Should Myles Turner be considered in the NBA’s group of future frontcourt stars along with Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid?
If the Indiana Pacers want to find out, they’re going to need to give Myles Turner the ball. With a lot more consistency and frequency. Continue reading For Myles Turner to grow, more opportunities are necessary
The Indiana Pacers lost four straight games after gaining a double-digit lead, but this streak did not continue to five games against the lowly Chicago Bulls as the Pacers cruised to an easy 105-87 win. Continue reading Two-Ahh: Pacers end losing streak with win over Bulls
For the third consecutive game, the Indiana Pacers played terrific basketball in the first half, scoring a ridiculous 75 points tonight.
In the last three games, the Pacers have outscored opponents in the first half 200-166. Continue reading Two-Ahh: Pacers lose third straight game after blowing lead in second half
Myles Turner’s maturity level is well above the typical 21-year-old kid, and soon he’ll have a lot more responsibility to the Indiana Pacers organization than most players his age will ever have to their own.
The Pacers couldn’t ask for someone better to take it all on.
“Without a doubt,” Turner told Alex Kennedy on his HoopsHype podcast when asked if he’s ready to become the face of the Pacers franchise. “… I feel like I’m ready to take on more. I want to become a leader. Why not start early?”
With Paul George essentially giving his 2-weeks notice when he had his agent tell the team he doesn’t plan on signing an extension and is off to Los Angeles in 2018, the Pacers have to feel fortunate to be able to immediately start building their franchise around a player with the potential and professionalism of Turner.
“Be a leader,” Turner told Kennedy when asked about his individual goals for next season.
Turner, who averaged 14.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, seems acutely aware of the George-sized void that will soon leave the organization and need filled.
When asked about his reaction to Larry Bird saying he could potentially become the greatest Pacers player ever during last season, Turner said, “After the initial shock, you start to believe it. When you have someone who is so confident in you and an organization that is so confident in your abilities and your future, it only motivates you to keep working and work harder and get better everyday.”
As for what Turner wants to improve on with all of his hard work, he said “all aspects of his game,” but specifically mentioned facing up in the mid post, improving his 3-point shot further, and defending the pick and roll. In other interviews this offseason, he’s said his focus is getting stronger and working on his post game.
Turner’s reaction to the news that George would be leaving: “Alright, well, what’s next? We have to start rebuilding and look at what we can do for our future. That was my initial thought.”
Turner’s love for the organization and for the state of Indiana, where he’s embraced the community since his rookie season with his WARM initiative, were evident in the podcast as he talked for a couple of minutes about his favorite things in Indiana including the food, the summer weather and how great of a sports town Indianapolis is. He had very high praise for the Simons, is excited for the Pacers new practice facility and called the Pacers a “Grade-A organization.”
In these dark times when the star player of the team decides he no longer wants to be a part of the organization that drafted him, Pacers fans are eager to start the era of the future face of the Pacers, someone that wants to be in Indiana: Myles Turner.
The Indiana Pacers had the full 2016 NBA Finals experience from the Golden State Warriors perspective in just one playoff game against LeBron James.
They were the Falcons in the Super Bowl up 28-3. They were the Cleveland Indians up 3-1. In a year of historic collapses, the Pacers had their own.
There was no championship at stake for the Pacers tonight, but that doesn’t mean this game lacked importance with their season and their future still on the line. Every playoff loss could potentially make Paul George more likely to leave which would change the outlook of the franchise for years.
The Pacers looked like Golden State in the first half scoring a team record for the playoffs with 74 first half points and holding the Cavaliers to only 49. A 25-point lead at halftime that was as high as 26 points that would ultimately be their equivalent to Warriors’ 3-1 lead.
There was so much dope stuff happening for the Pacers in that first half that it was hard to keep track of it all:
The dunk. #PhantomCam #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Vt2eKRPeFO
— NBA (@NBA) April 21, 2017
Then we all know what happened next. The Pacers lost their 3-1 lead and saw LeBron in all his glory as he finished with a 41/12/13 line. The Pacers suddenly became cautious, tentative and quit pushing the pace and doing what made them successful in the first half. It’s like the came out in the second half and immediately wanted to milk the clock.
“We came out relaxed,” said George of the third quarter. “We got away from what the first half was about.”
As the Cavaliers got closer and closer, every Pacers primary ball handler besides Paul George, who finished with 36 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists, seemed timid with the ball. Stephenson passed up open threes, Teague was slow to get the offense moving throughout the half. Thaddeus Young kept fighting for rebounds, but the Pacers simply couldn’t finish. The Pacers went from shooting 57% in the first half to only 40% overall for the game.
Cleveland meanwhile woke up offensively and hit what seemed like every open three they took. LeBron did LeBron things. Paul George grew frustrated with the refs and Nate McMillan got a rare technical foul. Perhaps, the Pacers agruments with the refs was the Draymond suspension.
The Pacers pushed the lead back to 20 points with four minutes left in the third quarter, but were outscored 52-27 from that point forward. The Pacers scored only 40 points in the second half after scoring 37 points in each of the first two quarters.
Somehow Monta Ellis played about six minutes in the fourth quarter in the game that he was finally benched from the starting lineup, because McMillan decided starting the game didn’t work with Monta, so let’s try finishing it with him? Little about it made any sense, especially as many of the minutes were shared with Jeff Teague, a pairing that had been outscored by 10.9 points per 100 possessions in the first two games. It would be shocking if McMillan keeps his job after the series at this point.
The Cavaliers found a lineup that the Pacers had no answer for on defense in the fourth quarter as they forced Myles Turner to stay on Channing Frye on the perimeter as LeBron took easy strolls into the lane for layups after beating his man with no one able to protect the rim and no one able to stay in front of him. LeBron sucked all life out of the arena that had so recently been as alive as it had ever been.
iPacers 