Indiana Pacers: How Myles Turner can use Yoga to Become an All-Star

Myles Turner has cut fast food out of his diet, sculpted a leaner body and now feels as though he can take his game to another level for the Indiana Pacers.

Massive bodily transformations for Indiana Pacers players in the summer. That sounds familiar, right? Myles Turner’s teammate and now all-star Victor Oladipo took that path to stardom in 2017-18. After four good but not great years in the league, Oladipo decided enough was enough. He got in the best shape of his life for the next chapter of his career. And while Turner and Vic are obviously different players, their routes to stardom appear similar.

And hopefully, so are the results.

Myles has shown flashes of being a star. As a rookie, he averaged over 10 ppg and started 30 times for the Indiana Pacers. In year two, he seemed to come into his own starting all 81 games he played in and averaging 14.5 points to go along with 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. Last year he was supposed to take “the leap” into stardom. Until he didn’t.

Everyone thought Myles would be better last year, and he knows this.

Getting bigger would have been nice for Turner, but getting leaner and agiler will be better.

This is where yoga and an improved diet comes into play. Myles has spent his summer in and out of yoga studios working on his core strength and flexibility. Turner was never likely to bulk up enough to hang on the block with the likes of Andre Drummond or Steven Adams. So why not be quicker?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmKCrVYn124/?hl=en&taken-by=turner_myles

Think more Anthony Davis than Hassan Whiteside. With his new body, Myles Turner will be quick enough to move over the top and fight for the post position instead of getting stuck behind. Too often Turner got dominated by bigger, stronger centers and though his strength could still be underwhelming (he is bulking up), his quickness and stamina on the block will allow him to make life much more difficult for the opposing big.

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This may be just the beginning of his defensive improvements. His post defense has been problematic at times, but Myles has had trouble in the pick and roll as well. Too often he gets caught in the middle, no real hedge so the ball handler can turn the corner, but not close enough to the rim to cut off a lob. This isn’t all on Myles of course, but a bump in quickness and flexibility should allow him to hedge and cut off passing angles while still being able to recover to his man when the on-ball defender recovers to his. It helps everyone, not just Turner.

To really understand the impact of a leaner and agiler big, look no further than former Pacer Al Jefferson. Big Al began his own diet last summer and the results added up. During the 2016-17 season, Al ranked in the 25th percentile defending the roll man and opposing bigs scored at a rate of 48.8% in pick and roll sets. Fast forward a year, a lighter more agile Jefferson ranked in the 70th percentile holding the opponents roll man to a 42.9% scoring frequency out of pick and rolls.

For context, last year Myles finished just under the 14th percentile and gave up a score frequency of 53%. No, these numbers may not hold a ton of weight since there are variables that go into every pick and roll such as the other defender and offensive players. But, yes, finishing under the 14th percentile is not good. It’s bad, in fact.

Look for this to get much better with his refined physique and upgraded stamina.

There is an offensive improvement to be had as well for Myles Turner.

Though Myles has had trouble in situations on defense, he is a good rim protector and mostly a good defender as a whole, so his improvements may seem minor on that end. But his offense could see a major increase in production.

Through his first three years, Turner has been deployed primarily as a pick and pop threat with an occasional post up and not much else. Last year, Myles shot 7.3 of his 9.4 attempts per game without dribbling the basketball first, and 5.2 of those attempts were catch and shoots. Though the Texas product was used mostly as a catch and release player, he shot his worst percentage on those shots at 41.7%.

That should change in the upcoming season.

Myles has always had good skill for a center but has never had a chance to showcase his abilities. Of the 214 players that were on the court in at least 50 games for at least 20 minutes per game, Turner ranked 106th in usage rate. That’s two spots behind Marco Belinelli, one spot ahead of Andrew Harrison, and a serious issue for the Indiana Pacers.

Some of his sub-par usage rate is his teammates failing to feed him the ball at times. But another problem for Myles has been conditioning. In a recent ESPN article, Turner acknowledged this issue, saying: “I was getting tired a lot faster, and a lot of that had to do with eating fast food, eating pizza the nights before games.” When players are tired they tend to float away from the action to get little breathers while remaining on the court.

Performing yoga in a 100-degree heat? That should help with that issue.

Where Myles can make up ground offensively goes beyond just improved stamina, though, and it should come in the form of quick post ups and mid-range isolation’s. Turner showed huge growth and potential on the block last year but never had the confidence in himself to stick with it or belief from his coaches to get frequent touches.

He has the tools to catch the ball just outside the block, reverse pivot, face-up and make a move. We’ve seen him do it, albeit infrequently. Since Myles Turner has such a good touch, opposing bigs can’t afford to give him much space. A shot fake and one or two dribbles towards either the baseline or towards the lane and Turner is at the rim. He has always had the skill to be a good face-up isolation player down low, but he seems to rush and not quite have the fast twitch moves to clear his defender out of his way. This is where improved flexibility and quickness can really show on the offensive end.

Last year Myles shot 47.9% and scored on 49.5% of post-ups, slotting him in the 72.5th percentile. On isolation’s he was even better, shooting 56.3% from the field and scoring 52.6% of the time, good for the 80.5th percentile. These are good numbers, the problem is that Indy saw Turner use only .3 possessions per game in isolation and 1.5 possessions in the post.

We saw Turner’s lack of efficiency on catch and shoot tries at 41.7%, so why use over half his field goal attempts on his worst area of offense? Five or ten more isolation and post-up touches per game could take Turner from 12.7 ppg to 18 ppg without giving up any of his efficiency. More shots near the rim mean more shots at the foul line, which are both efficient plays. Turner’s bodily transformation he will attain from yoga will allow him, and the coaching staff, to make the transition in offensive playstyle that benefits the team.

Going into a contract year, Myles Turner knew he had to make changes and that the opportunity is there to improve. Now, Myles has a chance to take the next step and become a true robin to Victor Oladipo’s Batman. And his summer, full of yoga and dieting, suggests he’s ready to take it.