Taylor finds aggressiveness with added motivation

Terry Taylor hated leaving the Brisbane Bullets without him on Friday and the power forward did all he could to make up for it on Sunday and will continue that over the last two games taking on his challenges in hunt of an NBL win.

Taylor found himself suspended for the Bullets' trip to Hobart back on Friday night and it was like torture to him to have to watch on from afar as his team lost by 44 points, lost two more players to injury and he could do nothing to help them.

That only built up his inner determination to do all he could to make up for it once he was back in the line-up for Sunday's return to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre against the Cairns Taipans.

It might not quite have been enough to lift the Bullets to a drought breaking win, but that was through no fault of Taylor who produced his NBL career best 25 points with nine rebounds on the back of 12/22 shooting.

He was extra motivated to make it up to his teammates for missing Friday's game.

"Unfortunately I had to miss Friday's game and I don't like missing games, and I don't like leaving my teammates out there because I just feel like I bring certain things that could have helped minimise the lead that Tasmania had with my toughness, and just my overall physicality and just being positive," Taylor said.

"Especially when the lead is getting up there or we're not hitting shots, I just feel like I can be a positive reinforcement and just keep believing in those guys so I definitely had a little extra motivation to come in here and just try to be more aggressive.

"I wanted to lead the pack a little bit better and did the best I could with that."

For the majority of his professional career following his college career at Austin Peay State University, Taylor has been focused on being the best possible teammate he can be and playing whatever role he's been asked to on teams he's been on particularly in the NBA and G League.

That's where the big adjustment has come with coming to the Bullets where coach Darryl McDonald has been urging him to be more aggressive and to be the go-to man on the team, and Taylor is now starting to find his feet in doing that.

"I like to play within the offence and I'm more of a team guy who just tries to fit in where I can especially being in the NBA, that's kinda what they expect out of you and you just do what you're supposed to do and fit in where you can," he said.

"But over here, it's been a little difficult for me because I haven’t been on the guy since I was in college or my first couple of years in the G League so it's taken some getting used to, but I had a conversation with Mac to try to make it an emphasis to be more aggressive.

"He wants me taking more shots, good shots, and also to stay aggressive and keep putting pressure on the rim, and getting involved in different ways like offensive rebounding so it was good to crash the glass in this game a little bit more and see some shots even though it would have been better to get a win."

While the effort from the Bullets against the Taipans on Sunday couldn't be questioned as they ended up pulling down 25 offensive rebounds and taking 25 extra shot attempts, what ultimately cost them the win was the shooting struggles they are continuing to have.

If you take out the 12/22 that Taylor shot to go with his 1/3 from downtown, and the rest of the Bullets team managed to shoot just 20/68 at 29 per cent from the field and going 2/21 at 9.5 per cent from downtown.

That included the Snakes standing right off point guards Hunter Maldonado and Mitch Norton, and daring them to shoot, but Taylor wants all his teammates to continue backing themselves because he knows the work they are putting in.

"You just have to keep shooting it and you've got to be confident when you're shooting it," Taylor said.

"I understand it's a little weird to have people sag off on you and sit at the free-throw line and wait for you, and just constantly going to screens, but it's about constantly reassuring those guys that they work on it every day, we see them staying every day and they're shooting those shots.

"So why not shoot those shots still in games and don't worry about anyone getting into them, but I'm just trying to be a positive influence and reinforcement to those guys because they do work hard and show up every day to work on their games.

"It's a shame at times that they don't shoot it and I would never be mad if they do, I've seen them work on it so why wouldn’t you shoot it? It's just about staying positive for those guys, Hunter, Norto and all those guys when guys go under on them, you just stay positive and tell them to keep shooting it, and it's going to fall eventually."

Taylor thrived on his match up against NBL championship hero, Australian Boomers Olympian and former NBA forward Jack McVeigh in the clash with the Taipans as well in a fascinating contest.

He is now looking forward to what's to come for him personally too starting on Friday night in Perth where he battles Kristian Doolittle, and then last up against the Sydney Kings where a lot of his time could be against another former NBA forward, Torrey Craig.

"I always want to match up with the best player just to test myself offensively and defensively, and for the most part I think I made a lot of his (McVeigh's) shots difficult," Taylor said.

"I lost him on a couple of things like not talking on a hand off and he slid up to the 45 on another play after a teammate drove and hit a big three to put them up seven, but I enjoy things like that.

"As a competitor, you always want to test who you are as a man and as a player against the other team's best player so I'm always willing to do that.

"It's going to be the same come Perth with Doolittle and I'm going to do the same thing, I'm going to guard him and he's going to guard me, and we're going to see who's the better man out of that.

"Then the same with Sydney, Torrey Craig and all those guys, I look forward to things like that you know what I'm saying to challenge yourself and proving that you're the better player every time you step on the floor."

Now that there are two games only left in the NBL season for Taylor and the Bullets, he has a good understanding of what it's like living in Australia and playing in the league.

His young family has loved everything about calling Brisbane home and he would be more than open to spending plenty more time in the country and the league moving forward.

"I even talk to my partner about this at times and I love Australia, I've loved being in Brisbane and unfortunately have been dealt the wrong hand with injuries and what not, and a bunch of things going on within," Taylor said.

"But I could see myself coming back and even to Brisbane. It just has to make sense at the same time, but I'm not looking forward to that, I'm in the present right now and am enjoying being around these guys, around Mac, Vandy and Pat.

"When that time comes, if it presents itself, I would be willing to come back and do it all over again, but this time winning coz everybody likes to win and nobody likes to lose.

"We don't play this game to lose so I can definitely see myself in this league for many years and I wouldn’t be opposed to it, it's a similar place to live than America and my transition has been easy so I'm very thankful for that."

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