(Photo by Adrian J. Hernandez / New Day Review)
ORLANDO, Fla. – Like millions of other people, UCF Knights point guard B.J. Taylor is a fan of former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant. What sets Taylor apart from the masses, however, is a 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame, a 17.4 points-per-game average last season and a starting position on a Division I program. While Taylor embraces his natural physical qualities, he has also focused his attention on mental prep.
That’s where Bryant comes into play.
“It’s like the Mamba Mentality,” Taylor said at the Knights’ media day on Oct. 24. “So, his approach to the game and his day-to-day activities are probably the two things that I look at most. I mean, when you’re talking about a guy from a preparation standpoint who probably prepared as hard as anybody and worked as hard as anybody to play game of basketball… You can just feel the passion and drive and his love for the game and looking at a guy when he first entered the NBA, won three titles and wasn’t satisfied… That level of determination to be the best is something I admire every day.”
For Taylor, his newly adopted mentality is epitomized by regular early-morning workouts. Taylor said he routinely wakes up at 5:15 a.m. during the offseason simply to play basketball. To him, that’s the difference that will separate him from the rest of the pack.
“My thing is probably few people are doing that. Not a lot of people wanna get up at 5:15, 5:30 to come, you know, play basketball, but I look at it is it’s what I have to do, and it’s what separates me…
“Nobody was gonna go harder than [Bryant], and those things are things that I admire, and those things are things that any player can bring to their own game. ‘Cause that’s a mentality standpoint. You don’t gotta be 6-foot-6, 210 dunking on everybody to approach the game in that mindset, with that frame of mind.”
Taylor’s preparation doesn’t go unnoticed by his teammates, either. Junior forward Chad Brown has noticed the work Taylor has put in this offseason and even related it to Bryant.
“If anything, I would say he’s like a Kobe Bryant type of preparation type of dude,” Brown said before a film session on Nov. 2. “You know, he’s really serious about everything in terms of preparation. You know, he works really hard, and he puts in the extra work, and the results show when he plays. You know, he plays really hard, and, you know, every time the opportunity comes, you know, he makes the best out of it, so I would say Kobe Bryant.”
At UCF, Taylor has a special advantage, too, playing under second-year Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins. When long-time Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski coached the United States men’s national team and, in turn, Bryant, he included Dawkins on his staff. For Dawkins, the biggest similarity between the two guards is their competitiveness.
“They both want the big shots. And that’s the biggest comparison,” Dawkins said at media day on Oct. 24. “Other than that, I’d like to see [Taylor] settle into, like, more of a point-guard role as opposed to trying to score 80 or 90 points a game. I think we’re most suited for him to make guys around him better while still achieving the results he achieved last year, which he led us in scoring and assists.
“But he found a way to make other guys on his team better, and that’s what all great point guards and great leaders do.”
Taylor seems to be receiving Dawkins’ message of becoming a multi-dimensional team player. In addition to studying Bryant’s individual mental approach, Taylor is learning how to spread a similar mentality to his teammates. But that’s been a learning process in itself for someone who isn’t exactly as naturally extroverted as he needs to be.
“I’m kind of a—not introvert, but I’m somebody who values their own space and their own time when I’m away from basketball,” Taylor said. “So, I think just having a similar kind of personality to somebody like him, being kinda introverted and like his own time and his own space to, you know, just do his own thing is something I’ve read about Kobe.
“The biggest thing, for me, is how do you take that personality into my drive and my want to win, as Coach always talks to me about and spreading it to your team, you know, ‘cause I’m a point guard. So I can’t just be an introvert. I have to communicate to my whole team.”
Entering his third season at UCF, the redshirt junior is poised to have a breakout season. He posted career-high averages in points, rebounds, assists, steals and field-goal percentage last season and, now, even has higher expectations from his head coach.
“The guy that I wanna see lead the team is the guy who has the ball in his hands the most, and that’s B.J.,” Dawkins said. “I thins is, you know, a big year for him with regards to leadership at the point-guard spot. I thought he made huge strides last year in that area. And I was that guy. So, for me, it’s the guy with the ball in his hands, and him being a junior now, he’s experienced; he’s had some successful seasons under his belt, now…
“I’m really gonna lean heavily on him to make sure he’s one of our leaders, and he’s done a great job at that thus far. He’s become more outgoing, he’s more vocal—all the things that a great leader has to be.”
Taylor will have a chance to show off his Mamba Mentality when he, Brown, Dawkins and the rest of the Knights host the Mercer Bears on Friday at 8 p.m. for both teams’ season-opener. The Knights’ women’s team also opens its season against Mercer on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
For more on the Knights, as they prepare for their season-opener, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
