BIO: Norman Taylor was born in New York, New York (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Norman Taylor made his NBL debut with the Illawarra Hawks at 23 years of age. He scored 21 points in his first game.

Illawarra reshuffled going into ’89—Warrick Giddey left for Melbourne after not seeing eye to eye with coach David Lindstrom—opening the lane for Norman Taylor to become the Hawks’ offensive centerpiece. Taylor’s low-post craft (deep seals, spins, footwork) and brute strength—not above-the-rim theatrics—made him an instant mismatch despite standing “only” 206 cm.

Taylor’s signature night came in the 131–120 dismantling of the fourth-placed Sydney Kings at a packed Beaton Park. Avenging a prior seven-point outing and foul-out in Sydney, he detonated for 41 points on 82% shooting (14/17 FG) and 93% at the stripe (13/14 FT), adding 15 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. “What annoyed me in that first game was fouling out and letting the whole thing get to me… But it was back to work tonight,” he said after the win. Illawarra shot 60% to Sydney’s 56%, flipped a 52–42 deficit into a 69–65 halftime lead with a 19–9 burst, then controlled the last 12 minutes. When Brad Dalton picked up his fourth foul in the third, Taylor scored “at will.” Coach Lindstrom, celebrating his 100th NBL game, summed up the game plan simply: “We were going to go to Norman—and nobody could stop him.”

Greg Hubbard orchestrated from the backcourt with 33 points (64% FG, 3/6 3PT, 100% FT), 8 assists, 5 steals and 4 rebounds—picking up the Prime TV commentary team’s $500 State Bank Man of the Match, while Taylor edged him for Mazda MVP on the night. Role players hit their marks: Rod Johnson (14), Justin Withers (14, finishing with a late slam), Lewis Jackson (11 and a defensive blanket on Steve Carfino, who managed 10 on 18% shooting), and Chuck Harmison (10 points at 71% with 9 rebounds and 5 assists). Sydney’s best were Damian Keogh (26), Tim Morrissey (18) and Dalton (17), but the Kings couldn’t stem Illawarra’s run-and-gun avalanche. Official scorers: Illawarra 131 (Taylor 41, Hubbard 33, Johnson 14, Withers 14, Jackson 11, Harmison 10, Morrissey 5, Svaldenis 2, Ridlen 1) d. Sydney 120 (Keogh 26, Morrissey B 18, Dalton 17, Davies 12, Carfino 10, Svaldenis 8, Robillard 4).

Across his debut season, Taylor averaged 29.9 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists—third-best single-season scoring mark in Hawks history (trailing only the great Mike Jones)—and became a cult hero at the Snakepit. Hubbard’s year was a breakout too: 20.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists, remaining the only Australian-born guard to average 20+ for Illawarra and, with Geordie McLeod, one of just two Aussies to average 7.0+ assists for the club (Hubbard did it twice).

1990
Illawarra entered 1990 aiming for stability—“more stable this year but do they have the talent?”—adding swing forward Patric Fairs (Texas) while banking on continued growth from 1989 Rookie of the Year Justin Withers. Against that backdrop, Stormin’ Norman Taylor delivered what has been called the most dominant statistical season in NBL history.

During that season, Taylor erupted in a game against the Eastside Melbourne Spectres (18 March 1990). Bruce Bolden and Dean Uthoff—two of the best bigs to play in Australia—plus Kent Lockhart threw their size and schemes at Taylor, selling out to wall off the paint. It didn’t matter. Taylor exploded for a club-record 54 points on 76% shooting, grabbed 13 rebounds, and powered a 122–117 Illawarra win—the highest single-game scoring mark in Hawks history.

Across the campaign, Taylor averaged 27.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 54% from the field—an all-court line that anchored the Hawks’ identity at both ends. He also etched his name deeper into the efficiency record books: with an incredible 65% field-goal clip for his career, Taylor owns two of the most efficient seasons in NBL history and still holds Illawarra’s single-season accuracy marks—70% in 1991 and 67% in 1990.

Personnel-wise, the Hawks’ rotation evolved around Taylor’s interior dominance, Fairs’ two-way minutes on the wing, and Withers’ sophomore leap, giving coach David Lindstrom a sturdier platform than the year prior. But 1990 will always be remembered first for Taylor’s peak: a season of relentless low-post craft and record-setting efficiency, punctuated by that immortal 54 against the Spectres.

. To put into perspective how good Taylor was, look no further than the Hawks matchup against the Eastside Melbourne Spectres that season. It was a night where Spectres players, Bruce Bolden and Dean Uthoff, known as two of the greatest big men ever to play down under, had no answer for the offensive talents of Taylor. On the 18th of March, 1990 both Bolden and Uthoff (Kent Lockhart was there for good measure too) focused solely on stopping him from scoring inside the paint but at the end of regulation Taylor had notched up 54 points (at 76% from the field) and 13 rebounds, and delivered a 122-117 victory to the Hawks. The effort remains the highest score in Illawarra Hawks history.

He would average 27.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals for the year, shooting 54% from the field that season.

1991
The 1991 season saw Stormin’ Norman Taylor continue to produce elite numbers—24.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists—despite Illawarra’s struggles against a stacked NBL field. Limited to 17 appearances, Taylor still anchored the Hawks’ offense with trademark low-post craft and touch around the rim.

On 27 July 1991, Taylor and the Hawks took part in the highest-scoring game in NBL history, a 186–158 shootout against the Melbourne Tigers that totaled an astonishing 344 points. Remarkably, Illawarra shot 76% from the field in the loss—the highest team field-goal percentage ever recorded by a losing side—underscoring both the Hawks’ offensive firepower and the game’s wild, end-to-end tempo.

Team results, however, didn’t follow the fireworks: Illawarra finished 6–20. Within that difficult campaign, Taylor’s efficiency remained a beacon—this was the year he delivered one of the most accurate shooting seasons the club has ever seen, reinforcing his status as the Hawks’ standard-bearer on the interior even as wins proved hard to come by.

Consider the fact he made a incredible 65 percent of his field goals for his career and it shouldn’t surprise you that he holds both the first and fifth most efficient seasons in NBL history. Stormin’ Norman still holds the record for field goal accuracy at the Illawarra Hawks, making 70 percent of his shots in 1991 and 67 percent in 1990.