THE BADGERS SING 'VARSITY'
The Badgers were in no hurry to head back to the locker room after defeating Vanderbilt to earn a second-consecutive Sweet 16 berth, staying on the floor to join UW fans in singing "Varsity."
"I expect George to have a really good year,'' Taylor said of the redshirt freshman. "He just needs to be aggressive and play his game. He will bring a lot to the team if he does that.'' Taylor knows the Badgers will be count- ing on Mike Bruesewitz for senior leadership. "He might not be putting up the biggest num- bers,'' he said, "but he's always making an im- pact in the game.'' He also knows that the competition should
be intense for minutes off the bench, particu- larly with transfer Zach Bohannon and fresh- man Sam Dekker in the mix with sophomore Frank Kaminsky. "What we did this year as a team,'' he said, "should be a building block for them next year.'' What the Badgers almost did was knock off No. 1 seed Syracuse in the NCAA's Sweet 16. Does Taylor ever wish that he could redo that final offensive possession?
40 » VARSITY JUNE 21, 2012 "Oh, yeah, I probably will wish for that for
the rest of my life,'' he said with a sigh. "But there's nothing you can do about it now, ex- cept move on.''
The NBA is now on his wish list. Is he good enough to play at that level? "No question, no question,'' he said with conviction. "When people think about the NBA, they think about LeBron James or Rus- sell Westbrook or Derrick Rose. The reality is that's about 20 to 25 guys. About 90 to 95 percent of the players in the league are role players.'' Taylor just wants a chance to prove himself — in whatever role. "A lot of it is about the situation you get
into,'' he said, harkening back to the Wilson text about being in the right place at the right time. "If I get my opportunity, I will try to take advantage of it.''
