Indiana Pacers: How Myles Turner Can Take the Next Step as a Player

Indiana Pacers, Myles Turner, NBA
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Receive More Playmaking Responsibility

There are a few main ways that the Pacers can use to increase the playmaking responsibility of Myles Turner. One of the simplest of these methods would be to give Myles more involvement as a post-up player within their offense. He averaged only 1.5 post-up possessions last season and that translated to just an 11.7% frequency within his overall offensive tendencies.

Turner produced 1.053 points per possession in his overall derived post-up offense (includes passing) and that ranked 10th out of the 65 players with at least 100 possessions. There was a considerable influence in the overall efficiency for post-up offense from Myles by his passing. The passes made by him out of the post resulted in an output of 1.625 points per possession and that ranked 5th out of the 79 players with at least 15 possessions.

Myles displayed great comprehension on pass outs from the post based on the commitment patterns of the defense. If he gets more opportunities and achieves consistent results as a scorer, the opposition would be prompted to be more aggressive in their commitment patterns. It would allow for more layers for the Pacers’ half-court offense to create clean shots.

While it is perhaps one of the most publicly scrutinized aspects of his skill-set, the scoring production that Turner had last season serves as a solid foundation. He had an output of 0.959 points per possession on his direct post-up possessions, and that ranked 21st in the league out of the 71 players with at least 75 possessions. There are a variety of aspects that can be improved, but it’s important to understand that there are also good components too.

What intrigues me about Turner’s potential as a scorer in the post is that he does a lot of the difficult things well already but needs to develop the simple aspects. For reference, he has shown a reliable face-up jumper, can make some tough jumpers, has found success when driving to the basket in the post, and has shown signs of effective counter-moves. However, he has struggled with hooks, drop steps, and has many layers to add to his repertoire.

The faceup game is an area where Myles has a lot of potential as a final product, and he has shown a bit of everything that you would like to see in this area. Whether he has used positioning to clear space with his pivot foot or has created separation off the bounce, it could be quite difficult for opposing teams to stop him when he consistently gets these possessions and establishes a rhythm.

For some data about his faceup game, he had 12 total attempts during the regular season with eight coming from the right block and four from the left block. He had an output of one point per possession from both of those vantage points and while those are effective results but the sample size is not worth comparing since it’s so small. He showed some flashes with his face-up game during the playoffs too.

The top area where Myles can improve as a post scorer is by developing a reliable hook shot from each vantage point. He only attempted 14 total hook shots last season, and they were all from the left block when he turned his left shoulder. His output on those particular sequences was 0.786 points per possession ranked 34th out of the 39 players with at least ten possessions.

During the sequences when Myles successfully scored on a hook shot attempt, he showed some good things that he should look to build on. The next step for him in these situations will be to improve his strength so that he can move the defender on backdowns more effectively. Improving his ability to turn the corner when going towards the basket should be a goal too.

Another area that Turner should look to add to the mix is a drop-step. He had six total possessions that ended in a shot attempt as a result of a drop-step in the post. He had four of those come from the right block and had an output of 0.5 points per possessions and his two possessions from the left block resulted in two points per possession. The volume was not large enough for major observations to be made, but the need to improve is there regardless.

When watching the film on Turner’s drop-step possessions, it doesn’t take long to see that he can make tough plays using his jump shot. I am intrigued with his potential as a scorer for this reason because he has shown a real ability to be effective in difficult situations and that could really shine through when he can add the more fundamental aspects like hook shots and drop-steps.

The two missed attempts that Myles had on drop-steps are a good representation of his room for improvement when going towards the basket. Being able to stay balanced when making that pursuit would go a long way for him. Ultimately, between his growth potential on hook shots and drop-steps, there are multiple layers that Myles can add to his post game to make him a versatile threat.

Perhaps the biggest criticism of Turner is that he struggles in the post against switches in the pick-and-roll, and that is a valid criticism. For reference, he scored only 0.88 points per possession on post-ups against pick-and-roll defensive switches, and that ranked 17th in the league out of the 20 players with at least 25 possessions.

It has become quite popular for teams to switch on screens even without genuinely needing to do it and Turner could take advantage of that trend. Between having playmakers like Victor Oladipo and Tyreke Evans to attack switches on the perimeter, having the option to exploit the other aspect of the sequence would make them very tough to defend.

Myles could develop into being an interesting post threat if he can add those other elements into the fold with his jump shooting ability and faceup game. He has already shown some intriguing signs as a jump shooter in the post when he is patient and maintains balance, whether he is shooting over smaller defenders, using turnaround jumpers and step backs, or salvaging a tough situation off one leg.

I do believe that Turner should look to use more up and under moves and fakes in general. It is a real luxury to have a jump shot that the opposition has to actually respect and multiple dimensions can be added to a post scoring repertoire because of that. His jump shot should already garner respect, but it would help to improve his hook shot to make it more difficult to not fall for fakes.

The Pacers should also use Myles more as an isolation threat. He received only 19 total isolation possessions last season, and that accounted for a 2.3% frequency. His output of 1 point per possession ranked 52nd out of the 239 players with at least 15 possessions. Turner displayed an effective ability to attack the basket and knock down jumpers with and without dribbling.

The other main area that the Pacers can directly involve Turner in a playmaking sequence is in the pick-and-roll as a screener. The best way to optimize this component of his game would be to improve efficiency since he already had 38.6% of his possessions came in the pick-and-roll last season and that trails only Sabonis (42.1% frequency) among the 36 players with at least 150 possessions.

Turner has a lot of potential as a pick-and-roll scorer. For reference, his output of 1.031 points per possession ranked second out of the five players with at least 300 possessions. There are a few ways that he can improve his efficiency; roll more to the basket instead of pop at such a high frequency, pop more to the perimeter as opposed to mid-range, improve his efficiency on rolls to the basket.

Turner’s pick-and-roll abilities start with his impact as a pop threat. He had 70.2% of his pick-and-roll possessions end in a pick-and-pop, and his output of 1.013 points per possession ranked sixth out of the 16 players with at least 100 possessions. How he specifically makes his impact is straightforward considering how 86.2% of his pick-and-pop possessions ended in a no dribble jumpers.

It would be beneficial for Myles to try to drive to the basket more out of the pick-and-pop. He showed positive signs in this area last season considering how he produced 1.368 points per possession on drives to the basket out of the pick-and-pop and that ranked third out of the 23 players with at least 15 possessions. Using shot fakes and pass fakes could help create favorable drives.

Something that Myles could look to add to his pick-and-pop arsenal could be dribble jumpers. He only had six total attempts of this kind last season and had an output of only 0.667 points per possession. He has shown legitimate flashes of potential in this area between pull-ups and step-backs. Just to be clear, this is something that could be eventually integrated into the mix, and I’m not advocating for him to obnoxiously hunt these shots.

A great way for Turner to improve his efficiency in the pick-and-roll is definitely on rolls to the basket and to use that particular faction more than the pick-and-pop. He rolled to the basket during 26.3% of his pick-and-roll possessions and produced 1.036 points per possession, which ranked 34th out of the 39 players with at least 75 possessions.

A significant contributing factor to that figure is the fact that Myles turned the ball over 16.7% of the time (worst of the 39 players) and shot just 51% from the field (2nd worst of the 39 players). However, it did help him that his 27.4% free throw rate was the third highest free throw frequency of those players too. There are a few major factors that held down his scoring efficiency and raised his turnover frequency.

Turner typically succeeds on rolls to the basket when the conditions are suitable. By that I mean when the ball handler draws the big defender over enough and properly executes a pass to him. Another layer that is important for Myles’ success is how the defender of the rim roamer reacts in help defense because he is effective when there is a slow reaction or a decision to stay home on their man.

Not having a starting stretch-four is quite problematic for a high pick-and-roll centric offense. There is a massive difference in spacing between having a frontcourt player who is a reliable perimeter shooter that vacates the corner as opposed to a non-reliable shooter that roams around the basket by the blocks or even around the short corners. The sequences would open up drastically by having that increase in spacing.

It could remain difficult for Turner at times on rolls to the basket since he a significant majority of his playing time will come alongside Thaddeus Young and Domantas Sabonis as his frontcourt partner and their facilitation talent pool remained pretty much the same. Sure, Turner could certainly improve his passing comprehension in these quick hitting situations on rolls to the basket, but it’s also important that the Pacers are simplifying the game for sequences that are meant to be play finishing opportunities.

There will be times when the lane is not clean enough for Turner to roll all the way to the basket or when the guard does not take the sequence deep enough to draw the big defender over enough. Regardless, an additional dimension that Myles can add to his game will be the identification of when the pick-and-roll sequences require a pass out to a teammate, especially when the conditions are not ideal. He has shown positive signs in this area.

I would imagine that the Pacers do plan to use Turner more next season as a post-up threat and as an isolation scorer from the mid and high-post. I do believe that the rolls to the basket could continue to be hampered for as long as the philosophy is to give the ball up early in the high pick-and-roll, especially without a reliable stretch-four to open up their half-court spacing. Regardless, there is plenty of growth potential as an offensive threat with more opportunity.

Next Up: Optimize His Off-Ball Offensive Role

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Grant Afseth

Grant Afseth

Grant Afseth is an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network and Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).

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