Posted on: Friday, July 16, 2004
Taylor hopes he's still hot against Fire
By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Hawaiian Islanders' Nian Taylor has been an offensive juggernaut in his past two games at Blaisdell Arena, but both resulted in losses.
Against the San Diego Riptide on June 19, all four of Taylor's receptions went for touchdowns and he finished with 143 yards in a 64-59 loss.
Last Saturday, Taylor set career-highs with 11 receptions and 183 yards, and had two touchdowns in a 43-41 loss to the Bakersfield Blitz.
In his first eight games this season, Taylor had 25 receptions for 423 yards and 12 touchdowns. In his past three, including a road game July 3 against San Diego, he has 23 catches for 392 yards and six touchdowns. "I wasn't struggling, they just went to other guys," said Taylor, a three-year Islanders veteran.
"Nian, believe me, has gotten better and better every week," Islanders head coach Cal Lee said. "It just shows you he is a player and he's picking up a lot of the slack from some of the guys. He's always been a player, there's no question about it."
Last season, Taylor was named the Islanders Offensive Player of the Year after leading the team with 82 catches, 1,246 yards and 31 touchdowns in 14 regular-season and two postseason games. The next highest team totals were 40 catches, 517 yards and 10 touchdowns. This season, the Islanders have spread the wealth with seven receivers having at least 17 receptions and 200 yards. "Whatever I can do to help the team win," Taylor said. "It doesn't really matter (who gets the ball) as long as we win. That's all I care about."
On defense, Taylor has 21 unassisted and seven assisted tackles this season.
"Nobody talks about him defensively, but I look at the tape and the guy who's always chasing after somebody to make a tackle is Nian Taylor," Lee said. "When I see a guy who is behind 10 yards and he's chasing somebody, that shows me a lot of effort and a lot of hustle. He's shown that the past four, five games, playing linebacker. So he's doing it both ways, offensively and defensively."
Note: The Hawaiian Islanders will celebrate Fire Fighter Appreciation Night tomorrow by providing tickets to the Hawai'i Fire Fighters Association.
Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8041.
Taylor, a receiver/linebacker, hopes to continue the production and also lead the Islanders (7-6) to victory in their home finale against the Louisville Fire (8-5) tomorrow night at the Blaisdell. Kickoff for the arenafootball2 game is set for 6:30.
He also said he had a tight midsection early in the season after offseason workouts, but is at full strength now.
•
arenafootball2
WHO: Hawaiian Islanders (7-6) vs. Louisville Fire (8-5)
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. tomorrow
WHERE: Blaisdell Arena
TICKETS: $25 lower bowl, $15 upper bowl (reserved), $10 upper bowl (general), $7 youths (17 and below)
RADIO: Live on 1500 AM
PROMOTIONS: Meadow Gold Dairies Family FANFest, 4:30 p.m. in parking lot. Vili the Warrior to appear at game. Natural Vibrations will perform.
