Image via WikipediaPlaying the most amount of minutes on the #1 ranked team in the country, Tyshawn Taylor is having his best season as a collegian, even if he still has a fairly modest stat line. He is also leading his team in assists despite spending as much time off as on the ball, and is performing more consistently than he has in any of his previous seasons.
On the offensive end, Taylor is the team's primary point guard, usually bringing the ball up the court and getting the Jayhawks into their offense, making quick decisions and rarely unnecessarily holding onto the ball. Using his excellent size, good first step, quickness, and change of direction ability, Taylor has a knack for finding open spaces on the floor and can get by most college opponents with ease. He's done a good job developing his vision and feel over the years, showing nice ability to recognize double teams and find the open man. He shows excellent ability on drive-and-dishes when he keeps his head up, and also makes a lot of simple passes in the flow of the offense.
While Taylor's point guard abilities have grown noticeably in his time in college, he's clearly still developing and is prone to making errant decisions with his dribble at times. That said, playing in Kansas' offense where he spends so much time off the ball and is forced to make quick reads and rarely overdribble should definitely be helpful in his transition to the NBA, where he won't have to make the play style adjustment most college point guards do.
In terms of his own offense, Taylor has a decent groundwork of skills in all areas but doesn't really excel in any one. He shows the most potential with his ability to attack the rim due to his speed off the dribble combined with his body control and ability to change direction. He relies mostly on simple moves going to the basket, doing a great job utilizing screens to get the step on his man and showing a strong second gear in the lane.
On the defensive end is where Taylor is perhaps most impressive, as he has ideal physical tools for a point guard with his 6'3 frame and excellent lateral quickness and instincts. His fundamentals are very good and he shows great tenacity on this end, often getting into his stance well past the three-point arc. He's prone to overextending himself at times and can bite on pump fakes, but when he's zoned in he's very tough to shake off the dribble while he's also consistent with getting his hands up to contest shots.
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