Taylor would have provided some nice depth and leadership in the lineup, even if he didn't ever meet his full potential. Still, it will be nice when Shaka has all of his guys in place.
Admittedly, I haven't watched a ton of his games in college. I've seen maybe 10 at most. But I am a fan of his and wish him well. His combined inability to shoot + thin frame (and poor finishing) will make that hard, but if he goes the D-League or European route and really works on his shooting and on-ball defense I like his chances.
His finishing at the rim is - or was - outstanding. He reminds of a lesser version of TJ Ford. When he's out at the 3 point line, you literally don't have to guard him. Wide open, he'll shoot under 20% from there. But if you do guard him for some stupid reason, he'll blow by you and get to the rim either for an assist, a layup, or get fouled. Basically, if you get him the ball and dribbling around and maybe around a screen or something, he'll find his way to the rim and something good will happen. But that's in college. It doesn't work like that in the pros. I absolutely LOVE his college game, but he seems basically worthless to me in the pros.
I always thought of him as a great finisher too, but I saw somewhere his shooting percentage was barely above 49% at the rim. That didn't seem right but I haven't seen enough of him to say if that's definitely right or not.
I completely agree with this assessment. However, a team like the Spurs that miraculously makes 3 point shooters out of nothing could potentially develop a player like Taylor.
Pretty cool shot chart data below. Doesn't look like complete season data but don't think it would be that far off. Essentially, Taylor was much better at home than on the road. Like 73% in the paint at home versus 36% on the road better. That's just under 49% on average so pretty close to what you saw. But more importantly, his FG % outside the paint is just horrid. http://vorped.com/4-ncaam/2015-2016/player/3042/isaiah-taylor/shotchart/
He's kept incredibly radio silent throughout the recruiting process. Kind of nice to see in the day and age of constant twitter b.s. Just because Allen did not sign a national letter of intent does not mean Texas, Kansas or Houston are now incapable of landing his services. Far from it, actually. Allen could make his decision and sign what’s known as an athletic scholarship agreement, or ASA. That’s what a majority of transfers sign when they arrive at their new schools. It’s simply not what the overwhelming majority of high school seniors do. http://www.hookem.com/2016/05/19/jarrett-allen-didnt-sign-letter-intent-now/
Did Allen do this to give himself more flexibility? Now, the only binding agreement he will sign with any school is a financial aid agreement, right? Regardless, I sure hope he chooses us; I don't care how he gets here.
Isiah Taylor went undrafted tonight. Sucks that he signed with an agent and entered early, the Horns could have really used him next season.
This year's squad is pretty young. I don't expect a whole lot, but the majority of talent is pretty much Freshman and Sophomores. Hoping Jarrett Allen isn't one and done, but I think he probably will be.
I think it'll take some time. Today's loss was pretty bad, but I think they can turn it around when the conference games begin. They're just a young team right now. Taking way too many 3's when half the shooters on the team cannot shoot well. They have a big advantage going inside with these big guys and athletic wing players yet choose to settle. Eventually they'll learn their best bet to score points is to go inside and draw fouls. I don't expect a whole lot till next year when some of these guys enter their junior season.
They are lost their two best players from last year (Felix and Taylor) and are extremely young. It was ridiculous that they were ranked at the beginning to be honest. They are learning to play without those guys right now and they haven't figured it out yet but I think they will. I mean think about how often Isaiah handled the ball last year, pretty much like 75-80% of the time, and the other 20-25% was Javan. It'll take time. They have a great coach and a lot of talent, just need to mesh.
They also lost all their interior dominance with Ridley and Ibeh. That said, there's still no reason they should be losing at home to UTSA.
I thought they lost to UT-Arlington (for the first time ever) and whooped Alabama the next game? This has been an excuse for other teams at UT, but their hoops squad is actually really young, they'll get better as the season goes on, eventually they'll find a PG somewhere. It's a shame Taylor didn't want to go to class for another semester or 2 instead of going undrafted.