Evan Turner is Rewarding Stevens’ Faith
Evan Turner is in his sixth NBA season and considering he was a second overall draft selection he has long been considered a bust. He never reached expectations with the 76ers and his inconsistent and frustrating play with the Boston Celtics left some fans begging to have him out of the rotation.
Least season Brad Stevens did an incredible job by any standard. A rebuilding team made the playoffs and they exceeded any expectations imaginable. It just continued to be more and more befuddling to see Brad Stevens unwavering in his support of Turner who had far too many disastrous plays to go along with his good plays.
Turner was the main ball handler with the starting unit and that put a tremendous amount of responsibility on his shoulders. The Celtics’ offense was built on ball movement but Turner was a primary offensive instigator and that amplified the impact of his inconsistency. Turner was wild and unreliable. He had flashes of greatness and showed great potential passing the ball. Turner had his moments where he looked like a strong finisher but too many of his opportunities were being wasted and the Celtics had very few ways of overcoming it.
Stevens has now managed to isolate Turner’s good plays and has taken him out of the positions where he could be potentially detrimental to the team. A place on the bench is not the only difference as Turner’s overall responsibility is reduced, even when he is only on the floor with the second unit. The Celtics have developed more ball handlers and more play makers taking away the responsibility that led to Turner being a liability more often than a positive force.
Turner is finally figuring out how he can be most effective on the court and he is cutting out the areas where he struggled most. Turner still turns the ball over too much and has plenty of those moments where you are left wondering what he possible could have been thinking on a certain play. That being said, there has been enough progress that Turner’s positive plays are finally starting to outweigh his negative plays and he is establishing a crucial role off the bench.
Turner is finding ways to use his teammates. Having two players shooting above 40% in Olynyk and Jerebko also coming off the bench helps tremendously. Marcus Smart doing his part as a ball handler and a much improved shooter (recently) gives Turner enough help that he is not in a position to hurt the team like he did last year.
One thing that has remained consistent throughout and has put Turner in the position he has today is Brad Stevens’ faith and willingness to give him time. Stevens saw the multiple triple doubles, the game winning shots and the team leader in assists last year. He saw past the shortcomings that had fans calling for his spot in the rotation and figured out how to optimize the talent that made him the second overall pick.
One thing that has allowed Stevens to continue to support Turner is his defense. Through all the offensive troubles Turner always remained a reliable defender and that allowed Stevens to trust him enough to keep him in the rotation.
Now, Turner continues to be a great defender who can physcially matchup to almost any opponent while gradually improving in every offensive area. One area of concern for Turner was shot selection. Turner often took contested and wild shots that would require a herculean effort to be successful. Turner took too many three pointers and too often he would regress to isolation basketball.
One thing that has been established this year is how much better Turner gets as he gets closer to the rim. Turner has become a non factor shooting the three ball with an embarasing 14.8%. Comparing to last season, Turner is taking a fewer percentage of his shots from 16 feet and beyond and everything within 16 is becomming the focus of his game. he has found a sweet spot with a short range jumper and his athleticism makes him a great threat at the rim.
The overall results have been an increase from a shooting percentage of 42.9 to 44.5%. Turner has also brought his turnovers down to 2.1 per game. His reduced role has caused his assist numbers to suffer but 4.2 per game shows that it is still a huge portion of his game. There is less volume of everything with a reduced role but he is managing to stay productive while eliminating the maddening plays for the most part.
Turner still has a ways to go and will have to continue to play a much less significant role on the team in order to ensure that Stevens can continue to trust him.
Turner also gives Stevens a lot of flexibility with lineups. Small forward is by far their position with the least amount of depth but rhe 6’7 Turner gives Stevens a lot more freedom with the three guard lineups.
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Turner has been used better by the Celtics this year and he is doing a better job of taking advanatge of his teammates and system. Turner may have been relegated to the least important guard that is a regular in the rotation but he posseses a level of physical talent that gives him more tools than his teammates. If Turner can continue to be used in the best way possible, making him a more trusted and effective player, then he may be able to approach the expectations that go along with being a second overall pick.