Doug Taylor couldn’t have done it at this time last season.
The senior forward, fresh off a career night, had just notched 16 rebounds to complement his seven points in Ohio’s 78-69 win over Radford in The Convo when he sat down at the podium to field questions on Saturday afternoon.
He didn’t seem tired. He wasn’t dragging. He was full of energy.
Down quite a bit of weight from last season, Taylor has a new court presence about him. After the game, he admitted that if he hadn’t shed the weight, he wouldn’t have lasted the 30 minutes and 59 seconds he played; he would’ve worn down.
“I was not in physical shape to get 16 rebounds,” Taylor said. “My progression over the past four years, weight wise, has been great.”
But that’s not who Doug Taylor is now. Earlier in his career, the Bobcats scrimmaged the Highlanders, and Taylor couldn’t do it. Radford’s fast-pace style was a complete mismatch for Taylor. He said during the scrimmage, he nearly vomited. He couldn’t keep up.
So much for that. Taylor has transformed, and it’s been nothing but great for he and the Bobcats through nine games. They’re 6-3, as healthy as they can be, and they’re beating teams that went to the NCAA Tournament last season. Wins over Radford, Marshall and Iona have the Bobcats feeling good.
Taylor’s a big reason why. When he grabs at least 10 rebounds, Ohio is 4-0.
“He affects the game in so many ways,” •coach Saul Phillips said. “If you look at a box score, you miss the story on him. It isn’t even the number of shots that he blocks. It’s the number of times he gets over and just affects the shot. And obviously five offensive rebounds is pretty good, too.”
He’s the ultimate scrapper on the floor, and that comes in handy. He doesn’t fill the bucket offensively, he doesn’t do anything particularly flashy.
He puts his head down and gets to work on the boards — he had nine defensive rebounds and five offensive rebounds.
“I love it,” he said. “That’s my life.”
But he’s becoming more than that. Near the end of the game, Radford went to a smaller lineup. Traditionally, Phillips would have countered by pulling Taylor from the game in favor of a quicker guy who could keep up with that kind of opposing lineup. But not anymore.
Phillips kept Taylor in the game, and Taylor scored six of his seven points in the final four minutes. He helped Ohio keep its distance from Radford.
He understands the impact his transformation has had on the Bobcats. They can depend on him more. He can clean up after missed shots for longer stretches of time. He can be a leader on the floor, rather than grab his knees and gasp for air.
The new Doug Taylor. The improved Ohio basketball.
“A winning mindset,” Taylor said about how he was able to grab those rebounds. “I knew they were a physical team coming in, and they had one of the best rebounders in the country coming in, so I guess I felt that challenge, and stepped up to the challenge, and came up big.”
His winning mindset is apparently contagious. And he couldn’t have done it last season.
