After going through a 4-9 stretch from February 8th through March 4th, the Sixers decided to make a change in the starting lineup, with Evan Turner taking the place of Jodie Meeks at starting shooting guard. Despite a bumpy first start (1-12 FG) in a 97-93 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the team has rattled off three straight wins (Celtics, Jazz, Knicks), and Turner has had a lot to do with that.
In his four games as a starter this year, Turner is averaging 17.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 49.1% shooting in 38.0 minutes per game. While the pre-draft comparisons to Brandon Roy aren't entirely accurate, Turner has a solid mid-range jumper, and is an excellent rebounder for a shooting guard. His passing hasn't been his strong suit to this point, but isn't terrible there either. At 6'7", Turner could still add some a little more muscle to his 205 pound frame, but uses his above average height for his position to do a good job of posting up smaller guards.
While both Turner and the team have had success recently, I still have my concerns about the switch. Both Turner and Iguodala are inconsistent outside shooters, though Iguodala is averaging a career-best 39.7% from behind the three point line. The good news is that this team has a lot of useful players at both guard spots, including starting point guard Jrue Holiday, super-sub Lou Williams and Jodie Meeks that can play off of (or set up) both Iguodala and Turner.
With Spencer Hawes likely returning from his injured Achilles soon, this team could be a scary second round opponent for either the Bulls or Heat. They have talent and depth throughout the roster (Williams, Meeks, Thaddeus Young and Nikola Vucevic off the bench), and with Doug Collins having his players buying into a team-first concept, I really like this team to win a playoff series in 2012.
Just for the record, I did pick Turner for Most Improved in my Pre-Season Awards Watch.
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