A couple of weeks ago, Utah point guard Brandon Taylor committed a foul, but it wasn’t your ordinary foul. He fouled Oregon State’s Stephen Thompson Jr. while he was shooting a last-second, half-court shot as the Utes were leading by just one point. Thompson Jr. went on to make all three free throws for the Beavers, and Utah lost in heartbreaking fashion, 71-69.
The next day, Taylor’s play, or rather, his mistake, made its rounds on all of the ESPN shows. On SportsCenter, it was dubbed No. 3 in the Not Top 10 Plays of the Week, and it was clear this incident wasn’t going out. Two days later, the Utes were playing against the top team in the Pac-12 at the time in Oregon, and they once again came out on the losing end — clearly still suffering a hangover from the emotional loss against Oregon State.
Against the Ducks, Taylor didn’t even score. He was 0-of-4 from the field. He had three assists, but he also turned over the ball four times. His mind wasn’t in the right place, and head coach Larry Krystkowiak was disappointed in the overall play of his guards.
“You can’t win too many games without your backcourt getting dialed in,” Krystkowiak said.
Since his poor showing against both Oregon schools, Taylor has been working to better his game and push past that mental lapse against the Beavers. He also wanted to reassure fans he would return to his normal self shortly.
He took to social media, something the team tries to refrain from using during the season, and posted a picture on Instagram and Twitter. It was a picture of him and Krystkowiak, and the caption was a quote from his coach saying, “Have them look at you and say damn even that couldn’t break him!”
It was this phrase Taylor latched on to from when the two had a one-on-one conversation, something Krystkowiak doesn’t tend to do in the middle of the season. He’s even said he doesn’t have time for “touchy-feely” meetings, but Taylor’s situation warranted it.
While Krystkowiak talked to Taylor before the game in Eugene, it was Sunday night when it really resonated with Taylor.
“I was feeling down, but Brandon doesn’t stay down for very long,” Taylor said. “That’s one thing that’s always been a part of me. I’ve never been the type to stay down, so I just wanted the people to know that, no matter what’s going to happen, I’m always going to bounce back.”
Although Taylor couldn’t quite redeem himself against Oregon, when the team returned home from its road trip Krystkowiak was happy to see his point guard back on the same page as the head coach moving forward.
“I’m pretty familiar with Brandon’s character, and I was almost certain he was going to bounce back,” Krystkowiak said.
His play on the court in Utah’s last two outings is all the proof anyone needs that Taylor is back on the right track. Taylor had a nice comeback game against Washington, where he scored 15 points and was 4-of-7 from three-point range. He also had six assists.
On Sunday against Washington State, he didn’t score at all in the first half, but in the second, he went 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and finished with nine points. There was one instance where he was running up to the three-point line and, as soon as he caught the ball, he took the shot and it went in, proving to everyone his confidence is back.
Taylor is ready to move forward. He knows he can’t change what happened in the past, but he still has a say on what happens in the future, and it’s the upcoming games against UCLA and USC that he’s focusing on.
“As a basketball player you always want to bounce back from being down and out,” Taylor said. “I’m not going to give in. I don’t care what happens — the worst of the worst, like Oregon State, that happened. Things happen, move on.”
While moving on is easier said than done, Taylor’s doing so, and he wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support of his coach, his teammates or the home crowd. Had the team been on the road last week instead of playing at home, he doesn’t know how things would have played out.
However, the senior guard is thankful for all the fans who knew he would return to his usual self.
“It felt good to be back home in this arena and feel the love,” Taylor said. “I felt like they really cheered once the shot went in, and these fans are incredible. They ride with me, they stick with me, they ride with us.”
@kbrenneisen