Oct. 12, 2009
By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
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Jermaine Taylor slashed down the lane, cocked the ball high overhead with his right hand and rammed in a thunderous dunk. For an instant as Taylor sailed through the air, it was as if nothing had changed for the former UCF scoring star.
But in actuality, everything has changed now for the reigning Conference USA Player of the Year.
Instead of being dressed in UCF's gold and black, Taylor was wearing the red of the Houston Rockets. And the stage was Amway Arena, just across town from where he used to dominate foes at UCF Arena.
Change, in this instance at least, can be good. The change from UCF to the NBA is one that Taylor is still adapting to, but one that he couldn't be more excited about. He is living out his dream trying to make it on basketball's grandest stage.
``It's going pretty good. There are a lot of things I have to get adjusted to, coming from UCF and being `The Guy' and the main player and now it's like I'm starting all over again,'' said Taylor, who scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds against the Orlando Magic last Friday. ``It's like I'm a freshman again. But it's nothing I can't handle though. Every time I step out there I feel like I'm learning and getting better.''
Friday's exhibition game proved to be a homecoming for the Tavares native and UCF alumnus. As soon as the Rockets landed in Orlando on Thursday, Taylor headed for UCF's campus where he attended a basketball workout. He said he spent most of Friday chatting with ``hundreds'' of Facebook friends who wished him luck in that night's game. And Taylor purchased 12 tickets for friends and family and was cheered by several more fans in the crowd each time he scored.
``It felt really good, hearing the fans cheer,'' Taylor said after the game. ``I want to say `thank you' to all the fans who came out here to support me. I didn't really expect all of those people to be here, but I am glad that they were.''
Taylor had been inside Amway Arena dozens of times before, but he admitted that he had never been more nervous than he was Friday night. Rare is the moment when you can pinpoint all of your dreams coming true. But for the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Taylor, that moment arrived on Friday night.
``It's my first time back home and really it's a dream come true for me,'' Taylor said of the homecoming. ``I've watched a lot of games here (at Amway Arena), probably over 20. Not only watching the Magic play, but I took a trip here once and they showed me around the arena. So I've been in here lots.''
Many of the fans in attendance at Friday's Magic-Rockets game had seen lots of Taylor through the past four years. The explosive shooting guard was a one-man wrecking crew last season for the Knights, ranking third in the country in scoring at 26.2 points per game. He had nine 30-point games and averaged a whopping 29.1 points against C-USA foes to earn the conference's player of the year award.
That was good enough to get Taylor drafted No. 32 overall by the Washington Wizards. The guard-heavy Wizards traded Taylor to Houston on the night they acquired Mike Miller and Randy Foye is a separate deal.
The trade turned out to be ideal for Taylor because of the Rockets woes at shooting guard. Tracy McGrady has yet to practice following offseason knee and shoulder surgeries. Shane Battier has missed time with a hamstring injury and Brent Barry is expected to be bought out of his contract with the Rockets.
That would seem to make Taylor, a scoring dynamo, a lock to make the Rockets roster. Houston will likely be without Yao Ming all season long and there are doubts as to whether McGrady will ever return to form, meaning Houston needs all of the scoring punch that it can get.
Taylor has already caught the attention of Houston coach Rick Adelman, who has been impressed with the guard's fearless style of play and his ability to get to the rim. Shot selection (he was five of 11 on Friday and missed his two 3-point tries) and defending NBA shooting guards are the areas where Taylor needs the most improvement, Adelman said.
``He's struggled some with his defense and his shot selection needs to be better. But like with a lot of young guys, he'll figure it out,'' Adelman said. ``For rookies, you have to know when it's a good time to put up shots. You don't learn those type of things until you are in games and now it's just a matter of him earning minutes and figuring it all out.''
He showed signs of figuring it all out last Friday, converting the highlight-worthy dunk off a steal and hitting several tough shots in traffic. He scored twice over Vince Carter, one of his boyhood heroes, and got to the free throw line four times. He was whistled for a travel on his first touch of the game and bit on a shot fake by J.J. Redick and was whistled for a foul.
But for the most part, Taylor's 14-point, three-rebound effort in 28 minutes against the Magic showed that the former UCF star is well on his way to making the jump from the college game to the NBA. He hopes that his climb to the NBA will be the first of many for players from UCF.
``I think I'm sort of letting players know that you don't have to go to Florida or Florida State to get to the NBA. You can go to UCF and make it to the league,'' he said. ``It doesn't matter where you go; it matters how good you are. Hopefully some of the better players from Florida will think about that and go to UCF, and we can grow into one of those bigger programs.''
John Denton's Knights Insider appears on U CFathletics.com every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.