Big 12 Basketball: Predicting who will be First-Team All-Big XII
Mar 12, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Isaiah Taylor (1) shoots a layup as Iowa State Cyclones guard Naz Long (15) defends during the first round at Sprint Center. Iowa State Cyclones won 69-67. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
G-Isaiah Taylor (Texas)
Let’s take a look at how the Big 12’s best point guards fared in assist rate this season:
Player A: 24.7%
Player B: 27.4%
Player C: 33.4%
Two of those guys are the obvious pick for this spot (Frank Mason and Monte Morris), and the other is Isaiah Taylor. And obviously, Taylor is the one leading the bunch with an assist rate of 33.4%, because I wouldn’t have showed you those numbers if it didn’t support my decision to put Taylor on the first team over the other two (Mason was 24.7%, and Morris was 27.4%).
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Now let me say something else: literally every other advanced metric point to Morris and Mason blowing Taylor out of the water. But Taylor is a 6’1 ball of energy and athleticism who was used very poorly in Rick Barnes’ system last year. Taylor sported a usage rate of 26.9% last season. The mean usage rate for last season’s first and second all-america teams was 24.5% (specific names: Kaminsky, Okafor, Grant, Russell, Cauley-Stein, Tuttle, Brogdon, Portis, Wright, Towns, Wiltjer).
These are all guys who are supposed to do everything for their respective teams. Taylor isn’t, and shouldn’t ever have to be that player.
Rick Barnes’ offense consisted of a slow, pound it inside approach that mostly resulted in Taylor dribbling around aimlessly for 20 seconds desperately searching for something. Occasionally a pick and roll would break out, but since Barnes had no shooters and elected to leave his second best offensive threat, Myles Turner, on the bench for 20 minutes a game, Taylor would get hounded due to terrible spacing.
Where Taylor exceeds the most is in the open floor. Last year’s Longhorns ranked 252nd in college basketball in possessions per game. VCU, where Texas’ new coach Shaka Smart was running the show before coming to Austin, was ranked 61st in this category. This, along with Smart’s “havoc” defense which is designed to force turnovers, should give Taylor loads of freedom in the open floor, and a lot more possessions to play with as well.
Call it a bold prediction, but Taylor gets the nod on the First-Team.
Next: Buddy Hield