When Tayshaun Prince first arrived in the NBA, he didn't immediately set the league on fire. Instead, he went through a slow, methodical process of learning how the league operated and, most importantly, how the players he would defend worked on the court.
One of Prince's most significant learning experiences was competing against savvy players like Allan Houston and Glenn Robinson . Tayshaun didn't play plenty of minutes early on—he averaged ten minutes a game in his rookie year—but when he did get an extended run, he learned how nightmarish trying to defend seasoned veterans was.
Experience counts in the NBA
Skill, speed, and talent are crucial factors for a player's success in the big league. However, another critical element is experience. There's nothing like having an innate knowledge of how the defense works and having counters upon counters for every move an opponent could make. And when playing against "H20" and "Big Dog," who hit their prime in the early 2000s, experience was a valuable weapon they used against plucky defenders like Tayshaun.
"I don't recall, but I do remember that first couple games that I had actually got in the game and got some decent minutes. It was against Allan Houston and Big Dog," the four-time All-Defensive Team member recalled on the "Knuckleheads Podcast."
Against Houston, who averaged a career-high 22.5 points per game for the New York Knicks during Tayshaun's rookie season in 2002-2003, Prince said trying to navigate the maze of screens the Knicks set for Allab was a puzzle he couldn't solve.
"It was just like, you know, obviously he came off screens, you know, not fast at all, just getting that shot off. Just working you to sleep," the former Kentucky Wildcat said of the 6-foot-6 scorer, one of the league's pre-eminent wingmen during that era.
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Robinson was a patient assassin
Tayshaun, a native of Compton, Los Angeles, also discussed what it was like going up against Robinson, the first overall pick of the 1994 NBA Draft. He shared that, like Houston, Glenn was never in a hurry to get his shot off and always looked for seams in the defense he could exploit.
"Big Dog was the same thing—just super slow, patient, you know what I mean? You think you got him in the palm of your hands, but he was just ahead of the game. And it was like a layup—he wasn't even missing them. Listen, soon as he released it, wet! You know what I'm saying?" Prince said.
Tayshaun shared that the most impressive aspect of those two players' abilities was how they made scoring in the NBA look effortless.
"Those are the two guys that I recall, like when I first got in the league, and going against those guys, how easy it was for them to score, and they weren't even working that hard," Prince stressed.
Tayshaun eventually learned how to play lockdown defense in the NBA, earning All-Defensive Team honors in his third season. That began a string of four straight seasons of being named to the All-Defensive Team, establishing him as one of the league's premier defenders.
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