TU, I specifically recall a thread a couple of years ago when you and I were in agreement that Taylor was just an okay basketball player and that's all he would ever be. We were wrong. He did become a better player and I think we have to give the coaching staff some deserved credit for that. If we are going to blame Jeff for players who didn't improve, then it only seems right to give him credit for those who did. Taylor certainly did improve.
I don't see it that way. He benefited from having the perfect post presence for his game playing next to him, and from extended minutes. You are wanting to trust your eyes on this, while I'm looking at the numbers. About the only thing that went up, percentage-wise, was his shooting percentage. Most of that was b/c he got TONS of easy hoops b/c of Blake. Same with Patillo that season.
I'll give Capel credit for two things with Taylor. First, looking at the 3 point %, Capel probably helped him improve a bit as a shooter. Secondly, he convinced Taylor to bust his butt on the offensive glass, and in general, just to stay around the hoop, b/c with Blake playing next to him, there would be a ton of easy bunnies. And Taylor did that.
Don't forget, there were alot of folks that thought Taylor would get meaningful minutes as a "3" that year. I said that was crazy talk, and sure enough, he didn't. I don't think Taylor really exceeded anybody's expectations for his senior year, other than he got more of an opportunity. I saw flashes as a true frosh. The kid pretty much won the OSU game in Stillwater his frosh year alone.
To me, Taylor was alot like Cade. Good player. Probably better coming off the bench, b/c in doing so, they can use a bit more of their skill set. As starters, on good teams, both need to be surrounded by talent, and need to become role players. Taylor was able to do that. Cade hasn't. Cade's been forced to be more than he should be asked to be, IMO.
Now, I will also say that Capel got a bit more out of LL than I thought could be done, that quickly. That was somewhat impressive. But even that was born out of necessity.