FanPost

What is Wrong with you E.T?

After the first week of the NBA season, there are a few things that I can take away. 1) why do we foul so much? 2) where would we be without our back court? and 3) Where the heck is our $77 million dollar asset we came away with in free agency?!?

Neil Olshey caused many of us to question him by paying top-15 player money to Evan Turner. When we heard the name Evan Turner, we all thought of a player who was shooting sub-30% from 3 and was going to dribble around and muck up our free-flowing offense. As much as I knew that might have been the case, I wanted to believe that the Blazers could turn ET around like they did with Aminu a year ago. After only a week, I am seeing that this will be a much longer project than anticipated. What is wrong with Evan Turner?

When Turner comes into the game, it causes the fans to cringe for a few reasons. Reason 1) We will have to witness a guy over-dribbling and forcing up the most inefficient shot in basketball. Reason 2) When ET comes in, an offensive stoppage will occur and any lead that we may have will slowly, but surely disappear.

Here are Evan Turners point and assist totals in the last 5 games: 0,4(no attempts!) 5,0 11,3 14,2 11,2. If ET is going to put up these point totals, he needs to be above-average in the assist category; that is not the case. While Evan may be still getting used to the offense, I don't think the answer is to shoot hundreds of mid-range jumpers; try getting to the hoop and attacking off of the dribble!

In the last two seasons, Evan Turner has been shooting 26% from 3. That is a huge no-no in the Terry Stotts offense and this makes it hard to put him and Al-Farouq Aminu in the same lineup. For a team that shoots an average of 29 3's per game, you cannot afford to have him in the game for the amount of minutes he needs to make a difference.

The Blazers brought Turner in to be an extra ball handler; someone to control the offense while allowing C.J and Dame to come off screens and get open shots. In 7 games he has averaged 2.4 turnovers a game and in four of the games he has had more turnovers than assists.

Because of his mediocre/horrendous play so far, Evan has received a lot of criticism from Blazer fans and media members alike. While this is all true, there have been flashes of brilliance with Turner as well. Evan Turner has helped Damian in production. Damian has gone crazy early in the season and when the two play together, Evan can drive to the hoop and somehow find a way to get the ball out to an open Lillard behind the arc while he is in midair. Turner also can provide an instant spark on offense off of the bench (When he is clicking). As we saw in the Phoenix game, Turner found his spots and started hitting shots consistently; this led to Turner drawing the defense before kicking the ball out to one of our open shooters. Turner has also been solid on defense (probably the best among our guards). Turner is only allowing 4 fg's hit over him a game.

While Evan Turner has not performed up to expectations so far, I believe that by the time the stretch run rolls around, he will be a huge benefactor to this team. C.J will start becoming "efficient" C.J (As Orlando Williams likes to call him), and will start letting Evan Turner taking control of the ball when they are both in the game. With a lineup of C.J, Dame, Crabbe, Turner, and Plumlee, this team will be a force to be reckoned with heading into March. It's only the beginning of the year and his first few "real" games with his new team; he wants to fit in as much as we want him to fit in. Evan Turner will find his rhythm soon enough, but as fans we just need to be patient.

*All stats used were found on stats.nba.com and bkref.com