Hello, pugsly8422. I admit to being one of those people who thought that the Rockets stole Jermaine Taylor as a second round pick. But I'm not going to be one of those people who say the Rockets should give him back. At least not yet. I personally expected there to be a bit of an adjustment period for Taylor. Especially here, where Rick Adelman is going to expect him to be as intelligent a basketball player as he is an athletic one. Taylor will handle the ball less, at least in the immediate future, than he has for a while. His scoring ability won't be as prevalent because he won't have the ball in his hands. The athleticism in the NBA is also an adjustment for him. Most everybody in the league is some kind of freak athlete, so Taylor can't outshine people in that manner alone. He was the main guy on his team in college, like a lot of college players. I think he would do better as a "facilitator" than anything else.....if for no other reason than to get him comfortable. He frankly looks as lost as I've seen a player of his talent. I am encouraged that Taylor is willing to compete on the defensive end of the ball. That could help in his adjustment as well. The good news for him is, even if he does some time in the developmental league, the Rockets seem willing to wait and give him a little time. So I'm willing to give him a little time, too......
Offensively, he is Von Wafer except without the ball actually going through the hoop. Defensively, he seems like he could become a good defender but I'm not sure we need another guy who defends and doesn't score. We've been stockpiling them for years.
I am so high on this kid's potential, but he has not impressed a bit. He's supposed to be a scorer, right? But when I watched him against the Celtics, he was hesitant and timid, as if he was lost. From a scorer/shooter, I atleast want to see someone who's aggressive offensively. I want someone to be confident shooting and with the ball. I have yet to see any of that from Taylor.
Exactly, he provides what Wafer just could not, defense. I highly doubt that Taylor will be the first, second, third or even FOURTH option on offense. Give the kid a spell to adjust to the big time, defense comes earlier than offense, even for scorers. Wafer had a complete melt down at the worst time, IN THE BIGGEST GAME. Even Ron Artest was thinking "knuckle head". Besides, Taylor is not the one replacing Wafer, Budinger is.
uhhh...defense??? don't think defense and jermaine taylor belong in the same sentence right now... it doesnt mean just cos hes black that hes got to be above average at defense...
The kid played awful. Daniels was making a fool out of him. ...and the only thing that made his defense look good was seeing him rip Rondo and watching Budinger get taken all the way to the rack by Brian freaking Scalabrine.
White man's offense? Black man's defense? What the heck is wrong with people around here lately? Taylor sucks right now but it's too early to give up... even if he spends a season in the D league he can still wind up a productive NBA player. I do think that showing effort on defense is a good place to start for a guy just trying to make a roster. This is going to be a huge transition for a guy like Taylor that has always been the focus on offense of every team he has ever played on. Going from star to roll player is tough and it will show a lot of character from Taylor if he can make the adjustment, and again, I think defense is a great place to start.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ta-78BQXtqU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ta-78BQXtqU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tOhvgujrAx4&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tOhvgujrAx4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/djfrU_AdU-w&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/djfrU_AdU-w&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> One missed layup means nothing. Missed dunks and layups happen every night in the NBA.
Wafer wanted more money then the Rockets thought he was worth. He probably made that pretty clear early on because they went out of their way to get guys that could replace Wafer, Artest and McGrady as scoring options going forward. As for Taylor, he will probably ride the bench or be in the D-league for most of the season. He seems like a project for 2010, then a contributor in this upcoming season. Especially with all the wings we have, I don't see him breaking the 7-8 man rotation, especially if McGrady comes back soon enough.
If losing Wafer was such a "mistake" why weren't NBA teams knocking down his door to sign him and why is he playing in Greece?
It wasn't a mistake. We could still end up with Mccants, who would give us what Wafer did. I am not going to judge Taylor before his career has even started.
