Bowden back to work after knee procedure
If there’s a change in Jordan Bowden’s approach with Tennessee basketball, it hasn’t been seen through two weeks of UT’s summer workouts.
But the junior guard also hasn’t had a big chance to show any potential changes on the floor after having a “minor procedure” on his knee after last season.
“He had been rehabbing for the better part of the spring,” associate head coach Rob Lanier said on Thursday’s SEC coaches teleconference. “He just got cleared last week to go full contact and do all of those things.
“In terms of his approach, no, we haven’t sensed anything (changing). But he hasn’t been out there doing everything until this past week.”
Bowden started all 35 games last season, averaging 9.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 27.9 minutes per game. He tied with Admiral Schofield and Lamonte Turner for the team lead in 3point shooting, knocking down 39.5 percent of his attempts.
But after an up-and-down season offensively, more will be asked of Bowden now in his third year as a starter.
“He is going to have more responsibility,” Lanier said. “Jordan is a guy who wants to be more aggressive. He is a great team guy, but we need him to come out of his personality a little bit and be a little bit more aggressive. We need him to score the ball more, be more aggressive offensively.”
The Knoxville native and Carter graduate opened the season furiously. He entered SEC play shooting better than 60 percent from 3-point range and scored in double-digits in six of UT’s final eight nonconference games.
Still, Vols coach Rick Barnes said he wanted even more shots from Bowden. Then he had more games without a 3pointer (eight) than with multiple 3’s (five) through SEC regular-season play.
Barnes routinely praised Bowden’s unselfishness in guarding an opponent’s best perimeter player. He pointed to that defensive play that helped Tennessee win games when Bowden opened SEC play in a cold spell.
But there’s little doubt that Bowden has the ability on both ends of the floor to be a game-changing player for the Vols – and they want to expand his game.
Barnes has Bowden working some at point guard, along with starting point guard Jordan Bone and backup Lamonte Turner. The fourth-year Vols coach said it’s important to get many players playing point guard during the offseason “because you can’t hide there.”
Wherever Bowden is on the floor, the Vols don’t want him hiding.
Instead, they want to see the sharpshooter and rangy defender make his presence felt as he heads into his junior season.
“He is one of those guys – as a coach – that we really have a lot of trust in him,” Lanier said. “We need him to assert himself a little bit more. Jordan is a pleaser. We need him to do more. We expect that he will do that.”