Transcript
Home of the Panthers Pre-Game · Mon Dec 5, 2022
Welcome to the Home of the Panthers podcast produced by News Talk 1540 KXCL and presented by Imon Communications.
Experience the Imon difference.
It's the third game for the Panthers in a seven day span and after playing a couple of conference games against Bradley and Evansville, now it's back to the non-conference portion of the Panther schedule for the next several weeks and a tough opponent today in the Rockets.
of Toledo.
As always, ahead of Panther Men's Basketball here on News Talk 1540KXCL, we're talking with Panther Men's Basketball sophomore Bowen Bourne to get his perspective and insights.
And Bowen, as always, we appreciate your being with us.
Yep, thanks for having me on.
I want to come back to the Toledo Rockets in just a minute or two, but we talked a couple of weeks ago about some advice that you might give to young players, things that might help them as their
getting into their seasons.
I want to take that and twist it just a little bit and get some thoughts about either some players who gave you great advice as a young player or the type of role models you had that you were watching on TV at the NBA level, at the college level, whatever it might be.
So let me start with the advice part.
I know that you've had a lot of coaches that have been meaningful, but when it comes to players, maybe a year or two older or more than that,
Who has been really impactful among the guys that you've had a chance to be on the court with?
Yeah, I've had the opportunity to play with a lot of really good players.
And I think the most recent one that I probably took the most from was AJ Green.
And obviously through the years, I've had a lot of really good players that I've kind of taken bits and pieces from.
And I would say he is kind of the most recent one just because.
you know of how close that you know we were and he's obviously now playing at the next level which is a goal of mine that I want to try to do and so yeah I think that that piece of it probably played the biggest you know factor in it you know having
a guy that is your teammate and he's now somewhere where you want to be.
And so just kind of observing how Hardy works, the things that he's doing, the things that he's working on, and also just observing how he sees the game.
And so I've kind of, yeah, me and him have a pretty good relationship.
And so I think
That part of it has been pretty cool just to have somebody so close to you that is now playing at the next level.
You know, it's pretty easy to be able to now, you know, know what you need to do, you know, the sacrifices you need to make, the things that you need to do to be able to play at that level.
And so I think that, you know, for me, when I think of, yeah, somebody who's helped me and who I've kind of, you know, looked at for inspiration has been him.
And with saying that, I would say that
you know, anybody that I kind of take things from or look at, it's always somebody who is pretty similar to my, you know, skill level or size, you know, similar positions.
And so I think, you know, when you're looking at somebody, like I watch a ton of film, you know, on guys like Rijon Rondo, Campbell Walker, Isaiah Thomas, like a lot of guys that are kind of have achieved, you know, basically playing at the highest level, which is the NBA.
being able to see what they can do and see how they're similar to me, you know, similar in size and quickness.
And so I take a lot of things from those guys because they're so similar to me.
And it kind of makes me feel like it is possible to do the things that people say you can't because at my size, that's what pretty much everybody has told me that, you know, my whole life is
you know, in high school, it was that I'm not good enough to play division one.
And now it is, you know, I'm not good enough to play at the next level.
And so for me, I use that as kind of motivation and I take things from their game.
And I'm also always just trying to learn, you know, from opponents that will play, you know, always kind of taking bits and pieces from everybody's game because there's a lot of get really good players out there.
And so I think that's one thing that, you know, I feel like
At this level, I didn't watch a ton of film in high school, but once I moved to the college level and realized how slim the margins for error are, you really have to be doing everything in your power.
to become the best player that you can become and become the best team that you can become.
And so for me, it was, yeah, watching a lot of film on different guys, but another guy that I really like is Damian Lillard, just in terms of how he carries himself and just his killer mentality.
And so, yeah, I'm always looking at guys who are kind of similar to me, just in stature and still able to accomplish some pretty spectacular things.
We're talking with UNI Panther men's basketball sophomore, Bowen Boren, the Panthers and the Toledo Rockets coming up.
This is part of our pregame coverage.
We get to talk with Bowen ahead of each Panther men's basketball game.
And you answered this question in some ways already.
And I don't think a lot of folks would be surprised to hear that AJ Green is somebody who would have provided some background as an older player.
And as you described, someone who's
gotten to or on his way to places that you want to be.
Let me ask though, just to take it a little differently, you talked about looking at players that are very similar to you.
Have you found something from somebody who's a different type of player, even if it's not skill set or
playing style, maybe it's philosophy of the game who might surprise people.
You know, if you said, I look at this guy and I've taken something from him, even though he's a much different type of player, much different position and role on a team.
I don't think this would surprise anybody, but I would say somebody like Kobe Bryant, you know, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, like all kind of the typical like those guys are pretty much the exact opposite of me.
And so.
I think, yeah, from that aspect in terms of the mentality and from in terms of just how they kind of go about their business.
I don't always take things away from just basketball people as well.
I look at a lot of like ultra runners, a lot of people that are running super long distances, and a lot of it is just how to kind of work through adversity.
I'd love hearing stories of people who have
gone through struggles and have still managed to kind of, you know, beat the odds.
And so I use that as an inspiration a lot too, just because I feel like that fits me pretty well, you know, just in terms of people have said that.
Obviously, like I said before that, you know, in high school, you know, even before high school, when I was in middle school, it was, you know, oh, he's, he's not good enough to be on varsity.
And then once I came in and was on varsity, then it was, yeah, he's not good enough to play division one.
And now I'm playing division one.
And now it's, I'm not good enough to play, you know, at the next level or in the NBA, like, I feel like I've always kind of just defied the odds.
And so I think that's something that I take away from not only basketball players, but, you know, just other people.
in general, you know, and not even athletes, just family, you know, anybody who has consistently making sacrifices and always trying to just better themselves.
I take away, you know, a lot of things from a bunch of different people.
We're talking with UNI Panther men's basketball sophomore, Bowen Bourne, the Panthers and the Toledo Rockets today.
And let's talk about the opponent.
And before we talk about Toledo specifically,
You and I has already seen one Mid-American Conference opponent in Northern Illinois.
Is there anything that you can make a judgment about when it comes to playing teams that are in the same conference that, especially in this case, have been part of the MAC for a long time?
Yeah, I wouldn't say that there's too much.
You don't necessarily look at all.
We've kind of played one team in this conference, and so to say that they are going to be similar.
you know we don't really look at it too much in the scout but there also is just yeah a little bit in terms of you know playing style um you know a lot of the teams like in the Missouri Valley for example a lot of them run our flow actions and they and they run a lot of kind of our sets you know through the over the years just because it's worked and so
I feel like a lot of those teams, yeah, you're always trying to kind of learn.
And so we're always also taking away stuff from other teams as well that are successful because if it works, you obviously want to try to replicate it.
And so I think there can be some, but in the long term of the game, it's all just about how bad you want to win and how.
motivated and how determined you are to kind of make the stuff happen.
And so having played a team in their comments already, you can kind of expect some similarities, but you also know that it's a completely different team and you're going to have to come ready to
play.
Let me ask one last question about a shorthand way to know something about Toledo.
Like the Panthers, they were an NIT qualifier last spring.
I know that you were impressed by the quality of play that you and I saw from St.
Louis and from BYU.
Does that say anything about the type of team the Panthers are going to be hosting today?
And really a lot about where you and I might be versus where Toledo might be a year removed from that NIT bid.
Yeah, I mean, it says a lot about your program.
You know, anytime you're qualifying for postseason, you know, tournaments, you know, you're a really good team.
And so, you know, you can't you can't look into it too much because it's it's an entirely new year.
And especially in today's game with transfer portal, there's going to be a lot of teams that are completely different.
And so.
For us, I feel like, yeah, you can go into it, though, expecting a program that has had success, winning teams, teams that have qualified for postseason play.
And so going into the game, you know the importance of, yes, this is a team that has a good base and a good culture, has winning coaches, has winning players who have played parts.
in, you know, qualifying teams.
And so, yeah, you look at it as a sign of respect, you know, because you, having been in the same position, you know what it takes to get there and it's not easy.
And so, yeah, you look at it as, yeah, a sign of respect, but it's also an entirely new team and just like we're an entirely new team.
And so, you look at it more from this year first, but there's also that, you know, the background of, yes, this is a team that is, you know, gonna be a really
cultured, you know, really just solid, positive program.
And so that plays into it because when you come and you play a team like that, you got to come to play and I'm sure that they're going to play really hard and we're going to have to play really hard to beat them.
Thanks for listening to the Home of the Panthers podcast presented by I'm On Communications.
Experience the I'm On difference.
I'm Tim Harwood.
