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dukedoc
11-09-2012, 10:38 AM
A fascinating article from Goodman about Taylor's sad path LINK (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/20901553/back-from-the-depths-exphenom-taylor-king-finding-himself-looking-for-his-game)

"It is what it is. I was good at a young age and was put in a position to be seen and have my talent showcased," King said. "But at this point in my life, I don't want to make excuses. I don't want to say it was my dad or the weed. I made choices off the court and surrounded myself with people that didn't put me in a position to succeed."

Sounds like he's derived some wisdom from his rocky course. Hope he does well from here on out.

hq2
11-09-2012, 11:20 AM
A fascinating article from Goodman about Taylor's sad path LINK (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/20901553/back-from-the-depths-exphenom-taylor-king-finding-himself-looking-for-his-game)

"It is what it is. I was good at a young age and was put in a position to be seen and have my talent showcased," King said. "But at this point in my life, I don't want to make excuses. I don't want to say it was my dad or the weed. I made choices off the court and surrounded myself with people that didn't put me in a position to succeed."

Sounds like he's derived some wisdom from his rocky course. Hope he does well from here on out.

King came in somewhat overrated, IMHO. He was a streaky, selfish outside shooter who didn't pass well or really do much else on the court,
including defend. That's why K played him less and less over the year he was at Duke. It's hard to say whether he could/would have addressed
these issues if he had stayed, but clearly, he would not have started at least before his junior year. Sorry that it ended for him the way that it did.

RepoMan
11-09-2012, 12:30 PM
That's a really sad article. The influence of a parent, both constructive and destructive, can be overpowering.

Olympic Fan
11-09-2012, 01:00 PM
It is a sad story.

I thought it was interesting that every place he played -- Duke, Villanova, the Canadiam pro team -- he came in and scored well right away and appeared to be a player of great promise ... then gradually saw his playing time dwindle to nothing. That pattern was not just bad luck.

I was also surprised to see his comment that he left Duke because he knew he would play behind Kyle Singler for four years. That's ridiculous -- if you think K couldn't have figured a way to get two 6-7/6-8 wing forwards -- who could both rebound and shoot -- on the floor at the same time, then you haven't been following Duke basketball.

Billy Dat
11-09-2012, 02:29 PM
The signature Taylor King game for me was that crazy 3 point barrage he launched against Wisconsin in the challenge. We blew their doors off and K basically laughed to Bo Ryan at the post-game handshake for having good fortune. I think King had hit a bunch of 3s the game before which earned him some minutes.

What a sad and messed up story. People deal with adversity differently. I just read ESPN the Mag's preview issue article about Louisville's Peyton Siva. That kid used to drive the family car around his Seattle neighborhood, at the age of 13, searching different drug dens for his father, and was a catalyst in getting his father cleaned up. One kid crumbled under the pressure his father put him under, another rose to the challenge. I root for them both.

The King article is very forthcoming about his marijuana usage, who he smoked with, and at which schools he failed drug tests. It was eye opening to read that he failed a test at Duke, and had to call his Dad WITH K - that must have been fun. He failed the test, which he says put him in the doghouse with K, but then he got a lot of early season PT so he couldn't have been too deep in that doghouse. I guess NCAA rules about drug testing are that a school has to adhere to their own punishment policies if a positive test occurs. Based on the mass usage of marijuana on campuses (let alone wider society), it doesn't surprise me that schools don't put in one-strike-and-you're-out policies.

King was a peculiar Duke story - he really flashed brightly across the sky for an extremely brief time - effortlessly flicking that 3 from 25 feet.

-bdbd
11-09-2012, 02:36 PM
Sigh. Wow, what a sad story. It is terrific to see him beginning to take responsibility for his actions. Also good to see his dad "growing up" in some ways too. But I am not one for excuses, and it is such a shame to see someone with such tremendous God-given talent - much more of an advanatage than most of us ever saw come so naturally - and just simply wasted it...multiple times. And people kept giving him chances. Taking responsibility and ownership, true ownership, is the first step to straightening himself out and starting to realize some of that tremendous potential. I hope that he succeeds.

Cameron
11-10-2012, 11:29 PM
Had Taylor been able to properly deal with his emotional distress and prevent the personal demons that would eventually overcome him, I think he could have scored more points than anyone ever has at Duke. Or at least given it one hell of a shot. He was every bit as naturally gifted a shooter as J.J. Redick, possessed a rapid release as quick as any college player I have seen before or since, and had the versatile length of a small forward to go with it. Taylor could have been the ultimate package as a scorer. Had he been working with a healthy frame of mind from the beginning, one that would have actually allowed and motivated him to acclimate himself with the physical rigors of ACC basketball and improve other aspects of his game to become more than just a gifted gunner, Taylor might have been virtually unguardable by the time he was an upperclassman.

Because, despite his many shortcomings, on the offensive end of the floor, he always had supreme belief in himself. I remember the game against Florida State in Tallahassee in 2008, a hostile road game that has become a house of horrors for Duke over the years. Taylor came in off the bench completely unfazed by the deafening frenzy of the Leon County Civic Center and nonchalantly knocked down two three-pointers from 30 feet. With just two shots, he silenced 12,000 people and made me a believer. He just had that elevated presence about him, that unshakable confidence that is so rare in players of that age. The only Duke freshman who matched that kind of confidence and ability as a shooter was J.J.

The sad reality is that none of those things happened and Taylor would only score 186 points at Duke. As we have seen so many times with talented young athletes throughout the decades, he just wasn't equipped emotionally to handle the stage he was ushered onto at such an early age. It's really, really sad.

1999ballboy
11-12-2012, 04:00 PM
King came in somewhat overrated, IMHO.

Depends on what you mean by "overrated." In terms of talent? Absolutely not. He had one of the best shooting strokes I can remember seeing in a kid that age, and a swift release to go with it. He was far more athletic than you'd know from looking at his build. When he hustled on defense, he had a couple of strong performances on that end of the floor.

If "overrated" means that scouting reports may have overlooked some of his personal demons and the issues he was going through, as well as his attitude, then yes. Obviously it didn't work out for him in college hoops. When taking all of that into account, any recruit related as highly as King was would have to be overrated, in order for it to end the way it did for him, for any reason other than a serious injury.