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Turner's season so big it even overshadows great Wall
John Wall of Kentucky is the best freshman point guard I've ever seen. He's the best freshman point guard you've ever seen, too, unless you're old enough to have seen Magic Johnson average 17 points, 7.4 assists and 7.9 rebounds at Michigan State in 1978. Either way, Wall is the best freshman point guard of the last 30 years.
That doesn't mean he's the national player of the year.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=280 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD style="FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px" width=280></TD><TD style="FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px" width=15></TD></TR><TR><TD style="FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px" width=280>Evan Turner kept it up Saturday, with 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists vs. Michigan. (AP)</TD><TD style="FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px" width=15></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>John Wall is also the best NBA prospect in college basketball. In the NBA, Wall will be a cross between Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade. He'll be the No. 1 overall pick in June, and I don't care which team has that pick. It'll be Wall, because he's the best future pro in college basketball's present.
That doesn't mean he's the NCAA player of the year, either.
Bear with me, but John Wall reminds me of my own freshman year of college, when I worked at This Can't Be Yogurt and spent months making waffle cones. To make them, you pour the batter into the griddle and lower the lid. Wait one minute, peel away the excess batter on the outside of the griddle, lift the lid, and there you have it. A perfectly formed waffle cone.
That excess batter on the outside of the griddle? You peel it away and toss it. Delicious stuff -- but in the grand scheme of things, irrelevant.
The same goes for some of the biggest compliments we can say about John Wall. He's the best freshman point guard in decades, and he's the best NBA prospect in a few years -- but since we're discussing the national POY, those compliments are irrelevant. So peel them away and toss them.
Because John Wall isn't having the best season in college basketball. Evan Turner of Ohio State is having the best season in college basketball.
That's what the award comes down to, right? We're not picking the best future pro. We're not noting how impressive or even how difficult it is to be a freshman point guard on the No. 2 team in the country.
We're simply trying to identify the best individual season in college basketball -- and that season, in my opinion, belongs to Turner.
Look, John Wall would be a decent choice for POY, too. If Wall wins it, I'm not going to boycott the Naismith Award like I'm boycotting the Naismith Hall of Fame. Wall is a legitimate POY candidate -- and after Turner, he's the only legitimate candidate. If someone other than Turner wins it, and that someone isn't Wall, then the Naismith Award will become as silly to me as the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of
Fame, baby. Syracuse's Wesley Johnson has had a great season, and so have Villanova's Scottie Reynolds and Washington's Quincy Pondexter and Notre Dame's Luke Harangody, but there is an All-American ... and there is a Player of the Year. And there is a difference.
And that difference is Evan Turner.
Turner is damn near pulling off a triple crown in the Big Ten, leading that conference in scoring (19.7 ppg) and rebounding (9.3) while placing second in assists (5.9). He's in the national top 40 in all three stats, and he leads the country with two triple-doubles, and he's also among Big Ten leaders in steals, blocks and field-goal percentage.
<TABLE style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(216,216,216)" border=0 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="50%" align=left><TBODY><TR target="_blank" bg_fc.jpg);? ui2 cbss images sports.cbsimg.net http:><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; LINE-HEIGHT: 18px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(1,53,103); FONT-SIZE: 12px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: none; PADDING-TOP: 1px" colSpan=6>Player of the Year canddiates</TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(213,220,224)" class=bg1 align=left><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 1px">Name</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 1px">Schoool (record)</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 1px">PPG</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 1px">RPG</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 1px">APG</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 1px">FG%</TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(251,251,253)" class=bg2 align=left><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">Evan Turner</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">Ohio State (23-7)</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">19.7</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">9.3</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">5.9</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">54.3</TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(251,251,253)" class=bg2 align=left><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">John Wall</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">Kentucky (27-2)</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">16.8</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">4.2</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">6.2</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 1px">45</TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(232,236,238)" class=bg4 align=left><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 11px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 1px" colSpan=4 align=middle>Naismith Trophy</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Where is my argument for Turner? You just read it. That paragraph is all the argument I need. The categories and statistics are different, but Turner is putting up the kind of mind-boggling numbers that Blake Griffin had for Oklahoma in 2009, and Kevin Durant had for Texas in 2007. They were players of the year, of course. They were obvious picks.
So is Turner.
But again, there is much to be said for John Wall. He is averaging 16.8 points, 6.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals, and those numbers don't do him justice. To appreciate Wall, you have to watch him with the ball 30 feet from the basket, and then -- don't blink! -- watch him approach the basket and take a hit and hang in the air and finish. It's remarkable. That said, Wall's numbers say he is having a better season than Derrick Rose had as a freshman at Memphis, and Rose had one hell of a season in 2008. Rose led Memphis to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a spot in the national championship game, and Wall could very well do the same for Kentucky.
If I seem to be wishy-washy, forgive me, but this argument doesn't have to resemble an arbitration hearing in Major League Baseball -- where a team cruelly breaks down its own player for the sake of winning the arbitration hearing and saving itself a few bucks in salary. I have no interest in breaking down John Wall to win my case for Evan Turner. Again, Wall is the best freshman point guard I've ever seen, and I saw Chris Paul and Michael Conley and Stephon Marbury and Kenny Anderson. Wall also is the best pro prospect in college basketball.
He just hasn't had the best individual season. There can only be one, and his name is Evan Turner.
http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/12989029/turners-season-so-big-it-even-overshadows-great-wall
Great article on Turner. Turner is going to be the 2nd or 3rd pick in the upcoming June draft.