Jermaine Taylor Bio

May 15, 2009 - 11:10 PM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer=

NAME: Jermaine Taylor

SCHOOL: UCF

POSITION: Shooting guard

HEIGHT: 6-foot-4

WEIGHT: 214 pounds

SCOUTING REPORT: An under-the-radar prospect that showed significant improvement throughout his four-year college career, Taylor showed as a senior that he can get pretty much any shot he wants. The somewhat concerning aspect of Taylor's game, though, is that he seemingly wants every shot - his 24.5 attempts per 40 minutes led the nation. Taylor, the Conference USA player of the year, is a good rebounder for a guard and shot 48.0 percent as a senior even while taking nearly 20 shots per game. After the season, Taylor helped himself perhaps more than any other player at the predraft Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. He comes off screens well and has a high release that's difficult to contest, and he's athletic enough to be a terror on the fast break. Taylor's biggest problem is his lack of an explosive first step, something that he's going to need if he's going to compensate for the nights when he's not shooting the ball well. He struggles going to his left and shows frustration if he can't get past a defender after a few dribbles. He's bulky enough to be a factor defensively, but his height may preclude him from guarding bigger shooting guards. Shares a lot of similarities with Chicago's Ben Gordon, another undersized shooter who lacks the ballhandling skills to penetrate regularly and is a liability on defense. With that said, if Taylor can improve his first step, he can be an effective NBA player. His shooting will likely be good enough to put him in an NBA rotation, and Taylor can expect to be an early second-round pick in the 2009 draft.