Turner article on the Globe

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

Turner's taking his best shot 

By Peter May, Globe Staff, 10/11/99 
 
WALTHAM - You look at the numbers and you say, ''What's the big deal?''

You look at his form and you say, ''Now I get it.''

Wayne Turner's name was not called in June's draft, mainly for one reason: 
Teams worried about his ability to make outside shots. Turner did shoot 49 
percent over four years (and an NCAA-record 151 games) at Kentucky, but 
most of that was because of shots within 15 feet.

But oh, that form. Bill Walton and Jamaal Wilkes both had nasty looking 
shots, but John Wooden never did a thing with them because the ball went 
in more often than not. Turner is another story.

''It's tough to look at,'' Celtics coach Rick Pitino admitted.

The Celtics are working with Turner to improve his form and his range. 
Assistant coach Andy Enfield, whose specialty is shooting, is basically 
starting from scratch with Turner, who in college actually shot the ball 
from the left side of his head. (He's a righthander.) That won't do here.

''Wayne's form was probably the most unusual I've seen,'' said the 
ever-diplomatic Enfield. ''With a guy like Wayne, you take what he has. 
He'll never have perfect form, but you've got to adjust it to where he can 
make shots. It is starting over in that he'll have a completely new 
shooting form when he's done. But there are small adjustments every week 
he can make to get closer to that form.''

Turner has heard this before. ''I know. It's my form,'' he said with a 
shrug. ''I had a manager work with me at Kentucky. I'm going to shoot in 
my range while I work on my form. As the year goes on, I'll move on.''

In college, Turner was, according to Pitino, a lock from 15 feet and in, 
especially off the dribble. Turner also knew where not to shoot from, which 
is why he maintained a high percentage.

''I've had players whose forte is not long-range shooting and all they 
tried to do was prove people wrong and take long-range shots,'' Pitino 
said. ''This young man, he knows his range is 15 feet. So he gets to 15 
feet. It's almost like Oscar Robertson. Oscar Robertson would never shoot 
3s. He'd get to where he wanted to have his shot. That's what Wayne Turner 
does. In the interim, what we're trying to do is get him to 17 feet. And 
if he gets to 17, 18 feet, he keeps everyone else honest. And with 
everything else he does, he's a wonderful point guard.''

That's the ultimate payoff. Good-shooting point guards are rare in the NBA 
and Turner does all the other point-guard stuff quite well. He is a good 
penetrator, he gets the ball to the right people, and, above all, he is a 
relentless defender.

''That's the main reason I'm here,'' Turner said. ''My fire is still on 
defense. I believe in getting in your face. And defense like that, most of 
the time, wears guys down and brings out the fatigue.''

He was also a gamer and a winner at Kentucky. He has two NCAA title rings 
and appeared in three straight championship games. He played in 21 NCAA 
tournament games, third most in history. He left Kentucky as the school's 
all-time leader in steals. None of that, however, made him appealing to 
the NBA, which kept seeing that form and wondering how he ever could survive.

No one's surprised he ended up in Boston. He's a native (although that's 
not always a good thing). He knows Pitino and vice versa. He even knows 
some of his teammates - he played a year at Kentucky with Antoine Walker 
and was in the same high school class (read: AAU camp buddy) as Paul 
Pierce. He knows all about Boston roads and Boston drivers.

So there wasn't any trouble adjusting to the city. The big adjustment is 
in the gym, daily. It's a monumental makeover, but one everyone believes 
is worth the effort.

''When you change like that, as big a change as he has made, it will take 
some time,'' Enfield said. ''It's really up to him how long that will 
take, whether it's a few months or a year or two.''

Bill Russell's anticipated arrival yesterday did not materialize. Pitino 
said Russell's red-eye flight was late and everything was moved back to 
today, when Russell will work with the big men. Pitino said he didn't know 
how many times Russell would stop by to work with the team. ''It's up to 
him. Anytime we can get him, we'd love to have him,'' Pitino said. ''It's 
not like the players don't know what Bill Russell has done.'' However, 
the coach said Russell primarily would be involved in the marketing end 
and he added he hoped others, like Dave Cowens, would be interested in 
doing the same ... Dana Barros and Pervis Ellison both were back at 
practice. Pitino has decided to end the two-a-days because everyone is 
in shape. ''Normally in two-a-days, one of those is for conditioning,'' 
he said. ''But we're in great shape.'' ... Pitino on new bruiser Danny 
Fortson: ''I think he'll be in foul trouble [with the new rules]. I think 
Vitaly Potapenko will be, too. But we have five legitimate frontcourt 
players this year so we can withstand foul trouble.'' Those five would 
be Fortson, Potapenko, Walker, Tony Battie, and Ellison.

This story ran on page F04 of the Boston Globe on 10/11/99. 
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.