Block City: Why Myles Turner should be the Defensive Player of the Year

Indiana Pacers, Myles Turner, Nikola Jokic - Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Indiana Pacers, Myles Turner, Nikola Jokic - Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

MTN DEW and Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner are coming together to create Block City, a campaign that will promote his say in the Defensive Player of the Year race.

The NBA regular season is winding down and that makes it the perfect time to start a campaign for a certain award that has eluded an Indiana Pacer since Metta World Peace back in 2003-2004. That award is Defensive Player of the year and MTN DEW and Myles Turner are working to create a campaign on why Myles is worthy of the award.

Myles Turner is set to campaign his case for Defensive Player of the Year

MTN DEW and Myles Turner are aiming to create Block City, their statement on why Myles Turner should be this season’s Defensive Player of the Year. The first step of this campaign is to submit a petition that would change the name of Indianapolis to Block City in honor of the shot-blocking savant. It’s time for Indiana Pacers fans to come together and show our support for our big guy.

For Myles Turner, his blocks usually turn into quick offense and MTN DEW is doing just that with this campaign as well. They are donating 200 packages to Myles Turner’s charity W.A.R.M. ( Work As Role Models) that includes essential items such as food, water, toiletries, and blankets. The best part is that these packages will go out to Indianapolis residents who are in need of some help during these times.

https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1390355295164112898

Sign the petition here and join your fellow Indiana Pacers and Myles Turner fans in his campaign for the crown of Defensive Player of the Year.

Myles Turner’s Case for Defensive Player of the Year

Myles Turner has put together quite the argument for Defensive Player of the Year. This season has arguably been his best season defensively that we have seen from the 25-year-old big man. From the masterful performances erasing shots to his true defensive impact on the floor, there isn’t any question that Myles Turner has stepped up his defensive game to a whole new level.

To start things off we will begin with how Myles Turner is the league leader in blocks with 3.4 per game. This is a new career-high for Myles but to truly understand how impactful this truly we will have to dig deeper into the numbers.

The biggest stat to me is Turner’s block percentage for the season which is 8.8 percent. This means that Myles Turner erases nearly nine percent of two-point field goals attempted while he is on the court. Turner’s 8.8 percent is the best percentage in franchise history and also good enough to land him 11th all-time for a single season.

In comparison, Rudy Gobert, who is also in the DPOY conversation, is posting a 7.23 percent block percentage which is good enough for 55th best for a single season. Turner is not only good at blocking the ball but also recovering the blocks as he recovers 3.2 blocks per 100 possessions.

Clearly, Myles Turner is a master at erasing opponents’ shots but his impact is felt beyond that. Turner also contests shots at the rim at an extremely high rate. He contests 13.2 shots per 100 shots at the rim. Turner forces the opposing offense to think about their attempts at the rim and often times forces offenses to take a deeper shot.

Myles Turner has been the anchor for the Pacers defense all season long. This has been the best defensive season for Myles Turner and the above-mentioned paragraphs are just testament to what he has done this season. Pacers fans, let’s turn Indy into block city and help our big man bring home the crown of Defensive Player of the Year that Myles truly deserves.