Victor Oladipo and the Indiana Pacers are off to a 7-5 start to the 2018-19 NBA season, but fans in “Naptown” are not terribly happy with the play of another big name on the roster. After signing a four-year, $72 million extension, Myles Turner has gotten off to an incredibly slow start to the season.
Despite his slow start, Turner's teammate have not begun giving up on him. In fact, Oladipo himself took the time to call out his critics in the media and made it clear that he does not want Turner listening to them.
In an interview shared by Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star, the Pacers star detailed his thoughts on the situation.
“I think he shouldn't concern himself with what people are saying or thinking. He's just got to play within himself. He'll figure it out. He's still young. I'm not making no more excuses for him, but the truth of the matter is he's just got to find it within himself. He's perfectly fine. He's going to find his groove, and then everybody's going to be like, ‘Whoa, he's playing great. So what do you think about him playing great?'”
He continued on to talk about people having no right to judge Turner based off of his slow start.
“Everybody's so quick to judge someone when they don't play well. But everybody's not in here. Nobody is in his shoes. Nobody's putting on the jersey he's putting on. Nobody's out there playing the game he's playing. So you can't really judge him. We have no right to. But people are going to anyway. Me, personally, I really don't care what people think about him. I love him to death. His upside is huge, and he's just going to continue to keep getting better. And when he figures it out, watch out. That's all I have to say. Simple as that. Drop the mic.”
Turner has averaged 11.3 points per game to go along with 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in the first 12 games of the season. He has shot 49.1 percent from the field overall and has connected on just 14.3 percent of his 3-point attempts.
At 22 years old, Turner still has plenty of time to turn things around. He is in Indiana long-term and the fans needs to support him rather than trying to tear him down. If he can figure things out, the Pacers are going to be a very dangerous team.
Expect to see Turner's production start to rise in the near future. As soon as he stops listening to the critics and starts trying to find himself, he is going to be just fine.
Follow Us
Subscribe