Taj Gibson is 6’9, 220 pounds and will be a sophomore at USC. He is very athletic, has great length, leaping abiliites, and quickness.
He’s explosive and runs the floor well. He is a good defender, rebounder, and shot blocker, with a very long wingspan. He has polished moves offensively in the post, with a nice shooting touch around the basket. He has a consistent mid-range jump shot, he also likes the turnaround hook shot. He can put the ball on the floor and fly by defenders. He can consistently put up double-doubles. Although he has the size of an SF, he plays aggressive and has big man skills, and is capable of playing against some of the top PFs in college. He is very good at getting loose balls, and he’s a difference maker willing to do the little things on the floor to help his team win games.
The negatives for Taj are he is very slender for a PF and he may find it difficult to bang down low with NBA big man until he adds muscle. There are times he can be way too aggressive and it gets him into foul trouble. He is not a very good free throw shooter and needs to work on that. Seeing that he is 22 years old, most likely his body won’t develop much more and his upside may be limited. This season he should form a nice 1-2 combo with freshman O.J. Mayo.
Overall Taj does have some solid skills and he’s a player I would take on my team anytime, I believe he can be a starting forward in the NBA. As an NBA player I think he’ll be like Drew Gooden.
