The Jeffery "Mother Viking" Taylor Thread

[LamarMatic7]

JT's last game of the tournament

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_mo7oFT3-U[/youtube]

[Elden Payton]

JT's last game of the tournament

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_mo7oFT3-U[/youtube]

Cheers Lamar!

[WhateverBro]

thru 4 games
19.5ppg
4.0rpg
1.8apg
1.5spg
5.3tpg (WOW)
45.9fg

Proof that he can't carry a team on his back. He's the only NBA caliber player on the roster (Jerebko really isn't NBA caliber) and any time you're surrounded by subpar talent like he is, your efficiency tends to drop (see: every one of our players in the last two years)

Hopefully we never need our 2nd round pick from a year ago to carry our team on his back.

This is not true though. First of all, Jerebko is a very capable NBA player. So he indeed had another NBA caliber player with him, but this didn't matter though. Taylor was asked to do way too much ball handling for this team, because our backcourt lacks a natural PG. He started with Kenny Grant or Thomas Massamba, who are both SGs in PG bodies. None of them has any PG skills which lead to Taylor being the one bringing up the ball and the defenses made Sweden pay for that. He finished the tournament with 4.4 topg, which is terrible at first glance. But within it's context, it's actually reasonable considering the role he played and how tough teams he played. Remember, Sweden played against Greece, Russia, Turkey and Italy who are all arguably top 10 basketball nations in the world.

After watching his play in the tournament, I came away with the feeling that he's really improved his jumpshot and ability to get by defenders in isolation situations. His defense was fine but he gambled too much for my liking, I assume he doesn't gamble as much defensively in Charlotte? Anyway, I was very impressed with his game. For being a 2nd rounder, Charlotte really hit a homerun with it.

[LamarMatic7]

thru 4 games
19.5ppg
4.0rpg
1.8apg
1.5spg
5.3tpg (WOW)
45.9fg

Proof that he can't carry a team on his back. He's the only NBA caliber player on the roster (Jerebko really isn't NBA caliber) and any time you're surrounded by subpar talent like he is, your efficiency tends to drop (see: every one of our players in the last two years)

Hopefully we never need our 2nd round pick from a year ago to carry our team on his back.

This is not true though. First of all, Jerebko is a very capable NBA player. So he indeed had another NBA caliber player with him, but this didn't matter though. Taylor was asked to do way too much ball handling for this team, because our backcourt lacks a natural PG. He started with Kenny Grant or Thomas Massamba, who are both SGs in PG bodies. None of them has any PG skills which lead to Taylor being the one bringing up the ball and the defenses made Sweden pay for that. He finished the tournament with 4.4 topg, which is terrible at first glance. But within it's context, it's actually reasonable considering the role he played and how tough teams he played. Remember, Sweden played against Greece, Russia, Turkey and Italy who are all arguably top 10 basketball nations in the world.

After watching his play in the tournament, I came away with the feeling that he's really improved his jumpshot and ability to get by defenders in isolation situations. His defense was fine but he gambled too much for my liking, I assume he doesn't gamble as much defensively in Charlotte? Anyway, I was very impressed with his game. For being a 2nd rounder, Charlotte really hit a homerun with it.

I agree with most of the points you made, however, I have to add that Turkey and Russia were nowhere near being the top 10 nations in Europe this tournament, forget the World.

As for his defense I also didn't like it. He kind of played like a basketball version of a free safety or you could simply say like Kobe. He spent too much time waiting for a possible jump in the passing line. Of course, he doesn't play that way for us where NBA team defense rules apply.

[LamarMatic7]

Taylor interviewed about the EuroBasket experience:
http://www.nba.com/bobcats/video/2013/0 ... ov-2596130

I found it interesting that 14 guys of ours were present for the optional workouts while Jeff, the 15th, was playing for Sweden. Do we have more than 15 guys at this point or is everybody working out?

[fatlever]

http://www.nba.com/bobcats/2013-offseas ... ery-taylor

[MPM]

I swear, Golliver has an almost creepy bias against our beloved, lowly Bobcats.

In his latest - "Examining Parker, Gasol and rest of NBA pack at 2013 EuroBasket in Slovenia" he manages to even profile the performances of the Victor Clavers and Luigi Ditomes of the world, without a single mention of the tourney scoring leader, Jeff Taylor. That's tough to do.

http://nba.si.com/2013/09/23/tony-parke ... las-batum/

[fatlever]

at least taylor got a mention in the hoopshype write-up of the best players at eurobasket.

[fatlever]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ColinWFNZ/status/382856389107781632[/tweet]

[JMAC3]

It would be so nice if Taylor makes a Tobias Harris or Chandler Parsons type jump in production. That would be huge for our team. We could be an extremely deep team this season.

[Red Larrivee]

It would be so nice if Taylor makes a Tobias Harris or Chandler Parsons type jump in production. That would be huge for our team. We could be an extremely deep team this season.

Can't do it without the minutes. Only way that happens is if Gordon is benched completely and JT backs up the SG and SF spots.

[Elden Payton]

I think JT will get about 16 minutes per backing up Gilchrist at the 3.

To earn more he is going to have to eat into Gordon's minutes which will be hard as we will be trying to maintain his value.

I hope BG gets shipped early in the season so JT gets his opportunity.

[fatlever]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... -2013-2014

Jeff Taylor, SF, Charlotte Bobcats: I know what you're asking. "Who?" Taylor was a 20-minutes-per-game player last season for one of the worst teams in the league, both last year and of all time. He shot 43-34-73 last year with nothing in the way of spectacular advanced stats.

But this guy can play. The Swedish-born wing out of Vanderbilt is a tough, physical defender with great athleticism. He has a nose for the ball and great size (6-foot-7, 225 pounds) for his position. He won't be a name average fans know next year, but he's going to make for a player the Cats will get trade calls about come February.

[KembaWalker]

Honestly think Jeff needs to be the starter. Its obvious the starting lineup just doesn't fit right together without a shooter on the wings. I don't know if that means Hendo or MKG needs to go to the 2nd line but if we're actually gunning for wins one of them needs to do so to bring any kind of balance to the roster. Our starting lineup just doesn't work

[Snidely FC]

I agree and would like to see Taylor start.

But, for those who saw the last games. Did Clifford Bench Taylor because he thought JT shot too much the night before - selfish play - or was Taylor hurt?

[Liver_Pooty]

I agree and would like to see Taylor start.

But, for those who saw the last games. Did Clifford Bench Taylor because he thought JT shot too much the night before - selfish play - or was Taylor hurt?

Clifford wanted to experiment with Gordon and Henderson on the floor together.

[LamarMatic7]

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.

[mrknowitall215]

Jeff Taylor has been getting abused on the defensive end all season. I would like to see a breakdown of how Taylor defended a player that's better than Khris Middleton, but not named DeMar DeRozan. Thanks for the effort though, and it was insightful, but Khris Middleton?

However, even though it was a blowout, it's a shame that Middleton scored 20 points (his career high) on the Bobcats, and it only took him 28 minutes to do so

[Radu_Hornets]

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.

Thanks for this GREAT post Lamar !

[LamarMatic7]

Jeff Taylor has been getting abused on the defensive end all season. I would like to see a breakdown of how Taylor defended a player that's better than Khris Middleton, but not named DeMar DeRozan. Thanks for the effort though, and it was insightful, but Khris Middleton?

However, even though it was a blowout, it's a shame that Middleton scored 20 points (his career high) on the Bobcats, and it only took him 28 minutes to do so

As I said - he was 4 on 5 defending shooters off screens. I think 4 of those shots were Middleton's so there's no denying that he got scored on.