Starting Myles Turner May Help Fix Pacers’ Problems

Starting rookie big man Myles Turner not only gives the starting unit more punch but could help fix the team’s other problems.

Freshman stud and the steal of the 2015 NBA draft Myles Turner is now a starter. After one game against the Atlanta Hawks, starting at power forward next to Ian Mahinmi, Frank Vogel may have found his starting lineup for the rest of the season. Turner, of course, started against the Denver Nuggets as well, but Mahinmi was injured and Jordan Hill started.

George Hill, Monta Ellis, Paul George, Myles Turner, Ian Mahinmi. Not the stretch unit Frank Vogel hoped to trot out on the court for a tip at the beginning of the season with just two reliable three-point threats, but it’s clear this is the team’s best option going forward.

The logic behind the move is that Vogel can just no longer play Lavoy Allen more minutes than Turner. It doesn’t make an ounce of sense to continue doing that. If you are going big, something necessary with C.J. Miles’ body worn from defending fours and dead arms, having a legit shot-blocker and scorer makes more sense than a good rebounder who plays alright defense and makes a jumper every once and awhile.

This lineup will really kill teams when Turner starts shooting threes. He’s already shown to be deadly from midrange, but a shot-blocker that shoots threes —and shoots them well — is not something you often find in the NBA.

Myles Turner 2015-16 Stat Breakdown | PointAfter

And the reason Allen is benched over Mahinmi is because Mahinmi consistently gives you the same thing every night, and what he gives is good and works for this team. He’s a good defender that runs the floor, rebounds and even creates his own offense at times. A sneaky good passer, too.

More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds

• 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
• Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
• 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
• 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
• Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?

Personally, as much as I like Turner, I don’t think Mahinmi deserves to be benched. Vogel’s reluctance to call Turner anything but a center at the beginning of the year made it seem like he would never join the starting five. But at this point, with a team struggling to find the right starting and reserve combination and Turner’s rise, Vogel had no choice but to make this move.

Whoever a player guards on defense generally determines their position, and with that in mind, Turner has actually been the team’s center when playing with the team’s starters. He played on Al Horford a lot of the time on Saturday if that is any indication of what we’ll see going forward. Vogel must prefer Mahinmi’s perimeter defense at this point, perhaps a reason he never considered Turner a four.

Turner is only slightly smaller than Mahinmi in regards to weight (seven-pound difference) and Mahinmi is much more athletic. He is light on his feet so running out to the three-point line and recovering well enough to the rim should the ball-handler try and blow past him is not much of an issue. Like this play, where Horford pumps from the corner and tries to use Mahinmi’s momentum against him.

Turner still needs to work on his lower body strength, but he is much more suited defending the post at this point. Vogel thinks the rook used his time while recovering from a chip fracture in his thumb to improve that lower body strength. That and his ability to put only his chest into his opponent, leaving his hands free and in the air. This has allowed him to average 1.4 blocks since returning from injury at the end of December.

He will still give up the same face-up jumper that he kills defenders with on a nightly basis, but he will improve with time. He will pick things up from Mahinmi as they play together more, and Vogel has turned his last two starting centers (Roy Hibbert and Mahinmi) into very good defenders. Turner already has the rim protection down, it’s just everything else that needs to come along.

More from Pacers News

• 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
• Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
• 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
• 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
• Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?

It is very hard to look at the Atlanta game and expect the same thing on a nightly basis. Paul George has shown that he will go through stretches where there will be more bad games than good, meaning everyone else has to step up. In this case, everyone did. Ellis has been hot as of late, and he went all Steph Curry on the Hawks nailing five-of-seven from deep. A below average shooter from there, that won’t happen every game. George Hill had a very efficient 18 points (7 of-9, 3 of 4 from deep) and that’s something you hope to see every game. That all depends on his aggressiveness, as well as how much Ellis handles the ball. For the most part, though, I would say that partnership is coming along.

Allen had 12 rebounds in 20 minutes, and while that is his strongest suit, that probably won’t be a thing every game. Maybe he is Rodney Stuckey 2.0, though, and is just that much better as a reserve as opposed to a starter.

Stuckey is another thing. His absence has hurt the second unit’s ability to score and make plays for each other. Second-rounder Joe Young stepped up for a few games and looked promising, but has kinda fallen off since a 16-point, eight-assist outing in Golden State. Having Stuckey — whenever that will be — will solidify that bench rotation even more.

That will also help kill the wretched three-headed wing group that is Chase Budinger, Glenn Robinson III, and Solomon Hill. Budinger had a pretty nice start to the year. The stats weren’t really there but he just seemed like one of those glue guys that makes a lot of plays that box score fans don’t see. Solo brings a lot of energy on defense and the boards and has finally seemed to figure out the whole finishing at the rim thing. But he still can’t shoot, and when running lineups with Ellis and/or Stuckey, pairing them with a shooter just makes more sense in today’s NBA.

Myles Turner 2015-16 Shot Chart | PointAfter

Robinson has a lot of potential but he’s just not there yet. One of these guys–and maybe even two–will get run when Stuck comes back. If it were my decision, I’d go with the two younger guys in Solo and GRIII. Maybe even try to flip Budinger’s expiring deal for a second round pick.

Indiana has more specific issues, but a lot of them can probably be summed into rotation inconsistencies. Switching back and forth from the stretch and big lineups didn’t allow players in either unit to get very comfortable with each other. If Turner can stay in the starting lineup, those issues dissolve.

Rotation inconsistencies go away, and Stuckey will also help replace some of the offense that Turner took with him to the starting five. Putting more offense–and talent–into the starting offense also really helps in the close games, and not give up leads as easily as they did earlier on in January.

Next: VIDEO: Monta Ellis Has It All, And 32 Points Against Denver Nuggets

This team is not even close to where Bird wants it to be. But with this change, questions will be answered and things will start to look clearer.