Taylor a ‘wow guy,’ in both senses

By Matt Tait     Nov 13, 2010

KU vs. Longwood

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor swoops in for a bucket past Longwood defenders Martiz Washington (2) and Jan van der Kooij (33) during the first half, Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Box score

Just a few minutes after watching junior guard Tyshawn Taylor deliver 17 points and 10 assists in a 113-75 victory against Longwood on Friday night, Kansas University men’s basketball coach Bill Self made this quick assessment.

“He’s made some plays that you go, ‘Wow,’ and he’s made some plays that you go, ‘Oh, wow.’ He’s a wow guy,” said Self, distinguishing between the positive and the negative varieties of the word.

While wowing his way to a productive night, Taylor finished one assist shy of a career-high and one point short of his season-best from all of 2009.

“I think every game is different,” Taylor said. “But that’s kind of where I want to be, in that range, 15 and 10. Tonight, I just kind of took what the defense gave me.”

On a couple of occasions, that was a wide-open dunk. On others, it was an easy entry pass to the post. There were, however, also a few bad moments, as Taylor finished with six turnovers — some forced, some not.

“He’s going to turn it over some,” Self said. “That’s Tyshawn. But he doesn’t need to get ripped for a layup in the backcourt. That’s just careless.”

Taylor said the speed with which the Jayhawks played Friday contributed to some of the turnovers. But make no mistake about it, that’s the speed he wants to play at, and that’s the style his coach expects.

“From the beginning of the season, we just envisioned being a fast team,” Taylor said. “We just gotta be able to play fast and be less careless. I guess that’s just me. (I’m) saying that to myself.”

Taylor looked as comfortable as ever in a Kansas uniform during this one. In many ways, he resembled Boston point guard Rajon Rondo, the man who makes the Celtics’ offense go.

For Taylor, who watches the Celtics whenever he gets the chance, such a comparison came across as high praise.

“I think Rondo is the man,” he said. “But I think I have a long way to go before I compare myself to him. But he’s definitely one of the guys that I watch a lot, and I take stuff from his game. I’m kind of a similar player to him.”

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.