Emergence of Jordan Taylor

Coming into this season, I knew our starting guards would be great, but my concern was for spelling them this season and the seasons to come once Pop and J-Bo graduated. That concern has been greatly alleviated this season by the great play of Jordan Taylor. This is not to say that he wasn't a good player last season, because he was... it's just that he didn't quite have the discipline on defense and shooting ability to be a threat on offense. Man, has that changed. Here's his statistical improvement through the first 7 games.


Offense

Points Per Game
2008 = 1.6
2009 = 7.0

Offensive Rating
2008 = 60.2
2009 = 94.2

FT%
2008 = 58.8% (10/17)
2009 = 47.1% (8/17)

FT Rate (FTAs/FGAs)
2008 = 23.3%
2009 = 42.5%

2PT%
2008 = 29.8% (14/47)
2009 = 51.6% (16/31)

3PT%
2008 = 19.2% (5/26)
2009 = 33.3% (3/9)

Assists Per 40 Minutes
2008 = 3.5
2009 = 6.2

Turnover Rate
2008 = 19.3%
2009 = 11.1%

Assist-Turnover Ratio
2008 = 2.24
2009 = 3.83



Defense

Fouls Per 40 Minutes
2008 = 6.1
2009 = 2.9

Defensive Rebounds Per 40 Minutes
2008 = 1.92
2009 = 4.56

Steals Per 40 Minutes
2008 = 0.92
2009 = 0.81

Blocks Per 40 Minutes
2008 = 0.00
2009 = 0.54

The only thing he hasn't improved upon is stealing, which I think says more about him playing better position defense and not taking as many chances on that side of the ball, which is a positive to me. His biggest improvement by far is the decline of his fouling.