Bowden next year...

[gainesvol82]

I'm really excited to see how Bowden progresses this summer. I really think he will he will be a team leader and will be an all SEC player next year.

I love the way he closed out this year. Seemed to develop confidence, consistency and a more aggressive mentality. I hope that he continues to work on attacking the rim more to mix with his lethal outside shooting. His defense is very solid and could become even more elite.

I'm thinking that Bowden will ease the pain of losing Admiral and will work himself into a late first round pick....just need some strong post play to help open things up for him. Grant coming back would be huge.

Really happy to see a Knoxville kid coming into his own.

 

[CAVol]

The parallels between Bowden and J-Rich are uncanny. J-Rich put together a strong tournament run at the end of his junior year as well and took a huge step his senior year.

 

[BruinVol]

Bowden thru 3 years has been much better than Richardson. Hope year 4 he's on par with him

 

[njvols]

Bowden thru 3 years has been much better than Richardson. Hope year 4 he's on par with him

Agree...JR punched his ticket with crazy good D, then developed his offense. Bowden's right there, with his athleticism... I think some of his inconsistency on offense has to do with how balanced we were this year. Next year, he'll bear more a burden to carry more of the scoring load, which I think he's up for it.

 

[beachvol23]

Agree...JR punched his ticket with crazy good D, then developed his offense. Bowden's right there, with his athleticism... I think some of his inconsistency on offense has to do with how balanced we were this year. Next year, he'll bear more a burden to carry more of the scoring load, which I think he's up for it.

I don’t think he closed out strong! The last two games he was awful at FT and and fouled out once. His FT shooting must improve. He could’ve iced the game!

 

[Crazy Ivan]

I don’t think he closed out strong! The last two games he was awful at FT and and fouled out once. His FT shooting must improve. He could’ve iced the game!

His FT shooting just improve? He shot 81.7% from the FT stripe for the season. He just had a bad day at the stripe, as did pretty much everyone on both teams. Purdue was 16-33 and UT was 14-28. And both teams are typically good from the stripe.

 

[gainesvol82]

He played well vs Purdue even with the FT troubles. That was a weird first half...a lot of those FTs looked good but popped out.

 

[BeecherVol]

I think he has the most room to add to the bottom line.

Solid defender. Needs to find more consistency scoring.

 

[zjcvols]

Bowden thru 3 years has been much better than Richardson. Hope year 4 he's on par with him

I don’t think you can say that. It’s pretty close. J-Rich was better his junior year than Bowden. Bowden has him slightly beat on offense but J-Rich was a better defender at this point

 

[LeannaVol]

I don’t think you can say that. It’s pretty close. J-Rich was better his junior year than Bowden. Bowden has him slightly beat on offense but J-Rich was a better defender at this point

I'm not sure Bowden is the overall athlete J rich is. J rich seems a little longer to me as well. I do like Bowden's potential just not sure it is at J rich level

 

[The Dog]

I think Bowden is as athletic as JRich and a better shooter, but Josh is longer, taller and a better ball handler. Still, I wouldn't be shocked if Bowden became an all-SEC player next year, in fact, I expect it.

 

[orangemadam]

Next year will depend on Lamonte and Bowden both becoming more consistent. There were several halves where one or both either disappeared or pulled some really bone-headed defensive plays. Both also had some very bad shot selection at critical times in the game. Go ahead and fire the missiles at me. They both had incredibly good overall seasons, but they last 8-10 games weren't the same as the first 20.

 

[1Big_Orange_Fan]

I don’t think he closed out strong! The last two games he was awful at FT and and fouled out once. His FT shooting must improve. He could’ve iced the game!

Other than FTs, he stepped up his game against Purdue. Without him we would've been blown out.

 

[sport3500]

Bowden and Turner need to step up and become consistent 20 point a game scorers next season.

 

[gainesvol82]

Bowden and Turner need to step up and become consistent 20 point a game scorers next season.

Not necessarily 10-15 will be fine if James is as expected.

 

[golfballs]

W more depth at the guard spot next year I expect our perimeter defense will improve. It’s the only thing I can guess that was the deference between last season and this one. It’s not like Daniel was an elite defender, but he was good and gave us good depth there.

 

[TC 83]

Yep. I think his ball handling skills need to improve. His shot is great but he lacked confidence in creating his own shot at times. If he improves his dribble drive and handling in traffic in the offseason then he's definitely capable of being All SEC. He's got a huge offseason coming up and we need him to take the next step to become more than a good role player.[/QUOTE]

 

[Roustabout]

I think Bowden is as athletic as JRich and a better shooter, but Josh is longer, taller and a better ball handler. Still, I wouldn't be shocked if Bowden became an all-SEC player next year, in fact, I expect it.

Richardson was a fierce defender. Bowden has been more productive offensively up to this point in their careers. They are very similar in size. Richardson exploded his senior year. Depending who comes back will determines a lot. Sometimes kids step up based on opportunity and need. With the diverse offensive weapons Bowden wasn’t a primary scoring threat. I think he has the most pro potential on the team.