Above: Upwey-raised basketball star Penny Taylor returned to the foothills last week after a triumphant year in the international arena.By Paul Pickering
AS A four-year-old basketball novice with the Belgrave South Red Devils, Penny Taylor would cry with fear every time she ran onto the court.
Now, 22 years later, that timid girl from Upwey has become one of the fiercest – and most decorated – competitors in the sport.
Last month, Taylor led the Phoenix Mercury – her Women’s National Basketball Association club in the US – to a surprise championship win over the Detroit Shock in front of a hostile crowd of 22,000 at the cavernous Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan.
In the deciding fifth game of the series, Taylor withstood a physical battering from the Shock defenders to score a game-high 30 points – shooting an astonishing 18 of 18 from the free-throw line to seal the victory.
Taylor’s supreme performance on basketball’s toughest stage came just a year after being named the tournament MVP in Australia’s gold medal-winning World Championships campaign in Russia.
Making her triumphant – if fleeting – homecoming to the foothills last week, Taylor admitted that the magnitude of her recent accomplishments was yet to dawn on her.
“I don’t think I’ve had a chance to just sit down and enjoy it,” the former Upwey High School student said.
“I play 12 months of the year with quick trips home in between.
“I think one day when I stop playing and I’m relaxing a little bit, then it’ll sink in.”
Taylor stayed with her sister, Heather, last week, negotiating an exhaustive schedule of media and promotional commitments before flying out to Siberia on Monday to join her Russian league team.
While she said that playing basketball for her country had been her dream for as long as she could remember, Taylor admitted she could never have dreamt of the lifestyle the game has afforded her.
“At the time (when she started playing), there wasn’t the opportunities that there are now for women to play overseas and earn good money – the goal was always just to play for Australia and get a gold medal,” she said.
“I always thought about jobs that I’d have to do to play basketball at the same time, but it worked out that that wasn’t necessary.” And despite her all-conquering international exploits, Taylor knows the ultimate prize will be on offer at next year’s Beijing Olympics.
The Americans will be out to recapture the title taken from them in Russia but Taylor has no doubt the Opals can win Australia’s first-ever basketball gold medal.
“So many Australian girls are playing such great basketball and dominating all over the world,” she said.
“I really feel the team we have is going to be just as strong – if not stronger – than the team we had at the Worlds, so it’s a real opportunity for us.”
The Opals, of course, have long been led by reigning WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson, but Taylor’s own recent accolades has seen her emerge from Jackson’s imposing shadow.
