Turner was not a good walker and was already doomed when choosing Sabonis. Everyone knew that the final outcome of the twin towers must be a fiasco, but they did not expect to be on the shelves. Many people say that Turner actually has a market, but it has been delayed by pedestrians. This sentence is not false, Turner's level of the inside line, there are now many teams are pursuing. So, he didn't worry about not having the ball at all. So why did the Pacers need Turner before, and let him spend so long with Sabonis, if there is a conflict at the beginning, then it is better to choose to break up?
It's actually because Turner can alleviate Sabonis' problems to some extent. Although Sabonis is an organizational interior that meets the requirements of modern times, his defensive ability is very average. And Turner, as one of the most capable players in the league, his presence can give Sabonis a bottom. In some tactics that do not require much space, the cooperation between Sabonis and Turner still has a certain effect. So the two of them are partnered to this day!
What level of player is Turner? What kind of lineup is right for him to play? To understand this problem, we first need to know Turner's strengths and weaknesses. Early in his career, Turner was positioned in the same way as Aldridge. Because their physical conditions are more similar, they also have good medium-distance stability. So many people feel that Turner should be the same development path as Aldridge.
But in fact, Aldridge's style of play needs to have talent and also need to have good skills. For a rookie newcomer who has just entered the league, Turner obviously can't do it yet. So, he was placed in the fifth position by the team. In fact, there is nothing wrong with arranging in the fifth position, but in the field of modern basketball, if you only use the fifth position as a tool person, it will certainly not help the growth of your own technology.
The fifth position is just a guard frame, grab the board, do cover, eat cake. These things are static talents, and the technical and tactical requirements are not high. If it were a number four like Aldridge, Turner might learn some tips on the inside. For example, the footsteps of the back, such as the middle distance play, and so on. However, the Pacers did not choose to do so for the sake of the record. For management, what they need is a complete body that can be used. As for wanting them to study what future developments are, studying the possibilities of Turner's future, it is completely unnecessary for the team.
So at the beginning of the second season, Turner's back frequency directly dropped to 1.3, and the mid-range shot dropped from 8.8 to 5.8. For Turner of this period, he was already used entirely as a tool man type of number five, which is what we often call blue-collar players.
So does this fully utilize Turner's strengths? In a way, there is. Because it is directly polished the game skills, Turner only needs to do all the tasks arranged by the management. Turner doesn't have to deal with so many other things, and he is at ease to do his job. This may not be particularly outstanding, but the results will not be bad. For the first four seasons in the league, Turner had been a player near the league's average. It is not excellent in the fifth position, but it will not be eliminated.
If you've watched the early Pacers, you'll know that Turner is actually the kind of team that has space and can mobilize motivation to play inside. He does have a little more spirituality than players like McGee. So many people speculate that if turner is given a super point guard, maybe it can be revitalized. This style of play has not been tried before, so it is not certain whether it is feasible.
After the appearance of Sabonis, Turner's positioning became very awkward. If a modern team pursues twin towers, it is actually a unrealistic tactical system. Unless your twin towers have one that is very suitable for the outside line, or to a certain extent can be done inside and outside, it is unreasonable. Because two big men are too crowded into space.
Sabonis himself is not the kind of player who can keep firing on the outside, and he will be traded by the Thunder to the Pacers because his outside projection does not meet the requirements of the Thunder management. So why didn't the Pacers at the time choose to break them up directly? This is what we just said, Turner can give a sabonis who is not good at defense. But this also leads to turner's advantage will be further compressed.
When your team has two big men on the inside, you definitely have to make a choice. Because the main way for interior players to get involved in the attack is to use it as cover. Sabonis is good at attacking and has a better view of the pitch than Turner. So the team, if possible, must have the priority to let Sabonis participate in the cover. Moreover, Sabonis's basket finishing ability, stability, and pass assist ability are all stronger than Turner's. To be honest, with such a contrast on the offensive end, I'd be hard-pressed to find a reason to convince management to let them reuse Turner. As long as the management wasn't stupid, they wouldn't choose Turner.
What did it turn out to be like? To make room for Sabonis, Turner began to need to run to the outside line as a point of space. If there was this kind of special training when he first entered the league, then Turner's current style of play is also OK. But at the beginning, He didn't ask Turner to do this, he didn't know how to handle a space point task, what other surprises do you say he can give you? That's what we said at the beginning, only a breakup is the best solution for them. Continuing to work as it is now will only drag the walkers to death.
Turner himself has said that he doesn't like being labeled by fans because it's disrespectful to him. Admittedly, Turner had the courage to say these things. Because at this stage, Turner still has some room for development. If you go to the right team, Turner may be able to play better. At the same time, some people are worried that Turner, who has been delayed for so long, can continue to evolve in the future? None of this is easy to say. After all, in this era, it is difficult for a center player without two brushes to perform brilliantly. People prefer the fourth position with spatial capabilities, not the slow-moving five position. Turner himself needs to figure out how to plan his own ability development in the future.