G Tayler Hill - 2 Time First team Big Ten (Washington Mystics)

[Buckskin86]

Tayler Hill Notes

The following are notes from a pre-draft media call with WNBA head coaches and draftees in which Mike Thibault and Tayler Hill took part in...

Mike Thibault on Hill:
"She's a very talented player, speed wise, one of the fastest players in this draft. She's a very good deep shooter, shes not afraid, she attacks the basket at will, creates contact at will."

Fever Head Coach Lin Dunn on Hill:
"We knew she'd be long gone by #9 so we didn't spend a lot of time scouting her"

Tayler Hill on being unafraid:
"Having an older brother made me tough... playing D1 you need to bring it everyday... growing up with my family and going against best night in and night out at OSU..."

Hill on Prep for draft:
"Just worked out this week after tonsil surgery, leaving Fri for CT for draft? I'm a little anxious, excited, trying not to overthink it, it's a blessing to play in the WNBA and I'm enjoying the journey to the WNBA."

Hill on improvement since High School:
"In High School and AAU, the ball was in my hands a lot... In college, they put me in positions where I played off ball... Every year I played a different role and it helped me become a complete player... In High School I did not really play defense, because I didn't have to. That changed in college.

Hill on Injury:
"I had tonsil problems all year, played with strep throat since Jan 1... I had to get tonsils drained a few times over season. I missed a couple games, but just had them taken out and feeling good now. "

http://www.wnba.com/mystics/news/tayler_hill_notes_041613.html

 

[Buckskin86]

Tayler Hill media day interview- video

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX6weHnirU8"]Raw Video: Interview with Washington Mystics Guard Tayler Hill from 2013 Media Day - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

Hill climbs into Mystics initial starting lineup
May 26, 2013

No matter the level, Mystics rookie Tayler Hill cannot recall ever not starting a basketball game.

"Not in college, not in high school," said Hill, selected by Washington's new coach and general manager Mike Thibault with the fourth overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft. "In eighth grade, I started playing varsity. My dad was my AAU coach so I've never experienced coming off the bench.

The start of the talented perimeter threat's WNBA career will be no exception.

Before Friday's practice Thibault informed Hill, one of four rookies and seven newcomers on the Mystics' 11-player roster, of his plans for the wing guard to be part of the starting lineup. Washington opens the regular season Monday on the road against the Tulsa Shock (0-1).

"Long term for our success, she needs to be a part of it," Thibault said of the Ohio State product, who led the Big 10 in scoring as a senior with 21.1 points. The 5-foot-10 Hill also earned all-defensive time conference honors for a third time.

"We're going to throw her into the fire, make her learn on the run," Thibault continued. "I told her 'study opponents, get tendencies down. Get a book on everybody.' Start seeing what kind of an impact she can make. Concentrate on the defensive end and the offensive side will take care of itself."

cont...

http://www.csnwashington.com/basket...s/hill-climbs-mystics-initial-starting-lineup

 

[Buckskin86]

Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images
She's averaging only 2.3 points and 2.5 rebounds, but rookie Tayler Hill has started each game and is playing 20.8 mpg.

This past season, Hill's Ohio State squad didn't make the NCAA tournament.

"It was a rough season just because we lost games we should have won," Hill said. "In a sense, it built character in me.

"You're not going to go straight from college and average 20 points, but I'm going to work to get there."

http://espn.go.com/wnba/story/_/id/9386359/wnba-veterans-rookies-give-washington-mystics-new-life

 

[Buckskin86]

Tayler Hill, Mystics an Early Season Surprise
Sean Hans, WNBA.com

WASHINGTON D.C., June 21, 2013 -- Team is all that?s on the mind of Washington Mystic?s rookie guard Tayler Hill, and right now her team is on the mind of the entire WNBA.

After finishing with the league?s worst record in last season, the new-look Mystics have started their rebuilding efforts faster than expected with a 4 -2 start, including back-to-back victories over last year?s WNBA finalists Minnesota and Indiana, they are one win away from matching their 2012 total. Led by new coach Mike Thibault, this young squad has showed the league early on that they are a force to be reckoned with.

?It?s a team effort rebuilding this,? said Hill, the 4th pick in this year?s draft out of Ohio State, ?We?re young, and we?re all committed to winning together as a team.?

At the forefront of this youth movement stands Hill. One of four rookies on the team, the shooting guard from Minneapolis, Minnesota has learned to fit her role on the squad and to be a steady threat as she adjusts to the professional game.

?The hardest part of the transition has been the physical aspect,? said Hill, a 5?10? guard known for her high basketball IQ on both ends of the court, ?Just learning to be in attack mode at all times.?

Despite a slow start from the field, the rookie has not let it affect her approach. Teammates have praised her intellect and composure, and their trust has helped in a big way.

?They take a lot of the pressure off,? noted Hill. ?They tell me to trust my instincts when I?m out there, and it?s helped me to stop overthinking the game and just play.?

cont...

http://www.wnba.com/news/tayler_hill_feature_062113.html

 

[MaxBuck]

Tayler and her brother PJ are two of my favorites. Delightful young people. Wish her the best as a pro.

 

[Buckskin86]

Is Tayler Hill now showing more progress toward being a core player for the Mystics, even this year?

Here is a rationale on why Tayler Hill is the Mystics' most important player for their future, and even right now.

Albert - I'm still giving her an incomplete because I don't think I've seen enough of her just yet. Hill had the breakout Sparks game scoring 16 points, but she hasn't scored over 10 points since. Part of it is because either she's still not given the green light to shoot when she wants to or she's just choosing not to drive to the hoop which is what she did a ton in college because it gives her free throw opportunities. I was encouraged that she did drive more in the Mystics' big win over Tulsa and she got six free throw attempts.

On defense, she has done a great job and even got some great steals against opposing players and maybe I'm just looking for what I want to look for, but her perimeter defense, even if she doesn't get stats for it, is very strong, and something that isn't noticed easily. Still, as I said before the season, she's the most important player on the team because she's the first major draft pick since the Mystics' string of losing seasons in 2011, and I don't want question marks simply because she's not playing minutes or being allowed to be herself, including in crunch time.

Zack - Albert, she did have that pretty good game right after the Sparks game too. Nine points in just 13 minutes and shot 4-8 from the field. Here's what Mike Thibault said about Hill in that game after their loss to Phoenix on June 27:

I thought she gave us a lift tonight, she was good, she was aggressive. Just trying to figure out minutes for her on the floor right now. But she's gonna be what we thought she'd be.

I think that about says it. Unlike you Albert, I wouldn't panic too much about Tayler Hill, because even just one great game allows you to have something tangible to point to and say: "see there, that's what we drafted her for."

http://www.swishappeal.com/2013/7/5/4481068/washington-mystics-q-and-a-2013-season-part-2

 

[Buckskin86]

Mystics guard Tayler Hill returns home
Article by: KENT YOUNGBLOOD , Star Tribune
Updated: August 8, 2013
Tayler Hill, a former high school star at Minneapolis South who played at Ohio State, was the fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft.
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The hometown crowd will be at Target Center in force Thursday night. Tayler Hill is playing at home, as a pro, for the first time. So friends will be there, family. Easily more than 20, hopefully parked behind the Washington bench for its game against the Lynx.

?You?ll see ?em,? Hill said, smiling.

And this is what they will see: A talented player learning to be a pro one game at a time, sometimes struggling.

Hill, a former high school star at Minneapolis South who played at Ohio State, was the fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft. She was selected by a Mystics team that, coming off a league-worst 5-29 season in 2012, wasn?t able to surround Hill with veteran, star players.

And so, both for Hill and the team, progress has sometimes been slow. The Mystics are 9-13. But Washington has lost four in a row, falling to fifth, in the Eastern Conference.

?It hasn?t been frustrating,? she said. ?I think anything you do in life is a transition when you move to the next step up. You?re playing against the best players in the world, night-in and night out.??

The 5-10 guard came to the WNBA after averaging better than 20 points per game in her final two seasons with the Buckeyes. She was a career 42.9 percent shooter in college, 34.3 from three-point range.

Through 22 games with the Mystics, Hill is sixth among rookie scorers at 5.0 points per game. She is shooting 30.7 percent overall. She started the first seven games before coach Mike Thibault began having her come off the bench.

?She?s playing against a great player every night,? Thibault said. ?Against players who have gotten stronger since they?ve been in the league, who know the tricks of the trade. There is an education that goes along with that. In college, if she drove the lane, she might see a good shock blocker once every three or four games. In our league? Sylvia Fowles one night, Tina Charles the next.??

cont...

http://www.startribune.com/sports/lynx/218784091.html

 

[Buckskin86]

Tayler Hill-led Mystics top Liberty, seal up No. 3 seed
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Tayler Hill is warming up just in time for the Washington Mystics to make a playoff push.

She continued her recent stellar play Sunday, scoring a career-high-tying 16 points to help the Mystics defeat the New York Liberty and secure the third playoff seed in the Eastern Conference."I think that I'm adjusting and the game has sort of slowed down for me," said Hill, the fourth overall pick in this year's draft, who also scored 16 in Friday night's win over Connecticut and has double-digit points in six of her last seven games. "I don't feel rushed, I don't feel frantic out there. It's just starting to come to me."

http://scores.espn.go.com/wnba/recap?gameId=400445898

 

[Buckskin86]

 

[Buckskin86]

Friday December 6, 2013
Mystics G Tayler Hill pregnant with 1st child


WASHINGTON (AP) - Washington Mystics guard Tayler Hill is pregnant and will miss at least part of next season.

The team said in a statement Friday that the first child for Hill and David Lighty, who also played college basketball at Ohio State, is due in May.

Mystics coach and general manager Mike Thibault says Hill ''intends to play at some point next season, and we will be glad to welcome her back when she is ready to return.''

The fourth overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft, Hill averaged 6.5 points and 1.7 rebounds last season, which began in late May.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...s.hill.pregnant.0121/index.html#ixzz2mjeDuG99

 

[OhioState001]

Offer now.