DENZEL BOWLES

Height: 6'10''
Position: Power Forward / Center
Born: May 1, 1989
Weight: 255lbs

Bowles became eligible to play for James Madison in December 2009, after the fall semester. Almost immediately, Bowles became a standout, both in physical presence and in level of play.

In just his second game with the Dukes, Bowles scored 37 points and pulled down 15 rebounds against Gardner Webb. In that one game, he had scored more points than he did in a year and a half at Texas A&M.

Bowles did not let up from there. He went on to average nearly 21 points and over nine boards a game for the season. He posted 12 double-doubles, including both games the Dukes played in last year’s CAA Tournament.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/581429-nba-prospect-caa-poy-candidate-denzel-bowles-putting-james-madison-back-on-map

While he may need to make some adjustments to improve his opportunity to make an impact on the NBA level, Bowles is already a highly efficient and productive small-conference college player. Imposing his size and athleticism on smaller, slower bigs on a nightly basis, Bowles ranked amongst the top-10 players in our database in PER. Shooting nearly 60% from the field and averaging a shade below a double-double, Bowles dominated the Colonial Athletic Association in his first year with the Dukes.

When he isn't working in the post, Bowles ranks amongst the most efficient finishers in the NCAA. While his size certainly plays a role in that, he exploits his length very effectively, often finishing plays on the other side of the rim with reverse layups when he has space and pulling down offensive rebounds at a good rate. Capable of using his dribble to get to the rim with straight line drives against slower opponents from the midrange, Bowles flashes some perimeter shooting touch, but doesn't take very many shots away from the immediate vicinity of the rim.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Denzel-Bowles-5856/

Last month, I wrote a fanpost about Marcus Douthit, a player who I thought could have been a good addition to our lineup this season. This time, I have decided to share my thoughts about this 23-year old 6'10" (without the shoes) 255-lb prospect who is currently playing as "import" in the ongoing PBA tournament. PBA, by the way is the first professional basketball league in Asia. Chip, our shooting coach, should be familiar about the level of play here in the Philippines. Some of you might not be aware that Chip used to play as a naturalized player for the Philippines way back in his playing years.

The above quotes are excerpts from articles I scoured from the net that talked about Denzel Bowles. I must admit, I never watched any of his college games and have only seen a total six games, thus far in the ongoing tournament he's playing, averaging 26.7ppg, 11.7rpg, 2.5apg, 1blk, and 0.8spg.

Hereunder are my personal observations.

Positives:

1. Advanced offensive skills with a variety of post moves to boot. He has range on his shot.

2. He's disciplined on defense and doesn't easily fall for fakes, just raising both his hands.

3. He's pretty agile and athletic for his size and can play above the rim, with already a handful of alleyhoop dunks, thus far. He can also finish on fastbreaks and can handle the ball pretty well. He can even drive past his defender from the perimeter to score a layup.

4. Rebounds well with sound fundamentals.

5. Currently playing for the team coached by the greatest and winningest coach in PBA history (comparable to Pop in terms of instilling discipline, fundamental, and no nonsense basketball coaching style.)

Negatives:

1. Conditioning. Seems to get easily gassed out. Perhaps he's still getting used to playing 36mins per game on the average.

2. Foul prone. He got 5 fouls each in his first 2 games. He has somehow adjusted quite a bit in his last 4 games only averaging 3 fouls in 36 mins of play, probably a result of the great coaching of Tim Cone.

3. In some instances, he's made some poor judgments like shooting the ball instead of passing for a repost.

This guy is a legitimate prospect and his desires to join the big league is very well known in the tournament. I just hope our PATFO could at least take a look at this guy. His team is expected to play deep into the playoffs. He is expected to be the main man on both sides of the court. The PBA is the perfect place to hone his skills in preparation for his NBA plans. Perhaps we could send one of our scouts to observe this guy.