Some people abide by the saying, “Do what I say and not what I do.” Timmy Bowers is not one of those people.
The soft-spoken senior point guard leads his team not by barking orders and getting in teammates’ faces, but rather by his example on and off the court.
“I’ve always tried to lead by example,” Bowers said. “We had a lot of new guys this year and I just try to get them to follow me.”
Leading a basketball team doesn’t just mean taking charge during a game. There is also a lot of off-the-court things that a team leader must worry about.
“You’re responsible for almost everything that goes on, whether it’s on the court or off the court,” Bowers said. “You’ve got to make sure they (the other players) don’t get into it with the referees and make sure they’re paying attention in the huddle. Off the court, you’ve got to make sure guys are going to class and doing what they’re supposed to do.”
Bowers said that he is comfortable with the role of leader and that he wanted it after former point guard Derrick Zimmerman graduated.
“It’s a role I wanted to take on when the season started,” Bowers said. “I knew we lost a great leader in Derrick Zimmerman and I knew someone had to step up. I was one of the lone veterans on the team so I thought ‘Why not me?'”
Forward Shane Power said that Bowers sets a good example for the rest of the team on and off the court.
“Timmy is a unique leader because he is a quiet, laid-back type guy,” Power said. “But that’s the best leader to have: a guy who leads by example. You’ll never see Timmy doing things he’s not supposed to be doing. He’s always acting in a way that represents Mississippi State well.”
Head coach Rick Stansbury agrees with Power.
“Timmy epitomizes what you look for in a person,” Stansbury said. “That’s what makes him a great leader. For him, every day is a good day and every practice is a good practice, whether he feels good or not.”
Bowers’ path to star point guard and team leader his senior year has been a long one with many twists and turns. After starting out as a frustrated, little-used freshman, he has gone from spark plug off the bench to All-SEC shooting guard to point guard. Bowers credits his mother for helping him get through his freshman season, a season in which he averaged only seven minutes and 2.5 points a game.
“My mom is the one who kept me going,” Bowers said. “Early in my freshman year I really wasn’t playing a lot and I got frustrated. I talked to her and she told me to not worry about playing, just keep doing what I have to do in order to get on the court.”
“The next year I made a commitment that I was going to do everything in my (power) to help put myself on the court and help the team out and I think I came back strong the next year.”
With Zimmerman graduating, Bowers was asked to change from starting shooting guard, where he averaged 14.6 points per game last year, to point guard. Bowers has had no problem adapting to the new position, thanks to his mental and physical preparation.
“I kept hitting the weight rooms a lot because I knew that at the point guard position, you would be driving the lane more than you would at the shooting guard position,” Bowers said. “You’ve got to be ready to take bumps and hits. Mentally you’ve got to have a whole different mindset because you’ve got to control the ball on the offensive end.”
Bowers said that the biggest adjustment for him was working on his vocal leadership. Being a vocal leader did not come naturally for the reserved point guard. However, he said that his coaches helped him make that adjustment.
“In the beginning, Coach Stansbury and I met almost everyday just to talk about being that leader (at point guard),” Bowers said.
From these meetings Bowers and Stansbury decided the key aspects of what type of leadership the team needed.
“The thing I needed to do was to get on guys more and tell them ‘Do this’ or ‘do that’. Whether I want to do it or not, I still have got to tell them. They (the coaches) all just told me to be more vocal out there.”
Bowers said once he made a mental commitment to be that person, the role fit.
Even though Bowers is working on his vocal leadership, his leadership is most observable in the example he sets for the rest of the team. And that is just fine with Stansbury.
“I’ll take the guy who leads by example,” Stansbury said. “He (Bowers) doesn’t have to be vocal; he leads by example every practice and every drill. When you’ve got someone doing that, you’ve got something.”