Marcus Taylor Selected In Second Round Of NBA Draft
6/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 26, 2002
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Former Michigan State All-Big Ten honoree Marcus Taylor was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 23rd pick of the second round (52nd overall) in the 2002 NBA Draft in New York City.
"I'm very excited even though it wasn't exactly where I thought I'd be picked," said Taylor. "I just have to make the best of the situation. I'm confident that I'll have a chance to make the team as long as I work hard. I'll talk to the coaching staff to see what they want me to improve upon and then work hard in those areas.
"Obviously, I was disappointed not to be selected in the first round. But then I looked at the teams in the second round to see what was the best fit for me and Minnesota was at the top of that list. They have one of my favorite players in Kevin Garnett and with young players like Wally Szczerbiak, they are a team that is on the rise."
A 6-foot-3, 195-pound point guard, Taylor earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors in 2002, becoming just the second player in Big Ten history to lead the conference in scoring (16.8 ppg) and assists (5.3 apg). Taylor started 29 games for the Spartans and averaged a team-high 34.4 minutes per game. He shot .400 (164-of-410) from the field, including .361 (60-of-166) from three-point range. MSU's 2002 team MVP, Taylor averaged 2.9 rebounds per contest and led the squad with 31 steals.
The Minnesota Timberwolves finished the 2001-02 NBA season with a 50-32 record, finishing third in the Midwest Division. The Timberwolves were defeated by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
"I think it was a phenomenal break for Marcus, even though he was picked later than I expected," said MSU head coach Tom Izzo, who was an assistant coach on the 2001 USA Basketball Goodwill Games team, for which Minnesota head coach Flip Saunders was the head coach. "For him to go to a team like Minnesota with a coach like Flip Saunders is a great situation. To have it be the only pick for Minnesota is a real coup. As far as the Timberwolves are concerned, this is their first round pick. Flip is a very good offensive coach and I think this is an offensive system that is a perfect fit for Marcus.
"Flip knows a lot about Marcus because I have shared a lot of information with him. Marcus couldn't have gone to a better team."
Taylor is the sixth Spartan to be selected in the NBA Draft in the last three seasons, making Michigan State the only school to have six players selected in the last three drafts. In 2000, Mateen Cleaves (Detroit Pistons - 14th) and Morris Peterson (Toronto Raptors - 21st) were selected in the first round. Last year, Jason Richardson (Golden State Warriors - 5th) and Zach Randolph (Portland Trail Blazers - 19th) were drafted in the first round, while teammate Andre Hutson (Milwaukee Bucks - 52nd) was a second-round selection.
"He's coming from a great program," said Saunders. "Izzo runs a lot of pro-oriented stuff where he puts a lot of responsibility in their hands. He's a guy that coming out of high school was one of the top point guards in the country. He's going to take some time to develop, but he does some things that are really positive."
"We were looking for a point guard, with the uncertainty of Terrell (Brandon), and Chauncey (Billups) opting (for free agency)," added Kevin McHale, the Wolves' Vice President of Basketball Operations. "We liked him throughout the year, and I thought at Chicago he did a nice job. We're happy to bring him in and see how he plays."
