Oregon’s Chamberlain Oguchi describes his relationship with teammate and roommate Bryce Taylor as a “weird connection.”
The two sophomore sharpshooters grew up nearly 1,600 miles apart – Oguchi in Houston and Taylor in Encino, Calif. The link is also peculiar because the sophomores are, in some respects, complete opposites.
“Definitely, I’m the clean one,” Oguchi said. “Bryce, I don’t think he’s cleaned up one time. I don’t think he’s lifted a speck of dirt since he’s been there. He’s definitely the messy one in the house. But he’s an awesome roommate.”
Even their hair styles differ considerably. Oguchi prefers the dangling braids and Taylor the afro, which often is the favorite target for opposing crowds. Taylor, who says he sometimes has thoughts of cutting his hair, said he doesn’t mind shouts of “Sideshow Bob” from fans.
“It doesn’t bother me. It’s funny,” Taylor said. “It’s entertainment.”
Oguchi certainly approves of his roommate’s style.
“I love the hair,” Oguchi said. “That is Bryce in a nutshell. He wears it well.”
Their obvious differences aside, Taylor, who describes his personality as laid back, and Oguchi, unquestionably the more extroverted one, do share many things in common.
“We just have fun together,” Oguchi, also referred to as Champ, said. “Me and Bryce are sort of into the same things. We have this saying that we are the same people from different places. I’m from Houston, Texas, and he’s from California, but we have the same interests. We think alike.”
The two note their movie preferences and musical tastes – specifically Kanye West – as their most observable similarities.
And, of course, there’s the billboard near Coburg road. The pair was selected as two of four men’s basketball players to be featured on the new advertising campaigns.
“It is something we cherish,” Oguchi said of the sign reading “3 Pointmen.” “We drive by it every day. We always seem to take a glance at it, and we seem to smile a little bit. We think it’s well-deserved.”
Oguchi and Taylor share more than just a few resemblances on the basketball court. Both are integral pieces of Oregon’s most-prized recruiting class, are two of the most accurate shooters from long range, and both achieved plenty of success at the high school level before teaming at Oregon.
Taylor, the son of former NBA player Brian Taylor, came to Oregon after ranking as the nation’s 50th-best player by Rivals.com. His career at Harvard-Westlake High School included a school-record 1,003 points, previously held by Stanford standout and current New Jersey Nets’ center Jason Collins.
Taylor also owns the school’s single-game scoring record with 54 points, and he led his team to three straight CIF championships as a four-year varsity member. At the conclusion of his career, Harvard-Westlake retired Taylor’s jersey.
“It was definitely an honor because we had some great players come from my high school,” Taylor said of the ceremony. “Just being able to be on the wall with them is a great honor. You feel like you can always go back and see your jersey and remember all the great things you did.”
When Oguchi decided in 2004 to attend Oregon, he became the second player from Houston, after Andre Joseph, to play in Eugene for coach Ernie Kent. He was rated as the nation’s 74th best player by Rivals and was a first-team all-region selection his senior season at George W. Bush High School.
Their arrival, along with Maarty Leunen of Redmond and Malik Hairston of Detroit, rounded out one of Oregon’s finest recruiting classes in school history.
But Oguchi and Taylor’s careers so far at Oregon have not exactly gone as scripted, despite encouraging freshman seasons for both players.
Taylor started all 27 games that season, averaging 11.6 points per game and earning Pacific-10 Conference All-Freshman honors. Oguchi averaged five points and 8.4 minutes per contest.
Then the proverbial sophomore slump appeared to affect both players in the first half of the Pac-10 season this year.
Prior to Oregon’s games against UCLA and USC, Taylor had connected on 27 percent (17 of 64) from three-point range, nearly 10 percentage points fewer than his freshman average.
“It’s mostly mental for me. That’s something I’ve struggled with all season,” Taylor said. “If you don’t knock down the first or second or third shot, you just have to think you’re going to make the next five and know that you just have to stay positive because if you start thinking too much, start doubting yourself, you’re not going to make the shot.”
Oguchi, also prior to the games against the Los Angeles schools, averaged 11.2 minutes per game and 4.8 points per game.
But Oguchi and Taylor broke the slump in a major way last Saturday against USC.
Oguchi connected on 6 of 9 three-pointers en route to a career-high 25 points, and Taylor also found his touch to score a season-high 18 points. The two led the Ducks in scoring and were pleased to see their extra nights spent shooting late after practice finally pay off.
Oguchi continued his hot shooting Thursday in a narrow loss to Stanford. He and Taylor checked in together midway through the second half with the Ducks down by one. The pair scored Oregon’s next eight points – six coming on two consecutive Oguchi three-pointers – to push the lead to 43-36. Oguchi scored eight points in 18 minutes and Taylor scored two points in 12 minutes.
“It’s been a long, hard season for me, and Bryce,” Oguchi said. “Last game (versus USC), I just felt like it was time to release all of it, all the frustrations I had. I’m just going to keep doing what I know I can do. When I’m open, I’m going to shoot it.”Taylor echoed Oguchi’s sentiments.
“It’s been up and down,” Taylor said. “I figured out that nothing’s going to come easy, and success doesn’t come easy. I was used to just kind of going through the motions in high school, but just being better than everyone else, and you don’t really have that at this level. So I just learned when I’m struggling, I have to stay extra at the gym and just work on my jumper so it becomes second nature.”
The Ducks need Oguchi and Taylor now more than ever as the team enters the second half of the Pac-10 schedule. Oregon, after a heartbreaking loss Thursday against Stanford, sits at 4-6 in the conference. The Ducks will face California for the second time this season Saturday.
“I thought both of those kids played extremely well,” Kent said of Oguchi and Taylor’s performances last Saturday. “Particularly I was happy for Bryce because he has really struggled shooting the basketball.
“The thing about Chamberlain is the last couple of weeks, he’s been very, very good in practice. And he had an opportunity to play now and produced in a game. That’s a good thing for him because, certainly, he’s going to get a chance to get some more minutes now.”
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