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Evan Turner - Stays or Goes?

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For some reason I don't think ET is going to materialize to top-5 pick material. I see Iguodala as his ceiling, and even then I'm not sure he'll be as good as Iguodala because he's not as athletic. He's a nice player, for sure, but part of the reason he was so good in college was because he's 6'7 and can handle the ball. Newsflash: 6'7 players who can handle the ball in the NBA are everywhere.

He's good at almost everything, but he doesn't have that one thing that stands out and sets him apart like the other projected top 5 picks:

Wall: crazy athleticism, speed
Cousins: Amazingly athletic for his size, extremely strong, pretty good post game already
Favors: again amazing athlete for his size, already has a lot of moves/ways to score for a 6'10 18-19 year old

Not to say that ET won't be good. I think he's definitely going to be a good player in the NBA. I just think you'd really ave to need a wing in order to take him top 3, maybe in top 5. Wes Johnson, Aldrich, Ed Davis all can have arguments made for taking ahead of ET.

I think you're under-rating Evan Turner here. Being good at everything isn't a negative. He can score going left or right, he has a great mid-range pull-up game and an improving jump-shot from long range. He plays under control. Obviously a lot of people like the Brandon Roy comparison. He can play three positions(although I think Turner should play shooting guard without a doubt). He can get to the free throw line, rebound, and defend and distributes well. He's got good body control and balance and he has that uncanny ability to play at whatever speed he wants to play at, very Brandon Roy-esque in that area.

Turner will be a top 2 pick, and could even be the #1 pick depending on how the lottery goes. (If Minnesota or Utah wins, I wouldn't be surprised to see him go first)
 
For some reason I don't think ET is going to materialize to top-5 pick material. I see Iguodala as his ceiling, and even then I'm not sure he'll be as good as Iguodala because he's not as athletic. He's a nice player, for sure, but part of the reason he was so good in college was because he's 6'7 and can handle the ball. Newsflash: 6'7 players who can handle the ball in the NBA are everywhere.

He's good at almost everything, but he doesn't have that one thing that stands out and sets him apart like the other projected top 5 picks:
I dunno man, we said the same things on this very site about Brandon Roy...

And that guy right there is the reason why ET should be a top 5 pick... Yea, there are 6'7 guys who can handle ball in the NBA, but not every team has one of those... It's why a guy like John Salmons is so desired at the deadline...He can score, defend and handle..Too bad he has fragile emotions...

Minnesota could use a guy like that, Golden State, New Jersey, New York, Washington, LAC, PHX, Utah etc... All teams that can use a guy with some size that can create for themselves or others as well....

He's really smooth, has a nice pace to his game and competes hard on both ends... About as complete of a player as you can find right now... There's always potential guys all the time, but getting players that are polished and possess all around games are rare and should be viewed higher than they are...
 
I think you're under-rating Evan Turner here. Being good at everything isn't a negative. He can score going left or right, he has a great mid-range pull-up game and an improving jump-shot from long range. He plays under control. Obviously a lot of people like the Brandon Roy comparison. He can play three positions(although I think Turner should play shooting guard without a doubt). He can get to the free throw line, rebound, and defend and distributes well. He's got good body control and balance and he has that uncanny ability to play at whatever speed he wants to play at, very Brandon Roy-esque in that area.

Turner will be a top 2 pick, and could even be the #1 pick depending on how the lottery goes. (If Minnesota or Utah wins, I wouldn't be surprised to see him go first)

I very well may be under-rating him. For whatever reason I see him as a solid NBA player but never anything more than a fringe All-Star.
 
If Turner can pack on some size to adjust to the grueling 82 game schedule.

Work on his outside game to make him more of a threat.

Cut down on the turnovers, which I don't see being that big of a problem considering he WAS Ohio State's offense for most of the season. Constantly handling the ball, being forced to create for himself and everyone else, and being hounded and probably fouled a good amount.
 
I don't know what he will do, but what he should do is go.

He can only hurt himself by staying. He will be the #1 or #2 pick in this draft. If he stays, he will risk injury as well as dropping on the draft boards. Plus, there's no guarantee next year's OSU team will have a better shot than this year's. Staying would be a very unwise move.
 
If Turner can pack on some size to adjust to the grueling 82 game schedule.

Work on his outside game to make him more of a threat.

Cut down on the turnovers, which I don't see being that big of a problem considering he WAS Ohio State's offense for most of the season. Constantly handling the ball, being forced to create for himself and everyone else, and being hounded and probably fouled a good amount.

Totally agree....would love to see him come back but he should go to the bigs and make that dough.
 
That's a contradiction.

"He SHOULD go, but I'd love to see him come back!"

Which is it? Which do you want him to do?

As an Ohio State student and fan, my loyalty is to my school and Evan Turner has repped us well. I wish him nothing but the best and I will fully respect and understand it if he decides to go pro, and I will always be a fan of his. However, I want him to stay. My vested interest is in the Ohio State Buckeyes.
 
No way Turner comes back. He is a top 5 pcik. He will go. Also, Turner might be the best player in this years class as a pro. Not many under 6'4 players make an impact. I think Wall will be good, but is slightly over rated. Cousins is actually the better pro player down the road off of Kentucky. And for those thinking i am a homer, I am not an OSU fan.

If Turner can develop a consistant jumper, he will be a top 10 player in the nba.
 
Someone else say there is 0% chance he stays.
 
As several have already stated, it is kind of a no-brainer that he goes. He is going to be a top-5 pick. He was the top player in college basketball this year, and a rare bird with size and the ability to handle. He can't really improve his draft stock by staying and shooting college 3s. The goal of going to college is to set up your career, and his career is in the NBA. It is time for him to 'graduate'.
 
OSU men's basketball
Mr. Everything
Evan Turner may bring home a bevy of awards, but he' d prefer a team title
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 2:53 AM
By Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

It was Evan Turner's goal to be in Indianapolis this weekend.

He will be.

But he will not have reached his goal, which was to take his Ohio State teammates with him to the Final Four.

"I wanted to be recognized as one of the great players to play here," Turner said, "but I wasn't really thinking too much about awards. I was just trying to do enough to make sure my team won, and to earn respect, and pretty much be comfortable with how I left school."

Turner leaves Columbus on Thursday for Indianapolis, where he will receive one national player of the year award and possibly two more during three days of festivities scheduled around the Final Four in Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Buckeyes' run ended last week with a three-point loss to Tennessee in a NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal. With a 29-8 record, they finished two wins short of making the Final Four for the second time in four seasons.

In turn, a seemingly slam-dunk decision to leave early for the NBA became more difficult for Turner, a 6-foot-7 junior point guard who is projected as one of the top two or three picks in the NBA draft in June.

Had Ohio State reached the Final Four, there was no doubt Turner was gone. Now, "I'm prepared for anything," said his mother, Iris James. "It wouldn't surprise me if he comes back for another year."

Regardless of what he does, Turner's remarkable third season at Ohio State assured that his No. 21 will someday join the Mount Rushmore of retired numbers hanging above the court in Value City Arena.

The No. 11 worn by Jerry Lucas is up there. So are John Havlicek's No. 5, Jim Jackson's No. 22, Gary Bradds' No. 35 and Katie Smith's No. 30. All except Havlicek, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, and Smith were voted national player of the year while at Ohio State.

Turner already has been announced as the winner of The Sporting News player of the year award and the Oscar Robertson Trophy, given by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) to its player of the year.

"To me, he's the perfect winner of (the) Oscar Robertson Award," said Mel Nowell, a member of Ohio State's 1960 NCAA championship team and a contemporary of Robertson, "because that was Oscar, a player who made his team much better."

Still to be announced are the Associated Press player of the year Friday in Indianapolis; the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) player of the year and the winner of the Naismith Trophy, both on Sunday in Indianapolis; and the winner of the Wooden Award on April 9 in Los Angeles.

Turner's top competition for each is Kentucky point guard John Wall, a freshman widely projected to be the No.1 pick in the NBA draft this year.

"Evan would get my vote," said Clark Kellogg, a former Ohio State All-American and now CBS' lead analyst on college basketball, "because he's been more consistently spectacular than anybody else."

Turner, who missed six games in December and January with two broken bones in his lower back, averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.97 assists in 31 games. Wall averaged 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists. Each was named to the AP's All-America team yesterday; Turner appeared on 64 of 65 voters' first-team ballots, and Wall on 62.

"Pick your poison. They're both great players," said Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, who faced Wall twice. "But Turner, I think, presents teams with more problems because Turner can do more things. He's a tougher matchup because of his size and his length."

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo compared Turner to Spartans legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who, as a 6-9 point guard, could go around or over opponents. Johnson averaged 17.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.6 assists from 1977 to 1979.

Though such a record is not kept by the NCAA, Stats LLC has said that Turner's averages for points, rebounds and assists per game may be the best by one player since Larry Bird averaged 28.6 points, 14.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists at Indiana State during the 1978-79 season.

"I love multidimensional players," Izzo said. "When you can rebound, pass, score, you've got to defend some, that's a lot of things to be able to do.

"Definitely, he has been one of the more special players to come through the Big Ten in a long, long time."

Turner's success surprised most because this was his first season as a point guard, a position to which he was converted because Ohio State coach Thad Matta did not have a better option on the roster. Turner had not played point guard since junior high school.

"I can't remember any player of Evan's size that can slip inside of a defense and get the ball to the basket the way he does," former Ohio State All-American Bill Hosket said. "Even if they're saying don't let him get inside, he still gets inside.

"And what probably doesn't get enough discussion is his rebounding in a crowd. He gets to a rebound the same way he has the ability to get to the basket."

Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt called Turner a "rebounding magnet" before Tech and Ohio State met in the NCAA Tournament two weeks ago. Turner had 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the Buckeyes' win.

He also had nine turnovers, an alarming total to basketball purists but a risk that Matta lived with because he felt the reward outweighed it. Turner averaged 4.4 turnovers per game, and twice he had 10.

"The greatest coaches are the ones who recognize that the only way you're going to get the best out of a player is to give him the freedom to take the risks to be great," said Nowell, of the 1960 OSU championship team.

"Evan is a risk-taker. If not given the opportunity to make mistakes, he wouldn't have been near what he is."

Nowell believes the reason Turner was more turnover-prone late in the season was fatigue.

"At times he was worn out, and I think it affected his alertness," Nowell said.

Turner averaged 35.8 minutes per game. He played 37 minutes or more in all but one of the last 15 games of the season, including 49 in a double-overtime victory over Illinois in the Big Ten tournament.

"I was fortunate when I played," Jim Jackson said. "I didn't have to carry the load. It made it easier on me. I could just be on the wing (most of the game) and do what I had to do, and late in the game, I could handle the ball. I wouldn't be worn down.

"Does he turn the ball over? Yes. But he's not a traditional point guard. He's a forward playing point guard, and it's his first year playing point guard full time. He's still experiencing that growth. You've got to take the good and the bad."

The good far outweighed the bad, which is why, after this weekend, Turner can look forward to his number someday joining Jackson's and the others' overhead.

"It'd be a great honor," Turner said. "They can't ever take that down. I would be excited for that to happen."

Many others would be excited if No. 21 stayed on the court here for one more season.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2010/03/30/mr-everything.html?sid=101
 
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Memphis has the top rated recruiting class for next year.*

*Until all of Kentucky's players leave and they get all the currently top-rated uncommitted players
Yeah but that may not matter depending on who does and doesn't return and like you said, where the undeclared players go (UK obv).
 
Also, Turner might be the best player in this years class as a pro. Not many under 6'4 players make an impact. I think Wall will be good, but is slightly over rated. Cousins is actually the better pro player down the road off of Kentucky. An.

Ehh, Cousins is NBA ready and will be a good rebounder, but I question his scoring ability in the pros and I also question his athleticism(solid, but nowhere near elite), attitude, conditioning, and brain. Favors will be a better player.

As for Wall, the guy's athleticism is insane. He's Deron Williams' size with Rondo's speed, with comparable vision, great handles, and good scoring ability. I wouldn't put 23-4-10 past Wall at his peak. Best prospect in a few years at least. Even a better prospect than Rose.
 
Lottery is deciding this one....can't imagine he wants to wind up in DC, MIN, or GS. An interesting spot for him would be Sacramento along side Tyreke...
 
Ehh, Cousins is NBA ready and will be a good rebounder, but I question his scoring ability in the pros and I also question his athleticism(solid, but nowhere near elite), attitude, conditioning, and brain. Favors will be a better player.

As for Wall, the guy's athleticism is insane. He's Deron Williams' size with Rondo's speed, with comparable vision, great handles, and good scoring ability. I wouldn't put 23-4-10 past Wall at his peak. Best prospect in a few years at least. Even a better prospect than Rose.

Ok, so I looked up some numbers, and I stand corrected. First, not sure why I didnt know this, but wall is 6'4 at 19 years old. Thats great size for a pg. SO my first issue with him, was his size and it was just me being an idiot. I thought he was 6'1 for some reason. Now, I like rose's game alot, and thought rose would be a fair comparison since both were one and done on calibari teams. Guess what I found, across the board, Wall has slightly better numbers than Rose.

My conclusion? I am a big fat idiot, and Wall is a better prospect than Rose, which says alot since I really like Rose's game.

I STAND CORRECTED. (well actually I am sitting, but you get the point :chuckles:)
 

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