What Pacers’ Myles Turner can learn from Gregg Popovich on Team USA

While Myles Turner is on Team USA, he should make like a sponge and absorb as much knowledge from Coach Gregg Popovich as possible to bring back to the Indiana Pacers.

Throughout his now 4 full seasons in the NBA, we’ve seen Myles Turner make some pretty big strides in his game. When the big man out of Texas was first drafted, his young age of 19 years old meant that he’d likely be a bit of a work-in-progress for a little while.

However, even as a teenager, Turner proved that he was built for success at this level of play. Sure, there were some growing pains at first as Myles adjusted to the speed of professional hoops, but every rookie has this same obstacle to overcome in his inaugural pro season.

Turner became a double-digit scorer and shot blocking threat very early on, and since then, we’ve seen him refine his game in pretty much every single area from Year 1 to Year 4.

In his most recent season, Myles became the shot blocking champion of the NBA. He’s also improved his shooting from long range, making him one of the best 3-and-D centers in the entire league. He’s worked on his positioning and timing on defense too, allowing him to disrupt shots in the post better while fouling less.

Still, there’s always room to grow and improve, right? So while Turner spends the rest of the summer with Team USA gearing up for the FIBA World Cup, what else can he learn from Head Coach Gregg Popovich, the legendary mind behind some of the greatest San Antonio Spurs teams in history?