Elevate Defensive Impact to Elite Status

One of the next steps for Myles Turner will be to propel himself to elite status as a defender. He was very effective last season as an overall defensive player, both when engaged in on-ball sequences and as a help defender. While the foundation is certainly there for him as an impactful defensive player, I wanted to dig deeper to see what areas can be improved so that he can take the next step.

There are some interesting numbers about Myles as a defender. His 95.0 defensive rating during the NBA playoffs led the league. He allowed only an output of 0.84 points per possession during the regular season when engaged directly in defensive possessions, which ranked 6th in the NBA among the 79 players that defended at least 750 possessions. Also, his average of 1.8 blocks during the regular season trailed only Anthony Davis and Clint Capela.

The most frequent aspect of Turner’s on-ball defense last season came against the ball handler in the pick-and-roll as the big defender. These sequences accounted for 51.8% of his defensive possessions, and he allowed an output of 0.731 points per possession, which ranked 2nd in the NBA among the 36 players that defended at least 400 of these possessions. There are a few interesting aspects to this play type when looking at his production.

When the ball handler’s man went over the pick and Turner was involved in the sequence, there was an output of only 0.798 points per possession. Ultimately, that ranked 3rd in the NBA among the 40 players that defended at least 200 of these possessions. Myles is effective at going stride for stride with ball handlers in these situations and often can use his length to force them into a difficult finish attempt.

Myles Turner has thrived at defending the ball handler in the pick-and-roll overall but particularly when the on-ball defender goes over the screen. His physical improvements from his offseason routine should only make him better in this area too. pic.twitter.com/xPRzWbgaBr — Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) August 10, 2018

What held back Turner’s production against pick-and-roll ball handling sequences was the lack of results that the Pacers had when the on-ball defender went into picks and went under picks. It’s important that their on-ball defense improves because the big needs to drop down to prevent the screener from getting free runs to the paint for rebounds. It also helps for Myles to drop down in these situations to prevent drives and to promote mid-range jumpers from the ball handler.

One of the areas that stick out as something that Myles can improve when facing physically imposing matchups is defending post-ups. To put it into perspective, he had 14.8% of his defensive possessions come against post-ups last season and allowed an output of 0.873 points per possession, which ranked 9th in the league out of the 17 players that defended at least 100 of these possessions. Improvements to his lower body and core strength will help.

Making improvements to lower body and core strength will help Myles Turner to handle post-ups against aggressive matchups. Being able to absorb the contact will enable him to utilize his length to pressure the opposition into more difficult situations. pic.twitter.com/CoyQZSBdpe — Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) August 10, 2018

With the likely increase of playing time alongside Domantas Sabonis, Turner is going to have to be ready to defend spot-up situations with speed. For reference, he defended spot-up plays 12.7% of the time, and he allowed an output of 0.921 points per possession, which ranked 45th in the league out of the 239 players that defended at least 100 of these possessions. His production was effective, but there is room for growth.

Turner was highly impactful when closing out on no dribble jumpers but he struggled with containing drives to the basket, and that kept him from achieving overall elite production in this area. In fact, he had 66.3% of the spot-up plays that he defended end in a no dribble jumper and the 0.881 points per possession that he allowed ranked 22nd among the 278 players that defended at least 50 of these possessions.

Myles Turner was effective at closing out on spot-up shooters in catch-and-shoot situations. There are other aspects that he will need to improve, but there is a strong foundation in place for his production in these situations. pic.twitter.com/i8ybMhJDWA — Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) August 10, 2018

The main issue that Myles had when defending spot-up sequences was his containment of drives to the basket. The opposition drove to the basket during 21.8% of his spot-up possessions, and they produced 1.182 points per possession, which ranked 111th out of the 147 players that defended at least 20 of these possessions. He falls for fakes too often but putting that aside for a second, improving lateral movements and making quicker reads could help him take many steps forward in this area.

Myles Turner will need to cut down on how often he falls for the shot fakes of spot-up threats. The efficiency that he allowed against drives to the basket out of spot-up was not good. I think that not falling for fakes as often will help, but being a better athlete helps more. pic.twitter.com/G1dDFyO27N — Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) August 10, 2018

While it may not be one of his most frequent sequences, Myles has tremendous room for growth when defending the roll man in the pick-and-roll. For reference, he defended the roll man in the pick-and-roll 8.5% of the time, and he allowed an output of 1.294 points per possession, which ranked last among the 49 players that defended at least 50 of these possessions. There are multiple layers that contributed towards the struggling results in this area.

Specifically, when the screener slipped the pick, Turner was less than stellar with room for improvement. To put it into perspective, the opposition slipped the pick 33.8% of the time and produced 1.087 points per possession, which ranked 12th among the 20 players that defended at least 20 of these possessions. There are sequences when he is putting too much focus on the ball handler when he could be dropping back and preventing the screener from getting into a sufficient position to get easy baskets.

Myles Turner has significant room to improve when guarding the roll man in the pick-and-roll, which includes slipping the pick plays. He has been decent in that area but should drop down more to the roll man from getting behind him on his way to the basket. pic.twitter.com/MVxsx0dAhm — Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) August 10, 2018

The worst of the issue for Turner when defending the roll man in the pick-and-roll came in pick-and-pop situations. These sequences accounted for 66.2% of the possessions that he defended the roll man, and he allowed an output of 1.4 points per possession, which ranked last among the 42 players that defended at least 40 of these possessions. Having teammates that struggle with screens makes this a challenging area but disengaging from the ball handler sooner when possible would be beneficial.

Myles Turner’s production against pick-and-pop situations was poor last season. I believe that he would benefit from disengaging from the ball handler sooner but having perimeter players that struggle with screen contact makes these situations particularly challenging. pic.twitter.com/2WMxnyK0N8 — Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) August 10, 2018

Another area where Turner was quite effective but could improve an aspect to reach the next level was isolation. He defended isolation 8.3% of the time, and he allowed an output of 0.803 points per possession, which ranked 32nd in the league out of the 145 players that defended at least 50 of these possessions. He was highly effective at containing isolation drives and pull-up jumpers, but he struggled with allowing strong efficiency when the opposition would shoot a jump shot without driving.

The area where Myles thrived in isolation defense is easy to see when looking at his data. He defended drives and pull-up jumpers 64.5% of the time in isolation situations, and he allowed an output of only 0.725 points per possession, which ranked 10th in the NBA among the 92 players that defended at least 40 of these possessions. He does a good job of funneling the playmaker into crowds and effectively forces tough jump shot attempts.

Myles Turner thrived at defending isolation drives last season. He did a good job of funneling perimeter players into crowds whenever he was unable to force them into taking a jump shot. pic.twitter.com/xp3YM5odnR — Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) August 10, 2018

The other aspect of isolation defense is where most of the improvement can happen. The playmaker attempted a jump shot with no drive 35.5% of the time that Myles defended isolation, and he allowed 1 point per possession, which ranked 55th among the 81 players that defended at least 20 of these possessions. The sample size was rather small, and James Harden was responsible for a lot of the damage, so it’s tough to cast much blame.

Myles Turner could probably be a bit more aggressive on some of these isolation possessions where the playmaker shoots a jumper without driving, but most of these are against James Harden and that is hard to do without fouling. pic.twitter.com/1ld4GSrm7s — Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) August 10, 2018

With some less than stellar defenders remaining and some being added to the rotation, Turner is going to have to continue to be the defensive force that helps cover up the deficiencies of his teammates. The need for excellence from him will only amplify the more that he shares the floor with Sabonis because of the limitations that come with the lack of quickness from the power forward spot.