One of the best parts about covering and rooting for this team is that they seem like a pretty cool bunch of guys. Last year that was much less the case. While it was still very enjoyable -- because who didn't love hating Eddie Jordan? -- it doesn't hold a candle to seeing the entire bench erupt after an Andre Iguodala dunk or a Jodie Meeks three.
So when Louis Williams, a player who I admittedly do not like, comes out after a strained hamstring will keep him out for the rest of the season and backs Evan Turner, I dig it. In Tom Moore's most recent article, Lou had some nice things to say about ET.
The team rallied around Evan to get his mind right. This'll be a great opportunity for him to get his wheels going again, get his confidence back and help this team.
We're a team. We get along great, there's no secret about that. And we love Evan as one of our own.
That's cool. And you know these guys are rooting for Evan because they know that if he reaches his potential, that helps the team in such a huge way. Whether that's this year or not remains to be seen.
For those who say four games mean nothing and won't do anything to help Turner going into the playoffs, I sincerely disagree. His game is built on confidence. One game, even one play could change his entire strategy on the court. And if he plays well against Boston tomorrow or New York on Wednesday, that could be the trigger that gets his game where it could be. But will Collins give him the minutes? Apparently so.
Evan will get a chance to play a lot of minutes. We're hoping he'll get back into the swing of things. I always like to have two ball handlers out there on the floor as much as possible.
It's not like I'm not playing him because I don't like him. I'm trying to win games, so my thing is the minutes are going to be there, be prepared, and play well. The most important thing is that your teammates and coaches can trust that you're gonna play well.
Unfortunately for him, when I started putting the ball in Dre's hands a little bit more at the end of the year, it affected him.
There's a few things we can take from this. One, when Collins decided to make Andre a point forward, we thought it would affect Jrue the most. Turns out it had worse ramifications for Turner, who was no longer that second ball-handler Collins wants on the court. Two, Doug does not dislike Evan. That's always nice to hear. And three, kid's gonna play. Unfortunately nobody asked the question about resting his players at least in that interview, but as Jrue's primary backup, Evan will be handling the ball a lot.
I'd actually rather Antonio Daniels get a good chunk of time with Jrue Holiday on the bench for the last few games so Turner can play off the ball. He's probably not going to make a career out of the NBA as a point guard because he's simply not quick enough to stay with them. But if that's what it's going to take to get him on the court in the playoffs, I'm okay with it. He'll get the work in during the offseason and come back in October playing for a starting spot. For now, it's all about him getting to the point where Doug will trust him in the first round.