The truth is as stark as the numbers. On Feb. 20 at Michigan State, Wisconsin guard Kammron Taylor was 0 of 6 from the field and ended with a season-low two points. The Badgers lost by nine.
Back home 10 days later against the Spartans, Taylor was 2 of 9, 2 of 6 on three-pointers, as he ended with eight points. The Badgers struggled but won by two when his game-winning three dropped with 3.9 seconds remaining.
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Then six days later at the United Center and once more facing Michigan State, he was 5 of 10 from the field, including 1 of 3 on his threes, for 11 points. The Badgers coasted to a 13-point victory.
Forward Alando Tucker is clearly the star of the second-seeded Badgers, who return to the United Center on Friday to face 15th seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in an opening-round game of the NCAA tournament. He is everybody’s All-American, a fearless leader and an explosive catalyst. He is multidimensional and his play often is magical as he is able to carry a team on his broad shoulders.
But, just as clearly, Taylor is the one Badger who now must rise to the occasion if they hope to make a journey deep into March.
“I still think Taylor, and I mean this with all the respect in the world, is one of the better guards in our league, but he has struggled a little bit,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after the second of those three games his team played against him.
“Charlie Bell (a former Spartan) went through that in our third Final Four run and came alive in the tournament. . . . I don’t think there are any secrets, just like when we went through our championship runs. Your best players, you know, Taylor has to play better. I think he will because he has. If he does, this team has a chance to make a deep run.”
This is just the kind of role Taylor envisioned for himself when he moved to Madison from Minneapolis, where he had been the star on a high school state champion team. He, like so many, believed he would frolic on center stage, but that first year with the Badgers he did little but sit and watch future NBA lottery pick Devin Harris.
During it he played just 41 minutes, which prompted him to consider transferring, but he returned to embrace the tough love of Badgers coach Bo Ryan, himself a former point guard. He was mercurial as a sophomore and a junior, both years accumulating more turnovers than assists. But this season he reversed that trend, shared ballhandling duties with Michael Flowers and emerged as Tucker’s able accomplice, averaging 12.6 points per game.
“He came in as a guy, any shot across half court, he probably considered it in his mind a pretty good shot,” Ryan said Tuesday, tracing Taylor’s development. “But in college, to be effective, you have to take high-percentage shots. So what he had to learn early was . . . shot selection. That’s where he really has come a long way.”
So, is he the one guy who has to step up and help Tucker?
“Look at any team,” Ryan said. “People always say if you have somebody who’s scoring from a certain position, you have to get scoring from another position. Well, Kam plays another position. Kam’s one of the guys who’s able to score. So he automatically has been labeled as someone who has to score simply because he has scored.”
When he has scored, more significantly, the Badgers have been successful, which is another truth as stark as the numbers. In their five losses–to Missouri State, Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State twice, he was a combined 16 of 53 (30.2 percent) and 8 of 31 on his threes (25.8 percent) while totaling 47 points.
Just as telling, when considering the Badgers’ prospects in March, have been his performances in their last six games, when he went a combined 23 of 69 overall (33.3 percent) and 9 of 31 on his threes (29 percent). Does that leave him confident enough to shine in the spotlight that burns so brightly during the tournament?
“He has had moments that give him enough of a vision to see a better future,” Ryan said. “That’s what we talk about a lot. Look down the road and see something better. He’s working on his shot at practice. He’s not the kind of guy who sits in his room thinking about it. He’s working at building his confidence back up. I think there’ll be better times.”
Tucker thinks so too.
“He has been a guy, throughout our career together, [who has] had times when he’s struggled, but he’s always bounced back,” Tucker said. “He knows this is our last year, so he has to be there.
“He always has been confident in his shot. If the last one didn’t go in, he feels the next one will, and that gives us confidence in him.”
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