Ohio State’s Evan Turner should lead all Player of the Year debates

By: Andy Glockner (Sports Illustrated) –

Ohio State coach Thad Matta has coached a national Player of the Year before, so when he quickly compares current Buckeyes star Evan Turner to former Xavier standout David West, it’s instructive.

In Turner, he sees the same kind of intelligent approach to the game and a refined sense of the moment that allows him to deliver whatever his team needs at the most crucial junctures.

Then Matta tosses this on top.

“I think [Evan] is probably one of the most ultracompetitive kids I have ever coached,” Matta said. “Winning is very, very important to him. He’s just the type of the guy in practice that he needs a score, he needs time on a clock. There’s got to be a prize at the end, and I think that’s what great players all seem to have.”

That competitive drive helps explain what you’re seeing now, the completion of Turner’s evolution from freshman-year complement (capping that season by combining for 37 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in the NIT Final Four) to sophomore leading man to genuine national Player of the Year candidate. Not to mention Turner basically switched positions before this season. When Matta suggested some summer drills to prime the forward for extended work at point guard, his star dove in eagerly.

“He’s one of those guys who’s very critical of his game and is not afraid to admit he has faults,” Matta said. “A lot of kids don’t want to admit that, ‘Hey, I’m not good at this.’ And they sure as heck don’t want to work on it. Evan is a kid who knows the game, he knows what he needs to get better at, and he’s going to put in the work.”

All that work on his supposed flaws? It has Turner positioned to end up in some very rarefied air.

First, let’s examine this season. Despite a fractured back that cost him close to seven games, Turner should be the leading candidate for the Naismith Award (along with the bevy of other Player of the Year awards). With due respect to the other top candidates, a comparison of performance right now isn’t all that close:

Player	% Poss.	Off. Rating	eFG%	Assist Rate	OR%/DR%
Evan Turner	33.8	110.8	59.2	37.6	10.1/26.3
John Wall	27.3	114.1	53.2	36.2	2.3/9.2
Damion James	26.2	113.2	53.8	4.6	11.4/26.3
Wesley Johnson	21.8	117.7	61.6	10.7	8.7/19.0

Notes: %Poss is the percentage of time a team’s possession ends in a player’s hands. Offensive rating measures a player’s individual offensive efficiency. Effective FG% accounts for the extra value of three-pointers. Assist rate is the percentage of teammate baskets created while on the court. Offensive and defensive rebound rates track the percentage of team’s total rebounds grabbed by a player while he’s on the court. All figures taken from KenPom.com for games through Jan. 24.

Turner is almost as efficient offensively as John Wall and Damion James, the two other high-usage players on the list, despite handling the ball a lot more. His effective field goal percentage also is significantly better than either of them, even though he’s made only…..

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