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| Top NBA Draft Prospects in the SEC (Part One: #1-5)
September 18, 2009
Jonathan Givony
One of the most pleasant surprises in last season’s mediocre SEC was the emergence of Vanderbilt freshman Jeff Taylor. An under the radar high school recruit, largely due to his non-traditional background going to high school in New Mexico, by way of Sweden, Taylor regardless managed to emerge as Vanderbilt’s most important player for big stretches of the season, being named to the All-SEC Freshman team for his efforts.
Taylor has prototypical physical tools for a high-caliber NBA wing player, starting with great size at 6-7, a frame that should have no problem putting on weight, and a good wingspan. He is an absolutely electrifying athlete on top of that, regularly playing well above the rim thanks to his tremendous leaping ability, and also possessing a very quick first step. His NBA upside is significant for these reasons alone, but he has some legit talent, as evidenced by the defense he played and the 18.4 points he averaged per-40 minutes pace adjusted in his first season of college basketball.
Offensively, Taylor is clearly at his best in the open floor, where his athleticism really shines through. He’s nowhere near as effective in the half-court at this point, though, as he’s an average ball-handler and a fairly mediocre shooter.
Taylor can beat his man off the dribble quite effectively thanks to his excellent first step and long strides, but he struggles to create his own shot at times since he lacks advanced ball-handling moves and struggles to operate with his left hand or change directions with the ball. He is a very fluid player, though, with nice footwork and some very interesting spin-moves in his arsenal, so it may only be a matter of time until he becomes a high-level shot-creator. As it is, he is a pretty solid mismatch threat already at the collegiate level.
Spending heavy minutes at the power forward position, a sizable amount of Taylor’s offense is created by others, especially in Vanderbilt’s Princeton offense, which stresses a great deal of off the ball movement. His terrific size, quickness and leaping ability make him an ideal candidate to run backdoor cuts for, a play that gets him plenty of great looks around the basket. He doesn’t show any type of post-up game (a shame considering his tools), but is a fairly good passer, even if that is negated somewhat by his high turnover averages. Taylor gets to the free throw line at an excellent rate, nearly 7-times per-40 minutes pace adjusted, although he could stand to improve somewhat on his 69% shooting from the charity stripe.
As a shooter is where Taylor needs to improve the most to reach his extremely high ceiling. He made just 9 of 41 3-point attempts last season (22%), mostly of the spot-up variety. Taylor sports a slow, deliberate release, not looking all that confident hoisting up shots past 17-18 feet, and seeing streaky results even from that range. He actually has decent shooting mechanics, and is smart enough to know to step into the mid-range area if he has time to get his shot off, but will have to improve considerably in this area if he’s to make the transition to playing out on the wing full-time. He has almost zero ability to pull-up off the dribble at this point as well, not getting much elevation on his jumper.
Defense might be Taylor’s biggest selling point as a prospect, and probably will continue to be his calling card in the NBA. He has outstanding tools to get the job done on this end of the floor, and he’s both willing and able to use them to the benefit of his team. Taylor gets low on every possession in an intense fundamental stance, moving his feet extremely well and absolutely smothering smaller opponents with his size, length and outstanding lateral quickness. He is almost always assigned to defend the opposing team’s best player, and is a great weapon to have against the pick and roll since he can switch on anyone from the 1-4 positions. Taylor is also a phenomenal rebounder (particularly offensively) for his position, pulling down nearly 10 rebounds per-40 minutes pace adjusted. This is a testament to his physical tools, but also his excellent activity level.
Despite the fact that he’s getting almost no exposure whatsoever from the national media, Taylor appears to be on the verge of a breakout season that will put him firmly on the radar of NBA talent evaluators, and likely in a major way. Considering that he owns a European Union passport (he was born in Sweden and already played for their national team) he will likely be pursued heavily by some of the top teams in Europe next summer if he decides to pass up declaring for the draft, but surely has the NBA in his future if he’s willing to be patient. At this point he’s just starting to scratch the surface on his true potential.
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U-18 EC Division B: Searching for Hidden Gems
August 6, 2007
A very athletic player, Taylor features a nice bunch of terrific characteristics for a wing, but he's highly limited by his non-existent shooting touch, seriously jeopardizing his potential as an elite player.
Taylor shows a nice long frame and a ripped body. He's an explosive athlete, extremely quick off his feet and an excellent leaper. Given his lack of shooting ability, he always looks for the paint, particularly the baseline, either off the dribble or off the ball. He's a very solid ball-handler, which paired with his quickness, allows him to consistently beat his match-ups in individual settings. He shows nice footwork in the slashing department, with the ability to display reverses and various changes of direction. But he's also a very active guy playing without the ball, looking for spaces near the rim, where he can easily finish thanks to his leaping ability. A bit of an inconsistent defender, his tools are perfect to match him up against wings, but his effort is not always there. A decent passer, his basketball IQ seems, if not great, at least decent.
The recipe for Taylor seems clear: shoot, shoot and keep shooting until he develops a decent stroke.
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