Spurs invite PBA Best Import Denzel Bowles to training camp

3 NBA Teams Eye Bowles
By KRISTINA VILLANUEVA
May 9, 2012, 5:55pm

http://mb.com.ph/sites/default/files/bowles.jpg

MANILA, Philippines - From a starring role in the PBA, B-Meg import Denzel Bowles may be headed to the biggest basketball stage of all – the National Basketball Association.

It appears that his sterling performance in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup has caught the attention of three NBA teams, one of which is the San Antonio Spurs, which have moved nearly effortlessly to the next round of the current NBA playoffs.

The Spurs, along with the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors, have invited Bowles to their respective training camps in June. If he performs well in these camps, an NBA contract may just be next for the 6-foot-10 player.

Bowles was named Best Import and played a dominant role for B-Meg which beat Talk ‘N Text in the best-of-seven PBA Commissioner’s Cup championship series.

His 39-point, 21-rebound performance in Game 7 lifted the Llamados to a 90-86 overtime win over the Texters last Sunday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

"My agent had told me that the Spurs and the Warriors are really interested and they had me coming into camp. So those are the teams I'm going to check out this summer," said Bowles who left the country last night.

"They just saw what was going on. They follow how well I was playing and they just contacted my agent and my agent contacted them. They have been following me all the way since Lithuania. I have always been like, on the map, right between. So hopefully, I get the chance," added Bowles.

Also interested were the Toronto Raptors who called him in the middle of this interview last Monday at his rented condominium unit in Ortigas.

"These guys, giving me a chance to play in the NBA, it's just a blessing," said Bowles, a 23-year-old product of James Madison University, an NCAA Division 1 team.

He said that he is going to spend some time with his family in Virginia Beach in the United States and prepare for the camps in June.

Bowles one of the youngest imports to play in the PBA, was recruited by B-Meg coach Tim Cone through his contacts from the Toronto Raptors.

"Coach Tim, he has a friend on the team. He told me that Toronto talked to them first and told him that they 'liked Denzel'. That's why he came to see me play because they said, 'Go and check out Denzel'," he recalled.

Cone, according to Bowles, went to his school to watch him in action. Bowles said it helps that Cone’s daughter also attended James Madison.

"That's how he got me out here. When I didn't make it to the NBA, that's when he wanted me. It was all like a cycle," Bowles said.

He said he is going to bring with him to the NBA the skills he learned in the country's 37-year-old league, most particularly on the defensive end.

"He's (Cone) definitely given me the right mentality to play the next level. He sees people that way and he feels I have the skills set to do it and that's why he makes some calls for me and that's why Toronto called," he said. "Coach Tim believed in me. That's all I need. Somebody to believe in me, that's it."

Asked which team he would like to play for, he said that it would not matter for as long as he is given the chance to live his dream, just like B-Meg which gave him the opportunity to play in the PBA.

Despite a looming career in the world's biggest basketball league, he said that it would be hard for him to leave the country.

http://mb.com.ph/node/359186/3-nba-team

I remember this kid at A&M. He didn't get much PT and ended up transferring.

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Originally Posted by Uriel

"My agent had told me that the Spurs and the Warriors are really interested and they had me coming into camp. So those are the teams I'm going to check out this summer," said Bowles who left the country last night.

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this article means jackshit with a grain of salt with the bolded text.....if any article mentions about the spurs being interested and not from the horse mouth, then its nothing but a troll bait free marketing to get that player some publicity....hopefully some dumbshit team that doesnt have a scout team bites the article aka 28 other nba teams...

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My agent had told me that the Spurs and the Warriors are really interested and they had me coming into camp.

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An invite to "camp" right now is an invite to summer league camp ... not training camp. The Spurs don't start piecing together their training camp invites until after summer league.

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Originally Posted by TDMVPDPOY

this article means jackshit with a grain of salt with the bolded text.....if any article mentions about the spurs being interested and not from the horse mouth, then its nothing but a troll bait free marketing to get that player some publicity....hopefully some dumbshit team that doesnt have a scout team bites the article aka 28 other nba teams...

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Not really. The source is a highly reputable newspaper in my country. I seriously doubt they would spew unconfirmed rumors. Besides, a sentence that preceded that one pretty much stated the invitation as a matter of fact:

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Originally Posted by Manila Bulletin

The Spurs, along with the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors, have invited Bowles to their respective training camps in June. If he performs well in these camps, an NBA contract may just be next for the 6-foot-10 player.

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Originally Posted by timvp

An invite to "camp" right now is an invite to summer league camp ... not training camp. The Spurs don't start piecing together their training camp invites until after summer league.

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Oops. Sorry, my bad. I'll fix it.

So did Bowles move?

I think Bowles was loose.

The team they beat in this championship thing was called Talk ‘N Text? They're called the Texters?

If he does go to the NBA, he's gonna be a scrub. I live in the Philippines and tune in to the PBA, but that league is nowhere near the NBA or any major Euro league. It's all about athleticism and the highlight plays when the players don't have the height nor the bodies for it. They don't play system basketball much like the NBA teams do.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Body

The team they beat in this championship thing was called Talk ‘N Text? They're called the Texters?

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Tony would rule on that team.

We're in the middle of a championship run and talking about Bowles Movements?

I'm from the Philippines; Watched this guy play, though the league is really mediocre comparatively, I believe he has the skill set to make it in the NBA, will never be a starter but a decent guy off the bench would be his ceiling.

From the Philippines, I watched the game 7 of the PBA finals live and I can say he dominated. They beat TNT a team who's been ruling our league for 2 years now. I can say the dude is clutch when he made 2 free throws with 1.6 seconds left to send the game 7 in overtime. In the overtime period he scored the first 8 or 10 points for his team. Has a great mid-long range jumper and good in posting up.

Edit: He had 39 points and 21 rebounds in that game.

If anyone ever makes a good personnel decision with this guy, is it considered a solid Bowles movement?

When he scores, the opponents always says, "Oh shit!"
He's good offensively but I don't know how he'll do defensively against the gasols, bynum, randolph etc. of the nba...

Saw highlights and his moves looked like that of LMA.

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Originally Posted by Venti Quattro

Saw highlights and his moves looked like that of LMA.

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Venti, were these highlights of him back in college or in the Philippine League?

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Originally Posted by Mr. Body

The team they beat in this championship thing was called Talk ‘N Text? They're called the Texters?

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No, they're the Thumbs. The team is all Thumbs.

IIRC, one of these SL camps is where they found Neal.

Just sayin''...

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Originally Posted by flipspursfan

Venti, were these highlights of him back in college or in the Philippine League?

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Philippine league. I was that so bored that I decided to look for clips in Youtube. He has a face-up game -- he can hit jumpers in the defender's face, can back down defenders. He's also very good with rebounds. 39 and 20 ain't a joke in any league nowadays, to be honest.

But this is not a good barometer, imo. He was fighting with players smaller than him. I may be wrong though. Maybe he will step up in the summer league.

Quite dependable in the clutch too:

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Originally Posted by Venti Quattro

Philippine league. I was that so bored that I decided to look for clips in Youtube. He has a face-up game -- he can hit jumpers in the defender's face, can back down defenders. He's also very good with rebounds. 39 and 20 ain't a joke in any league nowadays, to be honest.

But this is not a good barometer, imo. He was fighting with players smaller than him. I may be wrong though. Maybe he will step up in the summer league.

Quite dependable in the clutch too:

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Nice nice. Yeah I agree those stats aren't a joke in any league. But the PBA overall is very different to the NBA. For one, Bowles is dominating less athletic, smaller players. If however, he makes the summer league roster, I hope he stands out and is given a chance.

I saw some of his games this last tournament, and he was not that great, most of the season.

A basic center. Rebound, defend, block, finish assists.

22 years old, 6'10 guy with decent skills, against 6'6-6'8 local centers and some foreign import centers.

He just really stepped up his game that game 7. He actually surprised me that game.

He needs a lot more improvement in his game. A good thing we saw though, was, he can handle pressure situations better than most young players.

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Originally Posted by Venti Quattro

Philippine league. I was that so bored that I decided to look for clips in Youtube. He has a face-up game -- he can hit jumpers in the defender's face, can back down defenders. He's also very good with rebounds. 39 and 20 ain't a joke in any league nowadays, to be honest.

But this is not a good barometer, imo. He was fighting with players smaller than him. I may be wrong though. Maybe he will step up in the summer league.

Quite dependable in the clutch too:

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Pretty much what venti said sums it up. Given the chance, I hope he does well in the summer league.

Spurs actualy not inviting a midget or a wing to camp? Unreal the transformation of the Spurs!

39 and 21 in any kind of game is scary good on the potential side.

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Originally Posted by Rummpd

Spurs actualy not inviting a midget or a wing to camp? Unreal the transformation of the Spurs!

39 and 21 in any kind of game is scary good on the potential side.

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He was against undersized local bigs.

Easier work compared to Euroleague levels. Or even China league levels.

The Philippines' average height for a top local pro center in the 1990's was around 6'5. A 6'9 to 7 foot local center for the Philippine league would be like 7'7 George Muresan in the NBA.

We only had one 7 foot local in the league, on record. All time. And he wasn't that good.

It only got a boost in the 2000's. Now it's around 6'7 or 6'8.

I gotta say,though, watchng him, he seems like a good young guy. Solid teammate. Not a head case.

Maybe not NBA ready yet, but I hope one day he does make it to the big show.

He's playing against small and slow basketball players. All imports recruited there average 30 ppg.

And Tim Cone is not with Alaska anymore??? There really is no loyalty in basketball anymore.

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Originally Posted by pawe

He's playing against small and slow basketball players. All imports recruited there average 30 ppg.

And Tim Cone is not with Alaska anymore??? There really is no loyalty in basketball anymore.

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I cant blame Coach Tim.

He's already proven his loyalty with Alaska. 20+ years as coach.
He guided them to great heights. Records that will be hard to break.

But I heard Purefoods offered a lot more money for him to coach their team.
Maybe he preferred to stay with Alaska, but they couldn't match the offer.

Sometimes, you need to make hard choices for your family and future.

Did the Texters crash every time they drove to the basket?

I read the headline and thought the Spurs were bringing in a Bowler, not a Bowles.

great crowd! The texters looked like they had a few more single and pretty Filipinas, but who's counting.

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Originally Posted by bulakenyo

I cant blame Coach Tim.

He's already proven his loyalty with Alaska. 20+ years as coach.
He guided them to great heights. Records that will be hard to break.

But I heard Purefoods offered a lot more money for him to coach their team.
Maybe he preferred to stay with Alaska, but they couldn't match the offer.

Sometimes, you need to make hard choices for your family and future.

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Long time Alaska fan here and I really got sad when he said that he will leave coaching first but after 2 weeks signed with B-Meg.

I was a big Alaska fan too. Specially the Johnny A, Lastimosa, Hawkins, Cariaso and Sean Chambers era.
I would get into fights with barangay ginebra fans back when I was in the Philippines whenever they meet in a playoff or the finals.

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Originally Posted by pawe

I was a big Alaska fan too. Specially the Johnny A, Lastimosa, Hawkins, Cariaso and Sean Chambers era.
I would get into fights with barangay ginebra fans back when I was in the Philippines whenever they meet in a playoff or the finals.

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Yes. But now Alaska is shit. I've been rooting for B-meg and Petron lately. From a die hard fan I've now become a casual fan of PBA.

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Originally Posted by DMC

Tony would rule on that team.

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:lol Brent would go crazy...

Give him a chance to show his game...He can't be worse than that scrub Ryan Richards....

If you have time, you guys can watch some highlights of his posted by venti and others from youtube too. The dude's got talent but it's hard to tell how will he do in a good NBA team.

We need a pinoy NBA player, dammit! Especially with how much love we have for this game! GGGrrrr.... Are we all just too short or what?? :p:

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Originally Posted by 100%duncan

If you have time, you guys can watch some highlights of his posted by venti and others from youtube too. The dude's got talent but it's hard to tell how will he do in a good NBA team.

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seems to be another ryan richards going th eeasy route playing against midgets

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Originally Posted by TDMVPDPOY

seems to be another ryan richards going th eeasy route playing against midgets

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He was given a chance and you gotta start from somewhere right? Expected this from you. I want to hear from other posters who think before they post.

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Originally Posted by 100%duncan

He was given a chance and you gotta start from somewhere right? Expected this from you. I want to hear from other posters who think before they post.

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Sorry. I like to rant, I know. :depressed

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Originally Posted by Legacy

Sorry. I like to rant, I know. :depressed

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:lol

Summer league? Sure, why not? We found Neal there, if the guy is good it will show.

lol lots of kababayan in here

Jessica Sanchez anyone? lol!

Is he the one who's playing with the Hornets? Saw it on may Summer League App yesterday. Dude had almost double-double stat, 9.0 PPG and 8 RPG I think. Almost the same with Bernard James.

Pbl = a league for midget asians, the first pro league in asia

cba = a league for overgrown asians who cant ball for shit, relying on imports to up the standard of competition

so which league is better atm??

Would you take Tony Parker over Hasheem Thabeet?

Agreed that the quality of the league is inferior, but that does not mean that the play of the indivdual is not quality.

You just don't know until you see them in person. The question might be how good would Ajinca or Richards do in this league? They might score as much, but would they lead their team to victory?

How many titles does Wilt have again?

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Originally Posted by racm

How many titles does Wilt have again?

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two