MADISON, Wis. — Cars travel on the same side of the road as they do in America, so in that respect, at least Italy isn't entirely foreign to Jordan Taylor. As for the rest of life these days for the former Wisconsin point guard, well, that's another story.
"It's just different," Taylor told FOXSportsWisconsin.com last week while in Madison for a Badgers basketball game. "The food is different. The people. The culture. Obviously, the language barrier is probably one of the biggest differences."
Taylor has lived in Rome for the past four months while pursuing a professional basketball career with Virtus Roma of the Serie A, the highest level of competition in Italian basketball. And if daily life were a shock to Taylor, the style of basketball has been equally surprising.
"Well, you can't touch Italians," Taylor said. "The refs, it's a foul if you look at an Italian the wrong way. It's just different. A little more uptempo. It's more spaced out. They changed some rules over there to try to gear it more towards like the NBA. So just spacing and things like that."
Taylor spent three days in Madison last week while Virtus Roma was on a break. He took in Wisconsin's 65-54 victory against Green Bay and was the center of fans' attention while sitting behind the Badgers' bench. He also did a halftime interview with a local radio station and appeared on the Big Ten Network's broadcast of the game during the second half.
Similar fanfare in Rome has escaped Taylor, who is averaging 10.2 points, 4.0 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 11 games for Virtus Roma. He scored 13 points with four rebounds in 24 minutes to help his team defeat Sidigas Avellino, 94-79, on Dec. 9, the team's last game before Dec. 23.
This season, Virtus Roma is 7-4 and tied for fourth place in the 16-team league with Taylor as the starting point guard.
"It's a good league," Taylor said. "It's one of the best leagues in Europe. I'm biased toward American basketball. It's good competition. It's been a good experience. I'm just trying to get better."
Taylor hopes his stint in Europe is brief because he maintains a goal of playing in the NBA. He averaged 5.8 points and 2.8 assists during five games with the Atlanta Hawks' NBA Summer League team but didn't receive any offers when the league ended.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Taylor said he intended to return to the United States after the season and play once again in the NBA Summer League with the objective of earning a roster spot in the fall.
"That's the plan," he said. "We'll see what happens with that. Right now I'm just trying to play that season out, fulfill that commitment and play well, do my job well and take whatever comes next."
An area of Taylor's game that likely needs significant improvement if he is to make the NBA continues to be his shooting. This season, he is shooting 36.7 percent from the field (40 for 109) and 16.7 percent from 3-point range (6 for 36).
At Wisconsin, Taylor's shooting statistics tapered off during his senior season, when he shot 40.2 percent from the field and 36.9 percent on 3s while becoming the focal point of every team's defense. He still put together an outstanding college career, and his 3.01 assists-to-turnovers ratio shattered the previous NCAA best of 2.70. He tied the school record by appearing in 136 career games and finished seventh in career points and second in assists.
Taylor earned preseason All-American honors before his senior season and averaged 14.8 points and 4.1 assists per game. His calming influence and smart decision making on the court is missing on this year's Wisconsin team, particularly in the absence of guard Josh Gasser, who is out for the season with a torn ACL. Redshirt freshman George Marshall and sophomore Traevon Jackson have been thrust into the role of leading the team earlier than expected.
Wisconsin is 7-4 thus far and off to its slowest start since coach Bo Ryan's first season in charge 12 years ago.
"Obviously, losing Josh definitely hurt," Taylor said. "They have young guards. Traevon and George are young. Even Ben (Brust), too, a little bit. He's still young, and they're learning. They're going to make mistakes. Nobody is perfect, especially young guards.
"As they continue to get better, and they will fast, I know Traevon and George and Ben they can all play. They're all very talented. I'm sure they'll hit their stride later in the year."
As for life in Italy, Taylor said he is continuing to adjust. He has learned a few basic Italian words, such as thank you and hello. And the team, which features six American players, is providing his living quarters. Although it may be different from what Taylor has grown accustomed to, he admits it's not all bad.
"We have our own apartment," he said. "They set us up with an apartment, a car and all that. We're in the same building with all of my teammates. It's all right. It's actually kind of like a boring version of college."
Follow Jesse Temple on Twitter.
