A shooter’s mentality must be
rock solid.
A shooter must exude confidence. At times, he’s asked to carry his team by drilling perimeter jump shots and scoring points in bunches. Any self doubt can lead to hesitation and
hinder his ability to produce.
If a shooter is off-target, he must continue to fire, knowing his shots will eventually start falling.
At times, he will be viewed as a selfish ball hog, who possess a “me first” attitude. But he will also, at times, be viewed as a hero — capable of rescuing his team from sure defeat.
Bryce Taylor is Oregon’s best shooter. At times this season, he carried the Ducks offensively, scoring 26 points against Washington State on Jan. 15 and 20 points against Arizona days later.
But recently, the freshman guard has run into a problem. Taylor has been in a shooting slump for
Oregon’s last four games, connecting on only 6 of 37 field goals — including 3 of 16 from three-point range. While missing shots is a part of every player’s career, the Encino, Calif.,
native can’t seem to shoot his way out of his current funk.
Entering tonight’s 7:30 p.m. tipoff against No. 11 Washington (19-3 overall, 9-2 Pacific-10 Conference) at McArthur Court, Taylor said he’s looking to end his shooting woes along with Oregon’s (11-8, 3-7)
five-game losing streak.
“This is the toughest time I’ve ever had at basketball with my personal game,” Taylor said. “I know that it can only get better from here.”
While Taylor has never experienced a slump like this before, the Oregon coaching staff could see it coming from a mile away. Head coach Ernie Kent has seen plenty of freshmen make the transition from prep basketball to Division I hoops, and at some point, he said, they all “hit the wall” and run out of energy.
“With any freshman, there’s a big change from high school to this
level,” Kent said. “The intensity
factor, the mental aspects, the
physical aspects of it. All of them
go through stages where they’re
up and then go through stages where they’re down.
“We need to get him back on the upswing, obviously.”
Taylor said the transition has affected him physically and mentally.
Physically, an increase in the
number of practices and games from his prep career has left the 6-foot-5 guard wobbly legged at times, not
allowing him to get maximum lift on his jump shot. The intensity of his daily physical activity has also forced him to pay more attention to how he takes care of his body.
“One of the things they tell you
before the season and in late January is that you’re probably going to hit the wall,” Taylor said. “You don’t
believe it can actually happen to you. But then you find it’s tougher to wake up early in the morning and tougher to suit up for practice. We’ve
practiced so hard and played in so many games that you find yourself not having the legs that you would have in high school at this point in the season.
“It’s not a mythical type of wall. It actually does exist.”
Mentally, Taylor’s confidence has been tested. While shots in practice and pregame warmups fall with ease, it’s shooting in front of roaring Pac-10 crowds that causes occasional jitters.
How does such a talented shooter feel pressure during games?
Confidence wasn’t always present for Taylor. He grew up a shy power forward who wouldn’t shoot much, afraid to anger his teammates with a miss. Only after years of practice and positive mental training did the fuzzy-haired sharpshooter realize his potential as a scorer.
“In a game, I’m trying to put points on the board for my team,” Taylor said. “So if I’m missing, I feel like I’m
hurting my team, so I may think twice about an open shot, and I know that’s the wrong thing to do. Being a shooter, I just try to have the mentality that if you miss five in a row, that you’re
going to make the next five.
“That’s one of the things you try to learn as a scorer is to stay positive.”
After 19 games, Taylor is third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.3 points per game. He’s connected on 76 of 171 field goals (44 percent), including 33 of 82 (40 percent) from three-point range. While he’s struggled as of late, Taylor’s teammates continue to have the utmost confidence
in him.
“Bryce isn’t in a shooting struggle,” freshman swingman Malik Hairston said. “We need to continue to get Bryce the ball and get him in scoring opportunities. We need to get him the ball and make sure he’s involved in our offense.”
With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Ducks sit in ninth place in the Pac-10 and are in danger of missing the conference tournament. Kent said Taylor will be key to Oregon closing the season on a positive note.
“We (need him), no question about it,” Kent said. “Hopefully,
being here at home will give him an opportunity to (play well). For Bryce, (success) is centered around confidence.”

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