I was just checking out stat leaders so far for the young season. Zach is the only guy in the top 20 in FG%, 3P%, and BPG. He has a long ways to go, but he is a fucking unicorn.
Is this the best Turner has looked? I was a fan of him in college. This seems the most consistent stretch of games in the NBA where I haven't assumed something bad would happen when the ball is in his hands.
I think so. When came out of tOSU, I thought he was gonna be a lower-middle-class man's B-Roy. Obviously he never developed the outside J, but this is the closest I've seen him get to approaching that.
He was pretty solid both seasons in BOS, so there may have been another equally productive 8 game stretch in there somewhere, but in terms of seasonal averages and certainly WRT his time in POR, this is the best he's played. I mentioned this in the NOP game thread, but he's driving to the basket a LOT more,finishing well when the help defense doesn't come and dishing off to the open teammate when it does. I think this is the real key: This year, 35.8% of his shots have come within 3 feet of the basket. That is, by far, a career high. His previous career high was 26.3% his final season in BOS and only 12.8% of his shots, a career low, came within 3 feet of the basket last season. That's the reason his TS% is at a career high. Evan Turner attacking the rim and shooting layups is MUCH better than Evan Turner backing down his man and shooting turnaround jump shots. The former also results in more trips t the FT line and more easy opportunities for his teammates. The latter results in his teammate standing around watching. BNM
If he could up the scoring by 4-5 points I think he’d have a chance if the other stats stayed the same. 14/5/5 could get it done, especially if he was the leader of the most productive bench in the league.
Nice article with revealing statistical comparisons of Turner's last year in Boston, his next two years in Portland and this year. You can draw your own conclusions as to coaching effect. https://www.blazersedge.com/2018/11...zers-evan-turner-bench-stats-lillard-mccollum
I think everyone deserves credit. Olshey for making the unpopular decision in letting Davis walk and building the second unit around Turner, Stotts for implementing, and Turner for producing.
A big part of the change, IMO, is not just in him taking over the second unit, but getting rid of Ed Davis. Ed is a great guy, but with both of them in there there's just not a lot of spacing. Defenders just had to stay between Ed and the rim, because he wasn't going to do anything creative if he got the ball more than 5 feet from the basket. No room for driving, no room for posting up. No room for Evan Turner's game. Ed's minutes have been replaced by guys like Collins and Meyers--guys who can create a lot more space on the floor with shooting and passing. It's now Evan and 4 shooters every time he's on the court, and that's how it should be. We're not alone. A lot of good teams seem to have moved to a 4/1 ratio (4 perimeter shooters, 1 non). A lot has been made about the league going smaller or shooting more threes, but I think Golden State and Houston have really changed the game by less with shot selection and more by ditching a more traditional 3/2 ratio. Ed's a great bench guy, but in the end we had our money tied up in Turner and it just kind of forced our hand. It's great seeing Turner used properly. I don't really blame Stotts for not doing it sooner. We just had less talent on the team last year, and so had to play him and Ed together even if the fit wasn't great. It's nice to see that $70m contract start to make a little sense. (Well, at least not seem utterly ludicrous....)
