Hoops

Kings Import Taylor

There's a reason White has stuck around for almost a decade, and it isn't his offensive ability. Good in the full court trap, and good positional defender. There's a reason Joey has been trusting him lately.

Not a chance is White a better defender than Taylor.

The much maligned Brendan Teys and Kevin White are shooting better than him, and are no worse defensively (and probably better in White’s case). That’s a bit of an indictment right there.

"Is he actually a good, let alone great defender, or just very active on that end? I'm not convinced, despite the narrative."

It's a good point, and I'd say he's an active defender more than a good defender. However he does one very valuable thing for us in that he pressures the ball and generates turnovers, which we are really poor at otherwise. Didi had the length to trouble guys and get in passing lanes, and we miss that more than his iffy jumper. Our inability to generate transition baskets has been a big reason for the slump IMO.

Taylor started his stint ultra cold from 3, but I'd much rather he throw them up than Xavier Cooks at this point.

Taylor is definitely better than Hobson. Can at least play within the system and is unselfish. Hobson is really indicative of the Hawks season - such a missed opportunity because they aren’t far off the mark.

Look at Hobson’s Assist to TO ratio at least Taylor can look after the ball run the offence somewhat. Not saying he is any good.

Thanks for the clarification Will Weaver. It is now official:the cut-off for commenting on a player's ability is that you have to have played state league and/or internationally. You can watch the same tape as everyone else but your opinion won't count.

I would just love to hear Billy Preston's thoughts on Taylor's game. The insight would be incredible. He's got such a great basketball mind. I once hung 8 in a local Brazilian league, I'd know.

Remember too, it's all about fit and opportunity, that is, unless raw statistics can show you in a better light. In that case its not about opportunity at all, it's about the stats.

It's not only the shooting percentage but the eye test also leads to the thinking that he will struggle at nbl level. His misses from the perimeter are way off and his shot selection is questionable at best. He had one game where he dropped a few but his form doesn't look good to me.

Hobson has only played 6 games admittedly he's crap but the sample size is too small to compare to say Taylor or Singler. I think also Hobson (ex-NBA) is more a lack of heart issue than lack of skill issue like Taylor.

For the fun of it Hobson's stats this season:

6 games
6.8ppg, 4.7apg, 4.0rpg, 1.3spg
32.0% FG
22.7% 3pt
57.1% FT
25.4 mins/g

Taylor hs to play a role on our team as opposed to being a star import but that shooting % says it all. There is no way he is worse than Darrington Hobson.

Trimble wasn't fresh out of college like Taylor he had played a season in the G-League before coming to the NBL.

I’m not certain Trimble is that successful, yes he can score points but defensively poor and not that good running an offence.

Singler worse than Taylor? lol At least Singler can shoot.

E.J. Singler's stats this season:

20 games
7.4ppg, 3.6rpg, 1.8apg, 0.9spg
50.5% FG
40.4% 3pt
77.3% FT
20.8 mins/g

Krayola, Taylor is 100% worse than Singler, who at least solid positional defence and can hit an open shot.

Is he actually a good, let alone great defender, or just very active on that end? I'm not convinced, despite the narrative.

His offense is terrible.

lol Deshon is that you?

You're a great defender who needs to drastically improve your handles. You cannot beat your man off the dribble and you often get it stolen when you drives into traffic. You barely score inside the paint and have only had one game where you shot the ball well.

You're not the worst import (that'd be Singler) but it's not like Weaver has a leash on his players. If you had offensive skill it'd have shown by now.

Pre-season has hardly ever been an indication of talent. Deng Deng had some big games for the Kings in the 2018 Blitz and he's not even in the NBL anymore.

Only an injury replacement for Lisch or Moller.

He’s been an able replacement after a very few ordinary games, probably not an import in this league though unless he’s remarkably cheap.

At 14 minutes a game in that stacked lineup, he’s ok. Remember, he isn’t playing 14 straight minutes either, so in and out for moments, allows no player to get in a rhythm. He certainly isn’t a liability or anything.

Zodiac

You clearly didn’t read what he said lol

Taylor's NBL stats this season:

14 games
5.4ppg, 0.9rpg, 0.7apg, 0.2spg
30.8% from the field
26.7% 3pt
88.5% FT
14.3 mins/g

“He's one of the worst imports in the league he's a SEABL level import”

He’s definitely not the worst import, you give any other import guard in the position he is minute wise and not really touching the ball ... and they’ll look bad too

Joey also said griffin was unguardable, so take anything he says with a grain of salt lol

Taylor has had some moments, haven’t seen much of him to be honest. But he got the win against the 6ers who screwed him over, so good for him.

Joey also said griffin was unguardable, so take anything he says with a grain of salt lol

Taylor has had some moments, haven’t seen much of him to be honest. But he got the win against the 6ers who screwed him over, so good for him.

He's improved a lot the past couple of weeks. Really solid defender, but tries to do a little bit too much offensively at times.

He's one of the worst imports in the league he's a SEABL level import.

Is it just me, or does there seem to be a lot of complaining coming from the six underperforming teams?

I understand that it can be frustrating to be this far into the season and still have a win percentage under 50%, but all i hear from coaches, fans and players is a lot of excuses and no owning up to what they're doing wrong?

Blaming refs is my big gripe. Sure, they suck most of the time, but you'd be hard pressed to find a ref who is always going to satisfy every person from every team. someone will always complain about a call.

My biggest gripe is players not taking responsibility for their own actions. Dont be undisciplined on the court and then blame "bias" refs when the calls dont go your way (im looking at you Tigers)

The only way things like this will get solved is if teams start taking responsibility for what they're doing wrong. Instead of Anstey blaming the refs for calling a tech when the rules clearly state a tech is to be called, how about teaching your players to be smart when they get into a situation like that, or hold their tongue, instead of complaining about the rules and the umpires!

PS: i know every team does it to some extent, the tigers were the first that came to mind given their reaction to their performance in the two games against perth