Evan Turner finds happy place with Celtics

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2015/09/evan_turner_finds_happy_place_with_celtics





Evan Turner finds happy place with Celtics






Photo by: Ted Fitzgerald
SPEAKING VOLUMES: Evan Turner says he is focused only on the present and doing whatever it takes to contribute for the Celtics.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015 PrintEmail0 Comments
By:  Mark Murphy



From Philadelphia to Indiana to the Celtics, Evan Turner has bounced through five NBA seasons.

And even coming off the finest season of his career last year with the Celtics, the swingman understands that you never get much warning about change.

“Honestly I don’t look past (now),” Turner said before last night’s practice. “What is it, 4:00? 4:30? So I look forward to 4:31. I go with the motion. Even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got traded. It is what it is. I would love to stay here. I like Boston. I genuinely would like to stay here because I’ve been places I’ve hated.”

Asked about the places he’s hated, Turner smiled and blurted, “I don’t know.”

Even under the ever-positive lead of coach Brad Stevens, however, things are going to change.

Turner was allowed to be a surrogate point guard last season, with the ball in his hands. Three days into training camp, his role has been tweaked as the Celtics coach attempts to reconfigure his combinations, and searches for ways to add more space to the offense.

“I’ll be more off the ball, and bring my all-around game like I normally do,” said Turner. “The first couple of days I was heavily off the ball. I’m focusing on getting better in that situation.”

That could be a little alarming for a player who hopes he’s found a home. But Turner was also one of a handful of Celtics generally good at making plays late in games last season.

In some form, he’ll find his way into those situations again.

“Same place I saw him fitting in last year,” Stevens said of Turner. “He’s a basketball player. I anticipate he’ll find the court a lot and in big moments, because he’s a basketball player.”

That may be the most pleasing description Turner has ever heard of his game. He came out of college as a big point guard, and developed as a streaky scorer who was occasionally forced into the role of spot-up shooter.

Though Turner has attempted to refine his shooting — he admits his 3-pointer still features an alarming lack of rotation — he remains a player best suited to attacking and pulling up. Few recognized that talent before he arrived on the Celtics.

“I enjoy coming to the gym again, I enjoy just being here,” said Turner. “There was a lot of negativity (in the past), but I’ve been able to take a step back and realize how blessed I am. Sometimes there’s so much negativity around us, (basketball is the place) you want to be. I’ve had fun, and this is a great town.

“I wasn’t too sure of what was going to occur,” he said. “I was somewhat wary of basketball, and I was getting my excitement for it back again. Now it’s all good — it’s been fun, one of my more fun stops.”

That’s because Turner appears to be understood. Stevens is fond of calling the NBA a position-less league, where versatile players have high value. Turner has finally found a place where his versatility is considered an asset.

“Not here, but in some instances you get knocked and they say he’s a tweener — what position does he play?” said Turner. “Somebody might be strictly a shooting guard, and in this day and age it’s not just about playing basketball but about how the numbers add up.

“Of course it works for me here, because you can’t make anything happen unless you’re on the court,” he said. “With the right team and the right unit, you can put together a core that complements each other, and that’s what we did last year. . . . Last year was a great fit. I felt I was doing better through each game. When you get minutes and an opportunity to play, things are completely different. There’s a lot of talented guys in this league who can make things happen with great rhythm.”

Turner also agrees that last season was probably his best in one important respect.

“All around, maybe,” he said. “I’ve had some pretty good years prior, but personally this is cool. (Last season) was my happiest because as a unit we saw it all the way through. That was the coolest part about it. We traded people three or four times and still made the playoffs. We joined together and did some amazing things. That’s my best year from that standpoint.”



bob



.