Bryce Taylor

Bryce Taylor may not have shot the ball all that well (just 4-16 on the day), but in his case, it’s nice to see him continuing to show that aggressiveness that he so sorely lacked in college. He’s a versatile player who can shoot, pass, defend and play smart basketball, and at the end of the day it wouldn’t be a shock to see a team pick him up when it’s all said and done.

Although he wasn’t able to finish all of his moves, Bryce Taylor again had a solid outing (11 points, 4/9 FG, 17 minutes), showing more versatility than we may have given him credit for in college. He attacked the basket very aggressively, looking very quick off his feet elevating and trying to finish strong, and also looked pretty smooth shooting the ball and pulling up off the dribble from the perimeter. He doesn’t look afraid in the least bit of trying new things here and has in turn emerged as a very effective scoring weapon for his team.

Workout Results:

Shows patience and intelligence on the court…clearly focused on being aggressive when shot opportunities presented themselves…good separation ability to free himself for the jumper…nice elevation on shots, even on step-back…looked very comfortable shooting off the dribble…functional ball-handling ability, good enough to set himself up for his shots…works to spots on the court…average short-line burst, but gets up there once he’s going to the basket…effortless jumper, text-book form and good mechanics throughout…doesn’t have tremendous length or height, but has a solid frame…

Thoughts on Performance:

Taylor was a pleasant surprise in many ways…he has a tremendous understanding of his future role on the professional level, and what he needs to focus on in order to accomplish his goals…maturity level and perspective beyond his years…showed me good effort defensively and should be solid in team defensive situations, but probably lacks the size, length and lateral quickness to be a superman defender…was really impressive with his overall shooting, hitting all the shots he’ll need to make on the next level…3-pointer, spot-shots, one and two dribble pull-ups, catch-and shoot of down screen-all very fundamentally consistent…Doesn’t look like a great athlete at first sight, but has the ability to elevate well above the rim when he gets going to the basket….conditioning looks very good, hardly broke a sweat during well-paced workout

Trainer’s Take:

Don MacLean: “This is my 5th year doing this. Bryce might be the kid that has showed the most improvement over a one month span. I cover the Pac-10 for television, so I’ve probably watched him play around 20 times the last four years. He is literally a completely different player right now. He’s attacking, making more shots, he’s more aggressive. With his ability to shoot, he’s an NBA player all day. I didn’t think that initially, based on what I had seen, I wasn’t sure-now I’m convinced. I think he struggled with confidence a bit at Oregon. The way things were set up, I think he got pigeon-holed into just being a catch-and-shoot guy and never really had the ball. Now his confidence is sky-high, he’s trying to dunk on guys now, and he’s been really sharp with the ball.

His mentality when he plays now is different. At Oregon I think he lost some confidence, [thinking to himself] ‘I’ll take my looks when I get ‘em, I’m a pretty good defender, etc.’ Now he’s like ‘give me the damn ball and I’m going to make a play.’ The way he’s thinking about playing now is completely different….and let’s not discount the conditioning factor. They’re in shape that they’ve never been in before. Everyone thinks they’re in shape when they come to this camp, but they’re not. I think that Bryce was a hair out of shape. Now, because of his condition, he doesn’t get tired. At the end of the day it takes more energy to get to the rim than it does to just catch-and-shoot. So I think that’s part of it for Bryce. He’s gotten himself into supreme condition.”

With Aaron Brooks graduating to the NBA, the Oregon Ducks will need their senior Bryce Taylor to step up in a major way to have any chance at matching last year’s terrific feat of reaching the Elite Eight. Coming off a spectacularly efficient season—averaging 14 points per game on 52% shooting from the field and 42% from behind the arc (ranked 3rd in True Shooting Percentage amongst all players currently on our draft board)—Oregon fans will hope that it’s only a matter of getting the unselfish Taylor more shots in order to up his production. From what we can tell on tape, it might not be that simple.

Taylor is clearly the type of player every college coach in America would like to have. Standing somewhere around 6-4, he’s first and foremost a terrific spot-up shooter, thanks in part to his excellent shooting mechanics. Taylor does a great job coming off screens and is deadly when he has a chance to set his feet and get a clean look. When rushed, or particularly when forced to put the ball on the floor before spotting up, his percentages drop significantly—something that he’ll clearly have to work on to make it at the next level. He has very little mid-range game to speak of, looking awkward and unpolished when attempting to pull up off the dribble and create separation from a defender.

That’s rarely noticed within a game, though, as Taylor is a smart, steady, efficient player who is always under control and really knows how to pick his spots. He regularly finds seams in the half-court either by moving off the ball intelligently and cutting towards the basket, or putting the ball on the floor in a straight line towards the hoop when the defense is momentarily unbalanced. He’s also a very good finisher in transition, looking very quick to rise up for a dunk, and being noticeably crafty and creative with his layups around the rim.

When trying to project how his game translates over to the NBA, though, there are a few question marks that emerge. Not being particularly big or athletic, Taylor will have to improve his ball-handling skills to not be labeled as a one-dimensional player. Defensively, his lateral quickness looks fairly average, although he does put a good effort in on this side of the floor and is as noted, a very smart player.

Taylor will need to have an All-Pac-10 type season, complete with a deep run in the NBA tournament, followed by a strong pre-draft to keep his name strong in the mix on teams’ draft boards. It’s not out of the question that he makes it, but he’s also not a lock at this point.

After being inconspicuous during his first two Pac-10 Tournament games, Bryce Taylor was perfect in the title game. The sharp shooting junior didn’t miss a single shot from either the field or the line for the entirety of Oregon’s blowout win over USC. Taylor’s entire offensive repertoire was on full display for a national audience to witness as the Ducks cruised to victory.

Whether it’s knocking down deep threes with a hand in his face, blowing by a defender to the basket, or exploding for a dunk in the lane, Taylor is always a threat to score. The fact that he averages only 14.8 points per game is a testament to the tremendous offensive fire power that Oregon possesses. On most other teams in the country he would be a threat to score close to 20 a night.

For Taylor, his game begins on the outside and moves in. He is a deadly three point shooter, and as he showed on Saturday a couple of times, is at his scariest coming off of screens because of his fluid release. He has no qualms about launching from beyond NBA range or with a defender in his face. When he does decide to pass on shots from the outside, he usually can beat his man to the basket thanks to his opportunistic style of play. He lacks much of a pull up jumper, and still has plenty of work to do on his ball-handling skills, but still excels because of his ability to finish in the lane. At 200 pounds, Taylor has a solid build for a guard and can still get off good shots when he is bumped by bigger players. His most dangerous attribute going to the rim though is his finishing ability. Despite being 6-5, Taylor is capable of elevating over many taller players and finishing a play with a strong dunk thanks to his quick leaping ability.

Toughness is a major part of Taylor’s appeal as a player. He’s a good rebounder for a player his size, and consistently picks up garbage points by following his own shot. This toughness translates well for him at the next level where he will be a little undersized as a shooting guard. Defensively, Taylor isn’t going to wow anyone, but he does play good hard defense. He has average lateral quickness, but sticks to his man tightly, forcing a lot of tough and contested shots. Against USC, neither Nick Young nor Gabe Pruitt were able to do much when Taylor was covering them.

The biggest strike against Taylor in an otherwise very good season has been his consistency. After putting up double digit scoring performances in 19 of his first 20 games this year, he went cold for a stretch of several games. This cold spell interestingly enough coincided with a two week slump for Oregon in which they dropped 5 out of 7 games. In the last month of the season Taylor only has two other solid performances before exploding against USC.

With Aaron Brooks set to graduate after this season, expect an increase in Taylor’s numbers, especially in the number of shots he sees and his scoring. With his shooting, basketball IQ, and toughness, expect to see Taylor’s name firmly in the mix for draft projections.