Clippers rookie Mike Taylor shows he's a fast learner
By Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
There
is the transition from the NBA's Development League to the parent
league itself.
Then there's the gulf between rental prices in Milwaukee and Los
Angeles.
The latter
might be more daunting.
"It's so expensive to live out here," the Clippers' Mike Taylor
said Friday. "There's a big difference between [L.A. and] back
home in Milwaukee. Rent is extremely low. I mean, $600 a month,
that's a reasonable price.
"That would be like a storage space over here."
The speedy
6-foot-2 rookie point guard was talking about transitions, a day
after his impressive 20-point performance against the Lakers in his
first NBA exhibition game. Of course, it's early, but Taylor has
made a significant leap from his summer league performances and his
turn last season in the D-League with the Idaho Stampede.
Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy said the team pondered taking
him as high as the 35th pick in this year's draft but couldn't pass
on DeAndre Jordan when he was there at that spot. The
Clippers then acquired the 22-year-old Taylor from Portland in a
draft-day deal.
"I fell in love with him," Dunleavy said. "I think a lot of people
questioned whether he could play point guard or not. I thought he
could do it. He came into summer league and he turned the ball over
a lot. Then he came into camp and did a great job.
"As long as you have him understand spacing, he'll get better."
Along with help from a few key mentors: Baron Davis, Jason Hart and
Cuttino Mobley.
"With them critiquing me every day, I just take it as a lesson,"
Taylor said. "They've been through it, and I'm about to go through
it. I'm all ears. I'm just a sponge. Trying to soak up every piece
of knowledge that they have."
Taylor has a way of making fast players look, well, slow. The odd
thing is that he was not a sprinter as a kid but a middle-distance
runner.
"I just think I'm quick," he said. "When I got out there and tried
to run the 100 meters, I was getting left. My get-out-the-block
skills weren't fast enough."
So far, Taylor's not getting "left" anywhere at training camp.