Lindsay Corine Taylor (born May 20, 1981 in Poway, California) is a former American collegiate and a professional basketball player who has played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), Ligue Féminine de Basketball (LFB), the WKBL and most recently the Polish Womens League. In the WNBA she has played for three teams, the Houston Comets, the Phoenix Mercury and then for a brief period in 2006 that lasted only a few weeks she played for the Seattle Storm. In the WKBL Lindsay has played for the Turkish team, the Botasspor Adana on two separate occasions.

Taylor is welll known for her height and was the league's tallest and heaviest players in UC Santa Barbara's basketball history. At 6 feet and 8 inches tall, she was tied with Katie Feenstra and Maria Stepanova as the second tallest player in the WNBA. Only Margo Dydek, at 7ft 2in (2.18 m), is taller then her. http://www.wnba.com/storm/roster/lindsay_taylor.html

Lindsay was born on Wednesday, May 20,1981 in Poway, California, the daughter of Catherine and Bill Taylor. Lindsay Corine Taylor hails from a very tall family, her uncle, nicknamed "Tiny Ron" is seven feet tall. She also has a little brother.

She wears a size 17(US)/53(EUR) shoe (12 inches long). Her favorite color is green, as it is the same color of her eyes and her favorite food is baked potatoes. Her fave CD is Aphrodisiac by American singer Brandy. She Lists volleyball player Gabrielle Reece as her favorite athlete and Dirty Dancing as her favorite movie. Lindsay is interesting in teaching school after her basket ball career and she also has an interest in government and politics and majored in her religious studies.

Since playing in Turkey, Taylor started to read novels to pass the time. "I read a lot of romance novels like Nora Roberts, but I just finished Joel Osteen's Your Best Life Now" which she described, "was really good."

She loves the outdoors and nature especially when the weather is hot. Lindsay describes herself, "I'm not good with electronics." and that she's "A little behind on the technology." She doesn't have a laptop and has only ever had two cellphones in her whole life. "I just got onto MySpace but still haven't figured it out."

According to Taylor, she wasn't involved in sports until she was 15 years old. She had originally planned on playing in her school's marching band when she first entered high school but her closest friends, who played basketball, convinced her to start playing the game and Taylor said she eventually found herself getting involved. She said she "Picked it up naturally." http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4112/is_200406/ai_n9454213 Lindsay has said If it wasn't for basketball her desires may have led her to a different career. http://www.lindsaytaylorbasketball.com/sheila_shilati/sheila_shilati.htm

According to Mark French, her coach at UC Santa Barbara, Lindsay "has a way of making most situations humorous, even when she doesn't mean to. She will be the first to give you the most honest opinion and she will undoubtedly be the nicest person you will ever meet."

Taylor attended Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona, where she helped lead her team to two regional championships and as a senior to the Arizona State Championship. She averaged 19.2 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.1 blocks in her final year as a prepster. During a game in, her junior year she scored a career-best 31 points and grabbed 21 rebounds. She played for the Arizona Elite where she guided the team to the 17 Gold National Championships in 1998, just at the age of 17.http://ucsbgauchos.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/taylor_lindsay00.html

Taylor later became famous during her NCAA career at UC Santa Barbara, playing center for their women's team. She was (and still is) the tallest woman's basketball player in the school's history and attended the same classes as fellow WNBA players Kayte Christensen and Kristen Mann with whom she is good friends with. Taylor redshirted her first year, (1999-2000). In her first season, her Freshman Year (2000-2001), Taylor capped an impressive rookie season by earning the Big West Freshman of the Year award, second team all-conference and All-Big West Tournament honors She was twice named Big West's Player of the Week, first on January 15 and again on January 29. Taylor scored 20 or more points three times, with her career high of 24 coming against Boise State on January 21, 2001 her field goal percentage in Big West Play of 65.0% was the highest percent in the conference and she later had 17 double-digit performances, including nine of her last 11 games and 13 of her final 16.

In her second season, sophomore year (2001-2002), she earned her second Big West All Conference Honors. Her third season, junior year (2002-2003) was capped by an honorable mention Associated Press All-American recognition, Big West Player of the Year honors and her second consecutive conference tournament MVP award. She also enjoyed a streak of 28-consecutive made free-throws during 2002-2003 campaign, Taylor's senior year (2003-2004), her UCSB Gaucho squad had their finest year in history. They received their 8th consecutive Big West Conference Title with a swashbucking 27-7 and won the Big West Tournament in which Taylor won her third consecutive MVP award. The Gauchos upset Colorado and Houston to get to the NCAA Sweet 16 until losing to defending and eventual champion, Connceticut, which had fellow WNBA teammate, Diana Taurasi. She notched her 1,000th point as a Gaucho at Illinois on February 13, 2003, and moved her score further uo into 13th place on UCSB's career scoring list. She only needs 500 points to break the school's highest ever career scoring record, which is held by Kristi Rohr. http://ucsbgauchos.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/taylor_lindsay00.html On November 20, 2003 Lindsay scored a team-high of 12 points. Taylor was the only Gaucho player to be in double-figures and the only visiting player to make half her field goal tries and sunk four out of eight. Later on November 25, 2003 Lindsay scored a game-high of 23 points and became UCSB's record holder in career blocked shots and the school's all-time leader in career blocked shots with 181 points. http://ucsbgauchos.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/112503aab.html On November 28 she scored a game-high 20 points as the Gauchos won a match to 4 to 1. Lindsey scored seven of her 20 points during the 19-4 second half run and extended the then nation's second longest home winning streak to 27 straight games. http://ucsbgauchos.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/112803aaa.html Later on December 16 she led all Gauccho players with a game high 23 points, grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and also matching her personal best of six blocked shots. On December 28 Lindsay finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double and 19th of her collegiate career.

Taylor has said one of her biggest developments in college was to build her strength up. Despite pulling down 7.3 rebounds per game, she counted rebounding as a weakness of hers and would continue to work hard on it to improve.http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4112/is_200406/ai_n9454213

Taylor later won a Silver Medal as a member of the United States 2003 Pan American Games basketball team with fellow Guacho, Kristen Mann when they played off in the Dominican Republic gainst the home team. She was considered the best player in the game and her finest effort in the tournament was six-point, four-rebound performance in quarterfinal victory over their hosts the Dominicans.

Linssay graduated in 2004. Her collegiate career had many distinctions, such as the all-time leader in points 1,755, blocked shots 242, and field goal percentage, 558 in UC Santa Barbara history.

The six foot eight inch tall (2.03 m) Taylor was one of the highly regarded rookies for the 2004 WNBA Draft. She was originally chosen by the Houston Comets but was subsequently traded to Phoenix Mercury alongside the higher-regarded Diana Taurasi. She was the second round (26th pick overall) in the 2004 WNBA Draft.

Her first game was against the Houston Comets on June 1 of that year. The center got a rousing ovation when she came off the bench for a few minutes in the first half. Just prior to the game, Lindsay was told "there was a chance" she'd see some action. And since her family attends every Mercury game, they were right there to see the UC Santa Barbara standout and get her first taste of pro competition. She attempted one field goal, which she missed. Unfortunately for the Mercury, soon after her first field goal attempt, she was injured during another play in that game. Despite this she played a career-high on what is considered her best game in the WNBA on June 27,2004 against the Seattle Storm when 18 minutes in to the game she grabbed two rebounds and scored three points on a 3-point basket late in the game and blocked four shots in 17 minutes. The game as ended an 83-44 Phoenix victory.

Taylor remained on the injured list, but was expected to return later in her inaugural WNBA season. In total, she would appear in just five games and missing over twenty other matches during the 2004 season, seeing limited action in those games before being waived at the end of 2005 training camp.

Taylor spent the 2005/2006 offseason in Turkey, where she averaged 16.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for her new team, the Botasspor Adana (or Botas as it's known for short). http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=TUR&Team=7719

On February 8,2006 Lindsay and her team won an important game against their opponent's, the Burhaniye, at home. At the beginning of the game Botas fell way behind and were at half time numbered 25 to Burhaniye's 40. Lindsay did not score in the first half, but scored she later scored 15 points in the second half. She ended up with 16 rebounds altogeather.

On February 18 Lindsay and her team lost to Ceyhan with the scores 90-70. However, later on March 12, Lindsay's team beat their rival, Mersin, 81-71 in their home town. Lindsay had a solid double during the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

April 1, Lindsay had 20 points and 12 rebounds as Botas won 83-59 over their opponent, the Erdemir Spor.

On April 13, 2006, the Seattle Storm signed Taylor to a training camp contract. Noticeably her body had filled out and matured more, gaining several more pounds to her previous lean frame and she became far more physical on the court. Upon joining her new team she immediately became the team's tallest player, adding an extra three inches over then tallest team mate Lauren Jackson. Much was anticipated of Taylor and the powress she could bring. Storm Coach Anne Donovan, whom had favourably compared Lindsay to fellow WNBA player Kara Wolters whom Donovan had personally helped tutor, was quoted as saying about her.

What I saw there was some potential.

http://www.wnba.com/storm/news/taylor060426.html

Lindsay spoke enthusiastically about joining her new team and what it could mean for her and improving her abilities. She expressed admiration for Lauren Jackson and said she could learn things from her. Lindsay also looked forward to the training she could expect to receive from Donovan. Lindsay said,

I hope she would really understand where I'm coming from and I can learn a lot from her.

Despite Donovan's praise however on May 17, 2006 Taylor was quietly released by the Seattle Storm, just a little over a month after she signed with the team making her tenure one of the shortest in WNBA history (Carolyn Moos having a shorter period of only 13 days). Many fans expressed disappointment over the decision. According to a WNBA article on their website she had been slowed down by tendinitis in her right ankle and toes. In all, she only played in only two preseason games, one on May 7 and the other May 12, just five days before her being released, averaging 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds on a 3-point basket late in the game. She missed an exhibition finale against the Minnesota Lynx and spent several other games on the injured list because her tendinitis in her foot.http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/lindsay_taylor/bio.html

Taylor has the distinction of being the only player on the Seattle Storm team who was as tall as head coach Anne Donovan, who is herself 6-foot 8 inches, a fact acknowledged by Donovan when the two stood eye-to-eye and she remarked about Lindsay "She is legit", http://aol.wnba.com/storm/news/taylor060426.html

Lindsay is currently planning to try out for the WNBA tryouts in 2007. If she succeeds this will be the third time Taylor will have played in the league.

On May 31, 2006 shortly after her WNBA departure, Lindsay travelled to Korea for two months where she played in the Korean women's league. She played for the Shinsegae Cool Cats.

On July 5, Lindsay scraped her team firmly out of last place in the league and in to a position to make the post season play-offs.

On July 7, Lindsay and her team won their second to last game. If they were to win the last game or either one of the two teams ahead of them lose there will be a tie in for fourth place with the playoffs at stake. But on July 9 Lindsay and the team were defeated. Lindsay cited the point differential of 20 points was too great to make up. As a result they did not make the playoffs. Afterwards Lindsay headed home for the US.http://www.lindsaytaylorbasketball.com/lindsaytaylor_2006.htm

On September 17, 2006 Taylor had successful heel surgery performed on both her heels. She will then recuperate and will fly off to Montpellier, France. She then played for Lattes-Maurin Montpellier. Lindsay already knew one of the players from her time in Korea, Sandra Dijon. http://www.lindsaytaylorbasketball.com/

On January 25, 2007, Lindsay rejoining her previous team, the Botasspor Adana and resumed playing in Turkey.

On February 9 Lindsay and her team beat team Galatasaray in the team's own gym in Istanbul. What made this a very impressive win over their opponents is the line-up the team had. Amongst them were four WNBA players; Loree Moore, Nikki Teasley, Tangela Smith and Chantelle Anderson. Lindsay had only two points in 21 minutes, but she had nine rebounds in all.

Later on March 4, Lindsay and her team beat opponent Kristen Mann's team, Mersin, in the port town of Mersin, Turkey, with a score of 82-66. Lindsay had 10 pts. and 7 rebounds in 20 minutes. March 18, 2007, Lindsey and Botas faced off and beat team As Akyazi 123 points to 83. Lindsay had scored 22 points in twenty minutes.

April 25, 2007 Botas faced team Besiktas Cola in the semi finals of the Turkish WBL Championships. On the opposing team was Kara Braxton, another tall player (just an inch shorter than Lindsey) and a fellow WNBA player. Lindsey and Botas defeated Besiktas 72 points to 70 in the third playoff. After this game the score in series was tied 2-2 in the semi finals of the Turkish WBL series. The next match to decide the winner was on April 27. The game was tied at half time with Lindsey showing a strong first half, but in the fourth quarter the game shifted dramatically against the Botas and Besiktas defeated Lindsey and the Botas to reach the finals. The score was 89 for Besiktas with Botas totaling only 64. Lindsay scored 14 points in the game and totaled 6 rebounds. http://www.lindsaytaylorbasketball.com/ http://www.eurobasket.com/TUR/TUR.asp?women=1

In all she averaged 16.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for Botas. With all the Gaucho women defeated the team left Turkey. Lindsay travelled back home to the United States to recuperate and prepared for the next European season.

Lindsay spent the time resting. On September 7, 2007 Lindsay signed a contract with the Polish Womens League. She is currently sharing an apartment with her teammate and friend Meredith Alexis. Her team is called 'Energa Katarzynki Torun'. http://www.lindsaytaylorbasketball.com/ Her new team then went on to win s tournament in Torun, Poland. In four games Lindsay averaged 8 points.

Despite her promising potential as a player there are some who are doubting Taylor's talent to be an effective center. There have been concerns that Taylor's height is a hindrance (running the court, mobility), and in fact she is simply too tall to be an effective player, and with being at a taller height than many, makes her more prone to injury. Also some believe that Taylor's body isn't in shape to match her stature and shoul fill out and mature and work on it. http://www.wnba.com/storm/news/taylor060426.html

Supporters however have defended Taylor by pointing out her speed, fluid coordination and versatile mobility as being above excellent for some one of her stature and build. Others have pointed out her unlimited potential on the court, natural talent, fast learning and her passing of the ball to other team players, something almost rare for other players of her height, as conrtibutions of her effectiveness as a player and all have been a source of praise. Another advantage Taylor poesses, as she has often expressed, is because of her larger stature then other players she has what she describes "a bird's eye view of everything" on the court. Literally she can see over the players.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4112/is_200406/ai_n9454213 Taylor's height has also made it difficult for other players to guard or block her and generally are unable to overpower her.

She has unlimited potential on the court and she is also one of the fastest learners.

Coach Mark French. http://www.lindsaytaylorbasketball.com/sheila_shilati/sheila_shilati.htm

Most girls her size do not have the ability to make the game look as easy as she does.

Lindsay has played basketball abroad representing the USA in numerous countries.

* 2005-2006: (Turkey), Botasspor Adana (1st time) * 2006: (WKBL, South Korea), Shinsegae Cool Cats * 2006-2007: (LFB, France), Lattes-Maurin Montpellier *2007: (Turkey), Botasspor Adana (2nd time) *2007-2008: , Energa Katarzynki Torun

*Gaucho: 13 *Shinsegae Cool Cats: 33 *WNBA: 44 *Botasspor Adana: 20

Lindsay had received numerous awards over the years and has even set several records. Below are some of the awards she has won.

*Named 2003 All-America honorable mention by the Associated Press, Basketball Times and Kodak/WBCA. *Earned 2003 Big West Conference Player of the Year honors and to the All-Big West first team. *Selected the 2003 Big West Tournament MVP and to the Big West All-Tournament Team, averaged 16.7 ppg. and 5.7 rpg. *Named the 2002 Big West Tournament MVP, averaged 15.0 ppg., 8.3 rpg. and 2.0 bpg. *A three-time Big West All-Tournament Team selection. *Named 2001 and 2002 All-Big West second team. *Selected as the 2001 Big West Freshman of the Year. *Named to the 2001 Big West All-Tournament Team. *Earned six Big West Player of the Week honors during her career. *Named conference player of the week after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds to close the regular season at Cal State Fullerton on February 28,2001

*Currently holds the UCSB all-time career record for scoring (1,767) field goal percentage (.559) and blocked shots (243). *Set UCSB's all-time single-season blocked shot record with 69 in 2001-02.

*Averaged a team-best 16.8 ppg. and added 7.5 rpg. as a junior, while helping UC Santa Barbara to a 27-5 record, the Big West regular season and tournament titles and the NCAA Tournament second round. *Ranked 25th among all 2002-03 Division I leaders in field goal percentage. *Ranked 18th nationally in 2001-02 in blocked shots *Recorded 12 points and 13 rebounds in UCSB's 2002 NCAA Tournament *Finished her sophomore season as the Big West's leader in field goal percentage (550). *Paced the 2000-01 Big West in blocked shots (1.6) and field goal percentage (650). *Ranked third in Gaucho's history for total rebounds with 877 points. *Earned her 24th career double-double and ninth this season in the form of 17 points coupled with a career-high-tying 16 rebounds on February 28, 2004. *On November 25, Lindsay scored a game-high of 23 points and became UCSB's record holder in career blocked shots.

*Attended Chandler High School (Ariz.), where she helped her school to a pair of regional titles and the 1999 state championship. *Averaged 19.2 ppg., 11.0 rpg. and 3.1 bpg. as a senior. *Named the 1999 Arizona Player of the Year by Gatorade. *Earned 1999 All-America fourth team honors from Parade Magazine. *Named 1999 all-state first team by the Arizona Republic and Arizona Dairy Council.

*She was a member of the 2003 USA World Championship for Young Women Team and captured the gold medal with a 7-1 record in Sibenik, Croatia, averaged 6.4 ppg. and 2.9 rpg. *Posted tournament bests of 16 points and eight rebounds in the USA’s 95-46 victory over South Korea. *Helped the U.S. to a 4-0 record in exhibition play against Australia and Brazil’s young women national teams, averaged 3.0 ppg. in the final two contests.

<i>There aren't a whole lot of advantages, only than you can use the top shelf in your cupboard without any problems.

</i> *Lindsay on her height. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4112/is_200406/ai_n9454213

<i>On the court, I feel I have a presence on the court. I hope I intimidate other people.

</i>

<i>I get mad when people call me lanky. Lanky is hunched over. I hold myself tall and proud. I'm slender.

</i> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002965758_stormbio02.html?syndication=rss

<i>I can definitely say that being her buddy has allowed me to see a side of her that most do not. In fact, the team itself is very lucky in having her around for the next three years. Lindsay is one of the funniest people I have ever met. She has a way of making most situations humorous, even when she doesn't mean to. She will be the first to give you the most honest opinion and she will undoubtedly be the nicest person you will ever meet.

</i> *Mark French, Lindsay's coach at Santa Babara.

A music video featuring Lindsay, entitled "A Tribute to Lindsay Taylor", has appeared on the popular video-sharing website Youtube. Posted on May 20, 2007 (Lindsay's 26th birthday), it chronicles Lindsay's time as a Gaucho, her time in the WNBA, and her time on Team Botas. It was viewed more than 2,000 times in its first week of release. The music heard in the video is Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZqR_NgOrig

*List of famous tall women *Heightism *Human height *Growth hormone *WNBA *UC Santa Barbara *Houston Comets *Phoenix Mercury *Seattle Storm *Margo Dydek

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*WNBA Player Profile *Lindsaytaylorbasketball.com *2004 WNBA Draft prospectus *USA Basketball bio *UCSB Profile *Taylor’s Big Opportunity *Seattle Times Interview *Time of Her Life: LINDSAY TAYLOR *Article by Sheila Shilati *Illini can't climb over Taylor

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