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“Last game” mentality isn’t new to Ohio State women’s basketball guard Celeste Taylor
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The graduate senior is a back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year who’s played every game like its her last all season.
Defense isn’t the most marketed aspect of women’s college basketball. Watch highlights and, outside of the occasional ferocious block, it’s the crosscourt passes, ball-handling and logo threes that grab the collective attention.
However, the art of stopping those kinds of plays is vital.
On Tuesday, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame honored the defensive work of Ohio State women’s basketball guard Celeste Taylor. Naismith added the graduate senior to its four-player group of finalists for National Defensive Player of the Year.
It’s not a new honor for the graduate senior. Last year, Taylor was one of three finalists, before losing to South Carolina Gamecocks forward Aliyah Boston.
Watch Taylor play, and the back-to-back finalist spot makes sense. The guard from Long Island epitomizes athletic hustle. When Taylor isn’t intercepting passes, running a player down for a chase down block or taking space away from opponents, she’s taking contact for trying it.
The amount of falls the guard’s taken this year attracts even the most casual basketball fan. It’s the maturation of a player who hated losing so much as a young nine-year-old that she played that same night against kids five years older. It’s play that represents someone who will do whatever she can to win.
Each time though, the guard gets up and keeps playing, adding to the following. So, when faced with the prospect of a final NCAA Tournament, where each game could be her last in college, that doubt doesn’t creep into her play.
“Not to lie, like I go out and play every game like it is my last,” said Taylor. “I could get injured a game and it could be my last game. You never know what could happen.”
Taylor’s had her share of injuries in five years of basketball. On Jan. 9, 2022, Taylor caught a pass at mid court and was leveled. A shoulder injury taking the guard out for seven games, with Duke losing five of the seven. The impact is that big in the Big Ten too.
In Taylor’s lone season in scarlet and gray, Taylor’s defensive play made the difference between a Big Ten Regular Season title and looking back with regrets.
Starting every game for Ohio State, Taylor led the Big Ten in defensive win share. That calculates how many additional games a player’s defense won for a team. Taylor’s play added two wins to the Buckeyes’ 25-4 record. That’s in a Big Ten regular season championship race that ended with Ohio State edging the Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana Hoosiers by one game.
With only one season in the Big Ten, Taylor made her presence know. The graduate senior led the Big Ten with 70 steals (with a career high 2.3 steals per game) and defensive rating at 82.5.
Big Ten coaches noticed, voting Taylor the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The second award in a row, in two different conferences, in a season that almost didn’t happen.
“Last year when I lost, I didn’t think I was coming back to college another year,” said Taylor. In the 2023 NCAA Tournament, in Duke’s famous Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils lost 61-53 to the Colorado Buffaloes in the round of 32.
Instead, Taylor vowed to return to Duke before an assistant coach who was more like family left for the South Carolina Gamecocks, opening the door to Ohio State. Now, Taylor’s brought that feeling of every game being her last to her teammates.
Taylor says its permeated through her 14 teammates. The idea that a player should put what it can into every game, not knowing what follows. On Friday, against the Maine Black Bears, it’s the start of a road that the Buckeyes hope leads to the Final Four, up the road in Cleveland, Ohio.
With that said, the idea of playing a game without knowing what’s next isn’t true in the tournament. Taylor and Ohio State do know what’s potentially next if it beats the America East champion Black Bears: The Duke Blue Devils.
Duke has its own game to play on Friday, against the Richmond Spiders on the floor of the Schottenstein Center. Should both favored teams pull out the victory, it’s the first time Taylor will play against a former team.
“it’s obviously pretty cool to go against a school I graduated from that I played at with two years,” said Taylor. “But obviously we still have to get past the first round and so do they. So, I’m just really focused on, you know, beating Maine.”
Buckeye fans hope that Taylor continues to play like it’s her last game, and pray that it isn’t.
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The graduate senior is a back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year who’s played every game like its her last all season.
Defense isn’t the most marketed aspect of women’s college basketball. Watch highlights and, outside of the occasional ferocious block, it’s the crosscourt passes, ball-handling and logo threes that grab the collective attention.
However, the art of stopping those kinds of plays is vital.
On Tuesday, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame honored the defensive work of Ohio State women’s basketball guard Celeste Taylor. Naismith added the graduate senior to its four-player group of finalists for National Defensive Player of the Year.
It’s not a new honor for the graduate senior. Last year, Taylor was one of three finalists, before losing to South Carolina Gamecocks forward Aliyah Boston.
Watch Taylor play, and the back-to-back finalist spot makes sense. The guard from Long Island epitomizes athletic hustle. When Taylor isn’t intercepting passes, running a player down for a chase down block or taking space away from opponents, she’s taking contact for trying it.
The amount of falls the guard’s taken this year attracts even the most casual basketball fan. It’s the maturation of a player who hated losing so much as a young nine-year-old that she played that same night against kids five years older. It’s play that represents someone who will do whatever she can to win.
Each time though, the guard gets up and keeps playing, adding to the following. So, when faced with the prospect of a final NCAA Tournament, where each game could be her last in college, that doubt doesn’t creep into her play.
“Not to lie, like I go out and play every game like it is my last,” said Taylor. “I could get injured a game and it could be my last game. You never know what could happen.”
Taylor’s had her share of injuries in five years of basketball. On Jan. 9, 2022, Taylor caught a pass at mid court and was leveled. A shoulder injury taking the guard out for seven games, with Duke losing five of the seven. The impact is that big in the Big Ten too.
In Taylor’s lone season in scarlet and gray, Taylor’s defensive play made the difference between a Big Ten Regular Season title and looking back with regrets.
Starting every game for Ohio State, Taylor led the Big Ten in defensive win share. That calculates how many additional games a player’s defense won for a team. Taylor’s play added two wins to the Buckeyes’ 25-4 record. That’s in a Big Ten regular season championship race that ended with Ohio State edging the Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana Hoosiers by one game.
With only one season in the Big Ten, Taylor made her presence know. The graduate senior led the Big Ten with 70 steals (with a career high 2.3 steals per game) and defensive rating at 82.5.
Big Ten coaches noticed, voting Taylor the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The second award in a row, in two different conferences, in a season that almost didn’t happen.
“Last year when I lost, I didn’t think I was coming back to college another year,” said Taylor. In the 2023 NCAA Tournament, in Duke’s famous Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils lost 61-53 to the Colorado Buffaloes in the round of 32.
Instead, Taylor vowed to return to Duke before an assistant coach who was more like family left for the South Carolina Gamecocks, opening the door to Ohio State. Now, Taylor’s brought that feeling of every game being her last to her teammates.
Taylor says its permeated through her 14 teammates. The idea that a player should put what it can into every game, not knowing what follows. On Friday, against the Maine Black Bears, it’s the start of a road that the Buckeyes hope leads to the Final Four, up the road in Cleveland, Ohio.
With that said, the idea of playing a game without knowing what’s next isn’t true in the tournament. Taylor and Ohio State do know what’s potentially next if it beats the America East champion Black Bears: The Duke Blue Devils.
Duke has its own game to play on Friday, against the Richmond Spiders on the floor of the Schottenstein Center. Should both favored teams pull out the victory, it’s the first time Taylor will play against a former team.
“it’s obviously pretty cool to go against a school I graduated from that I played at with two years,” said Taylor. “But obviously we still have to get past the first round and so do they. So, I’m just really focused on, you know, beating Maine.”
Buckeye fans hope that Taylor continues to play like it’s her last game, and pray that it isn’t.
Continue reading...