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If Aiden Sherrell is the high energy offensive weapon waiting to come into his own, and Noah Williamson is the swing forward that brings you a bit of everything, then Taylor Bol Bowen rounds out the trio of \u2018Bama bigs, being defined by a quality the Tide has consistently lacked in the post: He\u2019s a defensive terror. That\u2019s not all he is, of course. And, it\u2019s not even what jumps out the most about his game. <\/p>\n
We know that Nate Oats has high standards for defenders, so it was not light praise for him to say of TBB: \u201cTaylor is a tremendous athlete with great size at 6-10 and a 7-2 wingspan. He can spread the floor with his three-point shooting and is one of the best two-way players in the country. He is elite on the defensive end and is one of the best weak-side rim protectors I have seen.\u201d <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at Bowen.<\/p>\n
Taylor Bol Bowen was born in Egypt, and moved the States to attend high school, where he was dominant in New Hampshire despite being a late bloomer to hoops. By the time he reached his Junior season, TBB had hit 6\u201910\u201d, skyrocketed up the recruiting rankings, and held offers from the nation\u2019s heaviest hitters \u2014 Duke, UConn, Kansas, half the SEC, even more of the Big 10, etc. <\/p>\n
The rangy, athletic Bowen eventually committed to Leonard Hamilton and earned an immediate playing time with the uptempo Florida State Seminoles. The transition to college ball was a bit tough for him. The shooting stroke that enticed teams as a prospect was notably absent as a freshmen, limiting his minutes to just 11 per game. He was shooting a miserable 22% from the perimeter, 42% from the floor, and 67% from the stripe. <\/p>\n
However, the switched flipped on in Bowen\u2019s sophomore season, and all of that tantalizing talent emerged. Taylor earned a starting job with the struggling Seminoles, where he averaged 8 a night to go with 5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, and he just all around improved despite the Noles missing post-season play and Coach Hamilton being driven into retirement. His floor shooting went up from 42 to 52%. Free throw shooting improved from 67% to 78%. And he rediscovered his perimeter shot, where Bowen would go from a 22% shooter, to a 41.8% three-point demon. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to see why; there is a lot to be impressed by. Taylor is a great two-way player, transitioning to offense off of rebounds as well as anyone we\u2019ve seen. He\u2019s a smooth shooter for a big, and is most comfortable as a catch-and-release perimeter weapon anywhere around the three-point line (though he doesn\u2019t have great range: inside of 23 feet is about it). He uses his body well in space, is physical getting to the rim. And he just always seems to be around the basket making plays on both ends. <\/p>\n
One thing that will stand out when you watch him, is how he somehow manages to always find himself open in the post. You would think 6\u201910\u201d would be hard to miss, but TBB can almost disappear in traffic, only to reemerge for an easy backside bucket. You see that same skill on the defensive end, where he seems to emerge from a scrum and use his body control to find rebounds. <\/p>\n
There are some weaknesses in his game, of course. He\u2019s not the best ballhandler, and was prone to spates of turnovers. He could go quiet for games at a time, especially against elite front courts (his splits vs. Clemson and Duke are most illustrative here<\/a>). And Bowen is also is not an elite distributor from the post, usually being a finisher rather than a facilitator. You see that as well from the fact he rarely puts the ball on the floor. It\u2019s just not his game. <\/p>\n Taylor could also stand to knock back a few dozen cheeseburgers. The Nilotic people from the Upper Nile Valley in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopa are the tallest people on earth \u2014 but they\u2019re very wiry and not renowned for being exactly swole. He\u2019ll need some time in the weight room before SEC play begins. <\/p>\n