Taylor Hendricks Hype Thread

[homeytennis]

In one of the write ups of the Magic game they wrote about Tay Henny's twin who also plays at UCF. The twin is a college pine rider. He is 6'6" and is averaging about three ppg after redshirting last season. It makes you wonder about the family's athletics gene pool.

 

[infection]

In one of the write ups of the Magic game they wrote about Tay Henny's twin who also plays at UCF. The twin is a college pine rider. He is 6'6" and is averaging about three ppg after redshirting last season. It makes you wonder about the family's athletics gene pool.

Hmm… Exum had a twin. So did Hayward. So did Jarron Collins.

This has to mean… something.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

In one of the write ups of the Magic game they wrote about Tay Henny's twin who also plays at UCF. The twin is a college pine rider. He is 6'6" and is averaging about three ppg after redshirting last season. It makes you wonder about the family's athletics gene pool.

Not really

 

[default]

In one of the write ups of the Magic game they wrote about Tay Henny's twin who also plays at UCF. The twin is a college pine rider. He is 6'6" and is averaging about three ppg after redshirting last season. It makes you wonder about the family's athletics gene pool.

I got all the athletic, smart, and good-looking genes instead of my siblings.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

The one thing I'm comfortable saying I was entirely wrong about with Hendricks is that he is very good at moving his feet on the perimeter.

I was right about him being way too light in the *** to guard in the paint when it gets physical, but he's been great at moving his feet. A lot of times I think he's going to get called for fouls, but he seems to understand what refs what on defense to not get a foul called.

With that, I definitely see more of the Jaden McDaniels type comps being more within reach.

He's also a lot more willing to try things offensively. I'm not sure that will really get him anywhere, but at least he tries stuff.

 

[KqWIN]

The one thing I'm comfortable saying I was entirely wrong about with Hendricks is that he is very good at moving his feet on the perimeter.

I was right about him being way too light in the *** to guard in the paint when it gets physical, but he's been great at moving his feet. A lot of times I think he's going to get called for fouls, but he seems to understand what refs what on defense to not get a foul called.

With that, I definitely see more of the Jaden McDaniels type comps being more within reach.

He's also a lot more willing to try things offensively. I'm not sure that will really get him anywhere, but at least he tries stuff.

This is one of the things I was hoping to learn before the season. Defensively, he was much more of a weak side big in college who occasionally switched onto the perimeter. I think it's a totally different role/mindset to be a full time perimeter defender. I thought he had the physical capabilities, but we wouldn't know until he did it for real and the early returns are good.

I was a little concerned early on because his movement, especially on offense, looks clunky. It seems like his clunky movement is more so a result of slow mental processing versus a lack of agility/quickness.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

The rebounding has been a pleasant surprise so far, including rebounds in traffic. It increases his value as a help-side defender.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

This is one of the things I was hoping to learn before the season. Defensively, he was much more of a weak side big in college who occasionally switched onto the perimeter. I think it's a totally different role/mindset to be a full time perimeter defender. I thought he had the physical capabilities, but we wouldn't know until he did it for real and the early returns are good.

I was a little concerned early on because his movement, especially on offense, looks clunky. It seems like his clunky movement is more so a result of slow mental processing versus a lack of agility/quickness.

I think his lack of handle is holding him back more than anything. Overall, he's a decent athlete, but he's not able to change directions with the ball right now, so he can't go anywhere unless he has an open lane in front of him.

 

[KqWIN]

I think his lack of handle is holding him back more than anything. Overall, he's a decent athlete, but he's not able to change directions with the ball right now, so he can't go anywhere unless he has an open lane in front of him.

I think it's handle and also slow decision making. He's just not a guy who will make reads quickly. Not sure he will ever get there, but he can still be a good player and make a large impact in a minimal role.

 

[framer]

I think it's handle and also slow decision making. He's just not a guy who will make reads quickly. Not sure he will ever get there, but he can still be a good player and make a large impact in a minimal role.

Meh, his makes reads just fine. A lot of his issue has been trying to play exactly like Hardy and the coaching staff wants him to play. It stifles him completely. When he just goes out and balls he does fine. However, when he goes out and balls including the stuff that Hardy has drilled into him, he does really, really well. You can see it in how he plays the perimeter right now. He looks quicker on his feet because he has actually incorporated the stuff the coaching staff has taught him. You can go listen to interviews where he talks about the coaches breaking him down and building him back up again.

His reactions with the ball on offense are completely different now too. Before he would just sit in the corner and shoot or drive the ball if the lane was wide open. Now he will move around with the ball, look for a kick out pass (he can't anticpate developing stuff yet) or be creative in finding a shot other than the corner 3. He is also more active at setting screens and rolling to the basket when a shot goes up to nab rebounds. These are all things he was always capable of doing, he just was never in a team role to do them before. He's only 20, he's going to be fine.

 

[homeytennis]

Meh, his makes reads just fine. A lot of his issue has been trying to play exactly like Hardy and the coaching staff wants him to play. It stifles him completely. When he just goes out and balls he does fine. However, when he goes out and balls including the stuff that Hardy has drilled into him, he does really, really well. You can see it in how he plays the perimeter right now. He looks quicker on his feet because he has actually incorporated the stuff the coaching staff has taught him. You can go listen to interviews where he talks about the coaches breaking him down and building him back up again.

His reactions with the ball on offense are completely different now too. Before he would just sit in the corner and shoot or drive the ball if the lane was wide open. Now he will move around with the ball, look for a kick out pass (he can't anticpate developing stuff yet) or be creative in finding a shot other than the corner 3. He is also more active at setting screens and rolling to the basket when a shot goes up to nab rebounds. These are all things he was always capable of doing, he just was never in a team role to do them before. He's only 20, he's going to be fine.

He ought to be a beast in Summer League.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I think it's handle and also slow decision making. He's just not a guy who will make reads quickly. Not sure he will ever get there, but he can still be a good player and make a large impact in a minimal role.

He has taken away his slow decision making by just doing the first thing that's immediately available to him, which is usually just shoot it or take a couple of dribbles and try and shoot it.

Has resulted in a lot of bad shots, but it's whatever. He has surprised me with a few passes this season, but he's really just doing whatever he sees first and just running with it.

I dont know how much I see his handle improving. I think the biggest thing is just improving his physicality/strength so he can do the simple dribble stuff without losing position against defenders.

 

[KqWIN]

Meh, his makes reads just fine. A lot of his issue has been trying to play exactly like Hardy and the coaching staff wants him to play. It stifles him completely. When he just goes out and balls he does fine. However, when he goes out and balls including the stuff that Hardy has drilled into him, he does really, really well. You can see it in how he plays the perimeter right now. He looks quicker on his feet because he has actually incorporated the stuff the coaching staff has taught him. You can go listen to interviews where he talks about the coaches breaking him down and building him back up again.

His reactions with the ball on offense are completely different now too. Before he would just sit in the corner and shoot or drive the ball if the lane was wide open. Now he will move around with the ball, look for a kick out pass (he can't anticpate developing stuff yet) or be creative in finding a shot other than the corner 3. He is also more active at setting screens and rolling to the basket when a shot goes up to nab rebounds. These are all things he was always capable of doing, he just was never in a team role to do them before. He's only 20, he's going to be fine.

I disagree. I think Hardy putting him on the rails with specific instructions is what has allowed him to be successful. He is a good player but does not have a great feel for the game and is not a good decision maker. This was true even at UCF. Perhaps that will come with time, but if TH was out there freestyling the end result would be ugly. He is not that type of player and that's fine. The coaching staff is keeping things simple for him.

If anything, the instruction is just to make the first snap decision like @Saint Cy of JFC has mentioned. The more decision making/dribbling TH does the worse it is for him.

 

[sip]

I disagree. I think Hardy putting him on the rails with specific instructions is what has allowed him to be successful. He is a good player but does not have a great feel for the game and is not a good decision maker. This was true even at UCF. Perhaps that will come with time, but if TH was out there freestyling the end result would be ugly. He is not that type of player and that's fine. The coaching staff is keeping things simple for him.

If anything, the instruction is just to make the first snap decision like @Saint Cy of JFC has mentioned. The more decision making/dribbling TH does the worse it is for him.

The beauty of getting him actual nba minutes with established players is that his role is simplified to specific things. That is the biggest issue with the gleague is you have tons of players that may be putting up numbers but aren't playing the role that they would in the nba. There are so many guys that should be focusing on being a 3 and D type but instead in the gleague they are trying to fill the role of a lead wing offensively and defensively they develop bad habits because they are using so much energy offensively.

 

[KqWIN]

The beauty of getting him actual nba minutes with established players is that his role is simplified to specific things. That is the biggest issue with the gleague is you have tons of players that may be putting up numbers but aren't playing the role that they would in the nba. There are so many guys that should be focusing on being a 3 and D type but instead in the gleague they are trying to fill the role of a lead wing offensively and defensively they develop bad habits because they are using so much energy offensively.

I think playing with the starters also helps. The better the players are around him (meaning the less he has to do), the better he will be able to perform.

 

[sip]

I think playing with the starters also helps. The better the players are around him (meaning the less he has to do), the better he will be able to perform.

It definitely helps. I've never understood why teams don't make more of an effort to get rookie players consistent minutes with the starters rather than mostly bench and garbage time minutes. I think that is one of the reasons Ochai always played his best when starting. He has such a defined role with the starters and he was able to get much cleaner spot up looks to build his confidence. Coming off the bench his opportunities were far more inconsistent and it is hard to build any type of confidence offensively when you have stretches where you are only getting 1 or 2 shots a game.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I think playing with the starters also helps. The better the players are around him (meaning the less he has to do), the better he will be able to perform.

Being able to just focus on the things he does well (theoretically) and is also things that group needs is the best development he can get at this point. G League was good for him short term.

 

[KqWIN]

Being able to just focus on the things he does well (theoretically) and is also things that group needs is the best development he can get at this point. G League was good for him short term.

On that last point...I'm not too sure actually. I guess it doesn't mean too much, but my gut feeling is that if he was playing early he would be further along. You could argue there was not playing time for him at the beginning of the season, but the rotation was very much open and I still think he wouldn't have been so bad to not even be considered. Keyonte was very bad early, but I think it benefitted him to keep playing. I'm not sure why TH was not even considered an option, but I guess it doesn't matter much at this point. He's in the best position to succeed right now, which is what I thought when it was first announced he would start.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

On that last point...I'm not too sure actually. I guess it doesn't mean too much, but my gut feeling is that if he was playing early he would be further along. You could argue there was not playing time for him at the beginning of the season, but the rotation was very much open and I still think he wouldn't have been so bad to not even be considered. Keyonte was very bad early, but I think it benefitted him to keep playing. I'm not sure why TH was not even considered an option, but I guess it doesn't matter much at this point. He's in the best position to succeed right now, which is what I thought when it was first announced he would start.

I think he needed some low stakes reps in the offense and to get comfortable a bit. Maybe that happens in the varsity league but I think the baby step kinda helped. Who knows.

 

[KqWIN]

I think he needed some low stakes reps in the offense and to get comfortable a bit. Maybe that happens in the varsity league but I think the baby step kinda helped. Who knows.

Maybe….I think his entire game looked off in the G-League. Like I remember talking with you about how odd it was that loose balls were floating right past his face and he wasn’t getting them. Now I’d say it’s one of the better things he does and I think it’s because he can focus on those little things.

IMO….TH has always been a defense first prospect. For as much skepticism as I’ve had about him having an expansive offensive game, I thought he had the potential to do a lot on defense. He is still somewhat raw on defense and will need to improve his awareness, but I think he can go really far. He’s not guarding any Jimmy Butler’s in the G-League, that’s for sure. I think guarding the best of the best and being thrown in thrown into the fire is a good thing for him.

I don’t like to get ahead of myself and talk about end game state….but even with Walker we probably need at least one more elite defensive player in starting lineup to be competitive. Much more if Key+Sexton are the future backcourt (they won’t imo….just saying). Investing in TH’s defensive development is important and he needs to be in the NBA for that imo.

Water under a bridge now though.