CLIPPERS NOTEBOOK : TAYLOR'S POISE, MATURITY BELIE ROOKIE STATUS.Byline: Gary Washburn Daily News Staff Writer Instead of bolting practice as soon as it ended to celebrate Thanksgiving, Maurice Taylor Maurice De Shawn Taylor (born October 30, 1976 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American professional basketball player at the power forward position. He was most recently with the NBA's Sacramento Kings, released on January 23, 2007. stayed late to work on his post game. He didn't even have time to see his first SportsCenter moment: a vicious dunk on Sacramento's Corliss Williamson Corliss Mondari Williamson (born on December 4, 1973 in Russellville, Arkansas) is a retired American professional basketball player, who played for four teams during his 12-year NBA career. His nickname is "Big Nasty", a moniker he received from his cousin when he was 13. in the Clippers' 99-97 win on Wednesday. That was forgotten for the sake of improving. Taylor has quickly realized that more work means more playing time. And more playing time has resulted in some sparkling play and some occasional eye-popping jams. He scored 12 points in 24 minutes against Sacramento, as his transition to the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= game continued to go smoothly. He has shown the ability to score in the post, get rebounds and run the floor. ``I really don't consider myself like a rookie,'' Taylor said. ``When I walk out on the court, I want to play at an NBA level. Against Michael Jordan This article is about the former basketball player. For other uses, see Michael Jordan (disambiguation). Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. , I don't say I'm going to outplay out·play tr.v. out·played, out·play·ing, out·plays To surpass (an opponent) in skill or technique or in scoring points. Verb 1. him, but I want to compete.'' Taylor is averaging 8.3 points per game, including 41 points in the last three games. Coach Bill Fitch William Fitch (born May 19 1934 in Davenport, Iowa) is a former NBA coach who has been successful in making teams playoff contenders throughout his coaching career. Before entering the professional ranks he coached college ball at the University of Minnesota, Bowling Green State sat down with the rookie and, citing the player's stocky build and quickness, compared him physically to former All-Star Adrian Dantley Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1956 in Washington, D.C.) is a former basketball small forward who played 15 seasons in the NBA, many of which were played as a member of the Utah Jazz where he amassed the bulk of his legendary numbers. . Dantley was a pure scorer and often dominated bigger defenders with his girth GIRTH., A girth or yard is a measure of length. The word is of Saxon origin, taken from the circumference of the human body. Girth is contracted from girdeth, and signifies as much as girdle. See Ell. and speed. ``When I'm matched up against power forwards, I feel like I can run the floor better and score from the outside,'' Taylor said. ``If I have a small forward, I can usually post up and score inside.'' Easier said than done for most. But Taylor is carrying out this plan. He is creating matchup problems and has been everything the Clippers envisioned. Fitch, who is notorious for being hard on rookies, said Thursday, ``I love rookies. I just don't like to play rookies who play like rookies. Maurice is not playing like a rookie. He makes some mistakes, but the growing process is quick for him. He's here after practice working hard. That's going to pay off.'' Rookie woes: Fitch would love to say the same about 7-foot-3 Keith Closs Keith Mitchell Closs (born April 3, 1976 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American professional basketball player. The 7-foot 3-inch player from Central Connecticut State University played three seasons as a backup center for the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles , but the rookie center is slowly progressing. Fitch does not feel comfortable putting him in the playing rotation. Closs showed signs of coming around with his 10-point, four-block performance in Atlanta two weeks ago. But since then he's averaged 3.0 points and 0.8 blocks in five games. He played an ineffective six minutes Wednesday when the Clippers, with Lorenzen Wright Lorenzen Vern-Gagne Wright (born November 4 1975) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. After being selected seventh overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1996 NBA Draft out of the University of Memphis, the 6'11" (2. in foul trouble, desperately needed help at center. ``For Keith, it's from the neck up,'' Fitch said of Closs' difficulties in adjusting to the NBA. ``He's got to learn that the harder he works, the more he'll get out of it. We worked him hard in practice.'' Closs is not going to gain much weight during the season, and his attempts to go over centers are not faring well - his only dunk attempt Wednesday was blocked by 7-foot Olden Polynice Olden Polynice (born November 21 1964 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a retired professional basketball player at the center position. Polynice played with the Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings, and Utah Jazz of the National . So the plan is to keep Closs on the bench and go with Stojko Vrankovic and even Taylor. Nice comeback: Darrick Martin's 15 points in 26 minutes against Sacramento could earn the guard more playing time. Pooh Richardson Jerome "Pooh" Richardson (born May 14 1966 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) player. The 6'1" point guard was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the tenth overall pick of the 1989 NBA Draft out of UCLA. continues to struggle from the field - 7 for 24 (29 percent) in his three starts - which has prompted Fitch to give Martin another chance. Martin found some of the spice that made him one of the league's most improved players last season. The Clippers got 34 points and 10 rebounds from the backcourt of Brent Barry Brent Robert Barry (born December 31, 1971 in Hempstead, New York) is an American professional basketball player currently with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. He is known by his nickname, "Bones", and stands 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m). and Martin, something Fitch had been waiting for. Richardson, however, will start tonight against New Jersey. CLIPPERS VS. NEW JERSEY Tipoff: 7:30 p.m., The Pond. TV/Radio: Fox Sports West 2; KEZY-FM 95.9, KLITE-FM 92.7. Clippers (2-12) update: The Clippers return to Anaheim for the second time this season. They lost a 123-105 decision to Phoenix in Orange County on Nov. 8. . . . The Clippers snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 99-97 win over Sacramento on Wednesday. Brent Barry had seven rebounds in the win, his highest total since the third game of the season. Barry is leading the team in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game, while Lamond Murray (15.4 ppg) has scored at least 18 points in the last four games. . . . Loy Vaught will miss his third consecutive game with back problems. Nets (8-5) update: New Jersey is 1-1 on its five-game West Coast swing and lost at Phoenix on Wednesday. Sam Cassell is leading New Jersey in scoring at 20.3 ppg. Cassell and coach John Calipari have been feuding about Cassell's shot selection. He missed 14 of 23 shots in the loss to the Suns. The Nets have two of the league's best rebounders in Chris Gatling (8.5 rpg) and Jayson Williams (7.8), who will give the rebounding-deficient Clippers fits. Williams had 24 rebounds in last year's game at Anaheim. CAPTION(S): Box Box: CLIPPERS VS. NEW JERSEY (See Text) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion