The Jeffery "Mother Viking" Taylor Thread

[LamarMatic7]

Feel free to come to your own conclusions. These are basically all the plays Taylor was involved in (despite the first clip which could have been longer but then would have featured five similar plays) so if you watch them and feel like he did a poor job, you can say so.

It certainly wasn't great defense but he had his moments. The play where he forgets to box out is horrible, however, otherwise he's getting scored on from the mid-range after screens (after doing a bad job trailing the guy, of course) which is something you can live with.

[MKGsMotor]

There has been some Jeff Taylor hate going on as of late and one of the reasons for it (the most obvious one, and rightfully so, is him getting MKG's minutes, of course) seems to be his defense. Plenty of people have bashed him for it. So I took notes of every defensive play in which JT took part during the Bucks game and here's what we have.

Taylor definitely has been bad guarding the man coming off screens. His assignment was 4/5 in these situations at Milwaukee (all mid-range jumpers). Here's two times Middleton lost him so I wouldn't make the video unnecessarily long:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iPfNm07Pi8[/youtube]

The Viking has allowed 1.14 points per possession when guarding a man coming off screens for the whole season. The sample size thus far is 21 plays. Let's see if the numbers get better as the season goes on. Those are indeed weak numbers and the effort in this play was rather sloppy.

However, let's not blindly defend MKG to the death either. It's not like Taylor was the only one getting scored on by Middleton and here's Mike going under a screen on a scorching hot shooter.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN7113xl5xI[/youtube]

I definitely remember someone killed JT for this upcoming play. Well, it's not all that easy. He does prevent an open lay-up (which wouldn't have been possible, if Kemba hadn't screwed up in the first place with a horrible bite on the pump fake), however, the weak-side D by The Viking is definitely excessive on this play. Adrien should have been the one who stops the drive (and possibly didn't do so just because JT over-helped), while JT should have drifted down to close the passing lane to Henson, in the same time being ready to close out on the corner three.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5_9UEzijyA[/youtube]

Taylor didn't play the possession correctly but it's as much Kemba's fault as it is his.

Meanwhile, take a look at MKG making the same mistake in completely unnecessary fashion. No reason to leave the shooter when Al was ready to contest the layup either way.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1L6Y54Pgpg[/youtube]

As did JT fall for that Middleton fake on the second play in the "off screens video", he does the same here. Nifty move by Khris but horrible defense by JT and a horrible decision not to box out, yet assume Adrien will collect the rebound. By far the worst defensive play by Taylor in this game.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY6qlcQIq5Y[/youtube]

That's the only drive Taylor didn't prevent though. Take a look at him being in the proper place when defending off the ball and then closing out really well and using his size to disrupt the penetration. Kudos to Big Al for help defense on the first play.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffoKQqTC58M[/youtube]

He also uses his size to advantage when defending the two pick-n-rolls he faced. This isn't the fastest recovery after being hit by the screen but those are jumpers off the dribble coaches will let opponents have and Taylor is able to sneak a hand in to contest it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWkWxkS-_Gs[/youtube]

To end off, here's Taylor helping out from the weak side properly and using his size to make deflections. Tough luck on the second play where Neal makes the three, a horrible pass by Milwaukee on the third play though.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLqUPYVO7Xs[/youtube]

That's that. MKG is one of our core pieces heading forward and he should get more playing time. But you shouldn't overly criticise Taylor just because Clifford gives him the playing time. He hasn't been great on defense but I think when you judge the summary of this game you can admit that he had a solid performance on that side of the floor.

To conclude, per Synergy JT allows 0.97 points per possession. MKG allows 0.98...
(The sample sizes are not that different, 112 plays for Taylor, 131 for MKG).

I hope you enjoyed my post and acknowledge the extra work I put in.

Good post, good points. If I was a teacher grading by effort, A+ no doubt.

I think Taylor has a slightly better defensive awareness than MKG right now, but MKG has better hands, physical attributes, and definitely a hustle advantage. While Taylor might be quite fundamental in defense, MKG is the one I would hate to be guarded by because of his sheer relentless assault. And he's definitely not afraid to foul, which can be good but is something he needs to work on doing a little less of. If defensive potential is a thing, I definitely think MKG has a much higher ceiling than Taylor. But you're right in saying a lot of hate is the result of MKG's minutes.

Speaking of, C'MON CLIFFORD.

[mrknowitall215]

Feel free to come to your own conclusions. These are basically all the plays Taylor was involved in (despite the first clip which could have been longer but then would have featured five similar plays) so if you watch them and feel like he did a poor job, you can say so.

It certainly wasn't great defense but he had his moments. The play where he forgets to box out is horrible, however, otherwise he's getting scored on from the mid-range after screens (after doing a bad job trailing the guy, of course) which is something you can live with.

My issue with Jeff Taylor getting too many minutes stretch beyond the defensive end though. Taylor not only have the worst defensive rating on the team at 105, but he also has the worst offensive rating on the team of any player getting regular minutes not named Cody Zeller (and I'll save the disappointment of Zeller's 34 FG% shooting for another time) at 91. Taylor shouldn't be getting close to or equal minutes to MKG, plain & simple. In fact, I'd rather see Ben Gordon on the floor than Taylor. It's not like Taylor is supposed to be some spring chicken

FYI, my disdain with Taylor's play has nothing to do with MKG's minutes. It's everything about the betterment of the team even if it mean playing Henderson more minutes at SF. At least Henderson is a better rebounder than Taylor. Taylor has been somewhat of a detriment even though he's had some flashes. No way should he be playing 25 minutes a night with that production

[LamarMatic7]

Feel free to come to your own conclusions. These are basically all the plays Taylor was involved in (despite the first clip which could have been longer but then would have featured five similar plays) so if you watch them and feel like he did a poor job, you can say so.

It certainly wasn't great defense but he had his moments. The play where he forgets to box out is horrible, however, otherwise he's getting scored on from the mid-range after screens (after doing a bad job trailing the guy, of course) which is something you can live with.

My issue with Jeff Taylor getting too many minutes stretch beyond the defensive end though. Taylor not only have the worst defensive rating on the team at 105, but he also has the worst offensive rating on the team of any player getting regular minutes not named Cody Zeller (and I'll save the disappointment of Zeller's 34 FG% shooting for another time) at 91. Taylor shouldn't be getting close to or equal minutes to MKG, plain & simple. In fact, I'd rather see Ben Gordon on the floor than Taylor. It's not like Taylor is supposed to be some spring chicken

I'll give Taylor the benefit of the doubt on that defensive rating issue since (I checked nba.com for this) he's mostly playing alongside Zeller and Sessions.

It's unnaturally high when he has played with Hendo and Kemba (108) and Bismack and Kemba (107), you would expect those three to be above average on defense as a unit. Matter of fact, almost all 3-man line-ups that feature JT and two starters are well over a 100 points per possession. Let's see whether it dips a bit the next few weeks.

[LamarMatic7]

I'll continue to take notes while watching the games on plays that involve JT on the defensive end. If he has a poor game, call my bull out and perhaps I'll do a similar breakdown to this one.

Since I made my name on this board with my video contributions, if anyone's wondering about what you can expect from me this year, I can promise you to continue the series of Biz and MKG mixes, a Cody Zeller mix and an Al Jefferson post offense "torture chamber" mix.

Additionally, I might do a thing or two like this one, if you guys like it and it sparks quality discussion.

I know that I used to do highlight reels more often. First off, the montage of one game performances has taken off and guys like "Dawk Ins" usually cover all the quality individual performances. It's not like the days when basically no one would upload Bobcats clips. I honestly don't know how those guys do it but Dawk Ins usually uploads ten clips per one night of basketball. That's not human.

Second off, I have a lot of stuff going on. Between working and studying I have landed an author's deal at the biggest Latvian news site which expects an NBA column from me every month (one step towards my dream of covering the NBA, I guess.. although I think 7 people, including me and my editor, read my 30-page long season preview). Thus I've been watching a lot of other teams and spent time cutting clips of them as well. I don't have the time to make highlight reels of Biz's performance, per example, during a particular game any more.

[catch20two]

I appreciate the post and effort Lamar but I'm tired of Taylor getting so many undeserved minutes dating back to last year. I know Mrknowitall mentioned that Taylor has the worst defensive rating on the team this year but I did some research only to find out that Taylor was also one of the poorest on defense last year. Only Gordon had a worst defensive rating than Taylor and that was only by 1 point while he was tied with Sessions. Let's face it, Taylor be getting lit up.

[fatlever]

great work lamar. zach lowe would be proud.

[fatlever]

btw lamar, congrats on the newspaper gig. i fully expect to see you writing somewhere more mainstream to US audiences one day. keep it up. feel free to link to your articles. i'd love to read them. (assuming i can translate to english)

if i was a video guru i might consider making a mix of awful shot selections by kemba and hendo shooting shots with his foot on the 3pt line but thats for another thread.

[Snidely FC]

Great job, Lamar, and especially good luck with your new column. You definitely have Upside as an NBA columnist!

What you have done with the video analysis is very important, because of the grass-is-always-greener fan syndrome. Most people watch their favorite team closely, but maybe not other teams. So, it becomes easy for instance to say, we should give up on Jeffery Taylor and trade him to BOS for Marshon Brooks (for instance), because they get irritated at the little screw ups of Taylor and only read the boxscore of the ones they want to trade for. Well, what if our fans only read the recent CHA-CLE boxscore, for instance, wouldn't they want to trade FOR Taylor? That's why analysis like your's is so valuable.

My take: I see what everybody is saying about Jeffrey's numbers, and obviously I see the turnovers and mistakes, but I guess what it comes down to is I really like to watch the guy play. Like the play the other night against MIL with the defensive tap out leading to his pass to the flying Hendo for the dunk of the night. Or sneaking down into the post to get dropoffs for nifty reverse lay-ins. And then there are his Viking Hammer dunks. The guy can do some exciting stuff. I'd like to see MKG play more minutes too. But I don't see that as JT's fault. And yeah, he's 24, but it's his 2nd yr in the league and the kinds of mistakes he makes tend to go away with experience. He's a second round choice making 800k. I think a real bargain. I say enjoy him. Let him season and I think he'll become a valuable SG in this league.

[doc.end]

btw lamar, congrats on the newspaper gig. i fully expect to see you writing somewhere more mainstream to US audiences one day. keep it up. feel free to link to your articles. i'd love to read them. (assuming i can translate to english)

I concur.

[Amateur Wannabe]

For a second-round pick I find Taylor potentially an excellent player. I don't see him having some hard-to-improve areas, like MKG's jumper (not that I consider him better player than MKG, at the moment). While I watched last Eurobasket (yeah, maybe the worst in history, low quality bball ) I saw some Sweden (basketball nation lol no offense) guy being scoring leader, then I watched some higlights and was glad seeing he is Bobcats player (I wasn't too much into Cats until recently). Looks like really talented guy, playing with fire and having proper tools. IMHO just needs time, as other Cats do. I believe this young team is going to suprise many, in a few years. Kemba's still young and he's conquered MSG already Beware the Hornets

[LamarMatic7]

thanks, guys. the translating to English would be the part where it gets difficult.

[James Gatz]

Great post Lamar. Congrats on the writing job.

My biggest issue with Taylor this season is his timidness on the open 3. It takes him longer than average to shot the ball and I think he's afraid of getting the ball blocked.

[EwingSweatsALot]

Great breakdown Lamar. Hope to see more of it.

Congrats on the new gig and good luck!

[Elden Payton]

Congratulations Lamar, well deserved!

[catch20two]

Do anybody else think it's time for us to find another backup SF? Because if you ask me I don't even consider Taylor a SF. He's more of a SG. Beyond the superficial reasons I brought this up because I was looking at our schedule and cringed at the thought of Taylor playing extended minutes as our starting SF if MKG's plantar fasciitis flares back up trying to defend Kevin Durant. Durant might score 100 points on us. It's kind of a random thought but we might need to look for some depth at SF sooner than later.

[Diop]

Coach has made it pretty clear he will only play 3 wings, MKG, Hendo and Taylor.

Makes it tough to get another back up as they won't be guaranteed minutes.

I agree that JT should be a Sg until he gets stronger, but I think they will hold out until an injury happens.

[JDR720]

Jeff has the 9th lowest PER rating in the WHOLE NBA and the lowest estimated wins added at -1 and lowest value added in the NBA , we definitely need to find a new SF, he has arguably been the worst player in the NBA this season

[Elden Payton]

Yeah I think Jeff is a workout/exhibition game warrior.

Time to relegate him to a minimal role or gauge his value.

On the trade board there is some talk of a Tyreke trade involving BG+Rocky, I'd even give them Taylor instead of Rocky.

[catch20two]

Jeff has the 9th lowest PER rating in the WHOLE NBA and the lowest estimated wins added at -1 and lowest value added in the NBA , we definitely need to find a new SF, he has arguably been the worst player in the NBA this season

I'm already to the point of rather seeing increased minutes for Gordon at SG as Henderson shift to SF some and even limited minutes for Tolliver at SF. The way I see it, at least Gordon can hit 3s at a decent percentage and Tolliver can rebound. Taylor be playing 30 minutes and not have a single stat but shots attempted and a few points without no rebounds, no assist or nothing.