Nets’ Taylor On Point This Summer
Second-year guard eager to show coach Kidd he can run the show
While Jason Kidd was earning his first unofficial technical foul during his Summer League coaching debut, and Mason Plumlee was throwing down a series of emphatic dunks, Tyshawn Taylor was quietly making an important point of his own: That the Brooklyn Nets’ coveted backup point guard spot was his to lose this coming season.
“I think that’s one of my main focuses, showing that I can run a team and get my teammates involved,” Taylor, entering his second season with the Nets, said after putting up 17 points and committing six turnovers in his Summer League debut last Sunday in Orlando, Fla., as Brooklyn kicked off its exhibition slate with a 76-67 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Taylor, who spent most of his rookie campaign watching from the bench as Deron Williams and C.J. Watson filled the point-guard spot, is eager to prove he can be Williams’ No. 1 backup come November, especially after Watson agreed to a two-year deal with Indiana. The Nets have already brought in veteran point man Shaun Livingston to compete with Taylor for minutes next season.