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He has taken steps forward offensively and defensively (mostly judging by highlights and some stats , but DPOY judges don't do much better). He needs to relax though and keep working hard in stead of screaming on twitter. If every medic would want a trophy or millions of dollar to defend lives, we would have big big problems.

I like how Brogdon defends his teammate, I dislike the proportion of it. The Pacers don't depend on 1 player.

Time for more time for Goga, who is most comparable to Myles, 41 minutes for Domantas has to stop. They said they would think about saving energy for later in the season, but Nate doesn't act like it. Try to win the game, but not at such high risk and milk players out.

Kevin, please don't try to trade Myles for a free agent again. That's also not showing him enough respect. At the very least try to trade him for a signed player caliber Terry Rozier .

Pacersike wrote:He has taken steps forward offensively and defensively (mostly judging by highlights and some stats , but DPOY judges don't do much better). He needs to relax though and keep working hard in stead of screaming on twitter. If every medic would want a trophy or millions of dollar to defend lives, we would have big big problems.

I like how Brogdon defends his teammate, I dislike the proportion of it. The Pacers don't depend on 1 player.

Time for more time for Goga, who is most comparable to Myles, 41 minutes for Domantas has to stop. They said they would think about saving energy for later in the season, but Nate doesn't act like it. Try to win the game, but not at such high risk and milk players out.

Kevin, please don't try to trade Myles for a free agent again. That's also not showing him enough respect. At the very least try to trade him for a signed player caliber Terry Rozier .

Agreed. Myles seems to be in that phase in life where one places an inordinate amount of importance on how others see oneself. As with all phases, hopefully it is something that he will soon grow out of, for his own sake

Having said that, to be fair, I believe Myles is simply "clapping back" (that's what they call it?) at all the haters and trolls who were going at him when he struggled. It's only fair that he's entitled to firing his own salvos back, now that he is doing well, so I'd say let him enjoy himself a little, at least for now

Well the guy had to listen to bad takes from people who clearly didn't know his game all offseason long. He got called a bad contract and reportedly no one wanted him. I don't believe that, but it's what was in the news. And he got thrown into trade talks as essentially filler for an overpaid player mostly just because he wanted to come home (Hayward has played well, but that's still a bad contract and our reported offer would have been one too).

Myles has shown a good level of maturity since day one. I'm more than fine with him getting a bit of a chip over the uninformed opinions of the masses.

He's going to play tonight with a broken hand. We'll see if he's as effective as he was to start the year. Bjorgkren praises his toughness in wanting to play.

STUD

From the official Indiana Pacers Facebook page. Society is getting weird.

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a national article

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30796482/pacers-center-myles-turner-wants-unseat-giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-defensive-player-year

At this pace, Myles Turner is the clear DPOY. Rudy Gobert getting the nod again would truly be a travesty.

Topofthekey wrote:Having said that, to be fair, I believe Myles is simply "clapping back" (that's what they call it?) at all the haters and trolls who were going at him when he struggled. It's only fair that he's entitled to firing his own salvos back, now that he is doing well, so I'd say let him enjoy himself a little, at least for now

I don't believe in firing words back. I believe in rising above it and always try to set the good/respectful example.

Nobody is worthy enough to fill my hart with anger and frustration.

Myles has work to do to become mentally stronger, I hope our team is on it.

Just read his twitter again and I know I would strongly advice him to delete it and use the much better way to be good enough for everyone: total acceptance of yourself no matter what the world thinks. Relax, don't think about awards, but only think about being as good as you can be.

Jake0890 wrote:At this pace, Myles Turner is the clear DPOY. Rudy Gobert getting the nod again would truly be a travesty.

I definitely like his overall defensive impact, but the way he struggles against some elite players, just doesn't scream DPOY possible in his career. A bit similar to how Hibbert struggled a lot on the perimeter, those weaknesses are too weak for my taste of what a DPOY should be able to bring. If you get pushed around by Embiid or blown by Giannis, it is hard to give him an award for his defense.

Compare them to Paul George, who could/can give everyone near his size (big) troubles on the perimeter (elites included) I always opt for a player who doesn't struggle as much against a very small minority of (elite) players, to vote DPOY.

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One thing I noticed about the improvement in Myles' offensive game this season is he is moving a lot better, a lot more purposefully

He's become more aware of when to cut to the basket, when to exploit mismatches, when to attack the rim, and when to park himself at the corner behind the 3pt line

He would be a monster if he played for the Warriors together with Steph Curry and Draymond Green

Offensively, he needs to continue honing his 3pt shot, so that he can sink it at a better rate, ideally closer to the 40% mark. He also needs to develop more self confidence and assertiveness. There were still times when he got a mismatch near the basket and tried waving for the ball, only for the defense to be able to react in time, because his teammate either didn't see him or didn't realize he had a mismatch

Topofthekey wrote:One thing I noticed about the improvement in Myles' offensive game this season is he is moving a lot better, a lot more purposefully

He's become more aware of when to cut to the basket, when to exploit mismatches, when to attack the rim, and when to park himself at the corner behind the 3pt line

Myles is certainly due credit for putting in the work on this aspect. But I think this is one of the more visible aspects of the coaching upgrade. He's more purposeful because he has been given a set action plan from the staff. I don't believe he ever was before.

Oh definitely. Bjorkgren has really made an impact on the team, especially offensively

I just wish he would utilize the bench a bit more, so that his starters don't run out of gas before games end

The biggest thing I thought Myles had improved on this year was rebounding. For his size I’ve always been critical of him not getting more. Come to find out I look at this year’s stats and found some surprises. Versus prior years averages and career.

Rebounding even
Assists close to even
Blocks +1 and best of his career so far
Steals best of career so far
Turnovers close to even
Fouls +1
FT% even
FG% best of career from 2 point area from 3 making more and taking more only down 1% from previous year
PPG avg. above career avg and his second year only year it was higher.

So in my assessment after looking at the stats I think the only praise I can give (and to me it’s huge) is that he seems more mature finally with his body and capabilities (or call it less raw as he was a 1 year collegiate). I think with the coaching change he’s moving around more in the offense and refs are getting him for more fouls. I think his season will be a tad bit better this year but no huge improvements. I like Myles for what he is. A shot blocking specialist. I don’t like the crazy money Pacers paid him and that’s on them not him.

Pacers Forever wrote:I don’t like the crazy money Pacers paid him and that’s on them not him.

contracts for players not past their prime have a way of looking crazy in year one and cheap by year three. Myles is basically getting what is now "starter's money." I get that it looked like all-star money to begin with, but the goal posts have moved.

Wizop wrote:

Pacers Forever wrote:I don’t like the crazy money Pacers paid him and that’s on them not him.

contracts for players not past their prime have a way of looking crazy in year one and cheap by year three. Myles is basically getting what is now "starter's money." I get that it looked like all-star money to begin with, but the goal posts have moved.

Oh, yeah. He's paid pretty fairly. It's not a bargain, necessarily, for Indy, but centers that are replaceable are dirt cheap, and centers that provide top notch skills are usually paid a ton. I'm ok with his salary.

Scoot McGroot wrote:https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2021/02/17/pacers-myles-turner-knows-what-fans-say-hes-soft-why-its-not-true/6778009002/

Is Myles soft? Well, yes and no

Yes because I still think he's a little "soft", but no because it's got nothing to do with how many rebounds he gets

About his "softness". Actually, "soft' may not be the correct term to use. It's more of a playstyle thing

Myles just doesn't play like the traditional big man who fights for position in the post. Offensively, he's more comfortable being at the 3pt line, either shooting it or attacking the basket. Occasionally he will use his size to his advantage and post up his defender and then try to score with a post move, but that's usually when he's being guarded by a smaller player

Basically, he plays a bit like an SF, or a big guard, but he has the body of a C. He's not "soft" in the actual sense of the word, he just looks "soft" because he plays differently from what people may expect from a big

Now, about the rebounds

Myles is a decent rebounder. He's not elite, but he's certainly adequate

The reason why his rebound numbers is so low is simply because of what he does on both offense and defense

Most of the time, when he challenges shots on defense, that more often than not takes him out of position to get the subsequent rebound. Next time Myles plays, pay attention to him when he challenges a shot, you'll see that after jumping in the air trying to contest the shot, he'll sometimes no longer be in a good position to collect the rebound if the shot misses. His job is to challenge and alter the shot so that it misses, and it's his teammates' job to collect the subsequent defensive rebound. He'll probably get a lot more rebounds if he stops trying to challenge shots so aggressively, and just focus of establishing good rebounding position. But is that really what people want him to do? Stop doing what he's really good at, just so that he can grab a few more rebounds so that his rebounding numbers look better?

Offensively, as I said, he prefers to play from the perimeter. That again automatically reduces his chances of getting offensive rebounds. Bigs who play in the paint, like Domas, can sometimes be credited for 2 or 3 offensive rebounds in one single possession, simply by trying to rebound their own misses underneath the basket, especially if they kept missing and kept trying to tip it in

And besides, defensive rebounding is a team effort. The key to getting defensive rebounds isn't about having an "elite rebounder". It's about doing the little things like boxing out the opponent's players, and making it difficult for them to get the rebound, so that your own teammates can the rebound. It's funny but sometimes the player who gets credited for the defensive rebound isn't the one who actually did the most work that led to the rebound

When a shot goes up, a lot of players simply follow the ball and hope to get the rebound if it misses. That's not actually what you want most of your players to do. When a shot goes up, what you want them to do is to immediately keep track of who are the opposing players in their vicinity, and to immediately box them out, or at least stay in between them and the basket, so that your own team's rebounders can rebound the miss

As the article mentioned, this is something that Aaron is good at, he has the correct instincts. It's something that Vic was good at too