

His definition of what it means to be like Bowen?

“Being a gnat on a guy's body, to where he gets tired of him being around you,” Simmons said. “Bruce did a great job of that.”

The 6-foot-6 Simmons has never quite been that guy in previous stops with New Jersey, Milwaukee, the Clippers and Washington. He is hoping to reinvent himself at age 30.

“I can be that way,” Simmons said. “That hasn't been my nature the last couple of years, but I'm willing to take that task.”

The decision is likely to come down to which player shows at least a passing inkling about playing defense. Absent the next Bowen, however, Popovich will accept the next Peja Stojakovic.

“The worse they are defensively, the better they'd better be able to shoot,” Popovich said. “Or there's no reason to have them around.”

None of the candidates on the Spurs' preseason roster seems to fit either mold.