IU prepares for possiblility of Evan Turner

IU fans received bad news before the Hoosiers’ Wednesday matchup against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes’ top scorer and Player of the Year candidate, Evan Turner, might hit the court for OSU. After sustaining a back injury in his team’s 111-60 win against Eastern Michigan, ESPN reported he would not play for the next eight weeks.

A month later, it is possible the Hoosiers will have to contend with the likes Turner, who averaged 18.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game before his injury.

“We’re preparing for him, certainly,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “We’ve been since we really started our preparation.”

Turner, Crean said, certainly makes a difference when it comes  to OSU’s success.

“Our opinion of their program, their team, is that without him, they’re an excellent team,” he said. “With him, they’re a national title contender.”

IU freshman forward Christian Watford agreed with Crean, saying he doesn’t think the Buckeyes would have a chance at a national title without Turner. Regardless, the Hoosiers will have to contend with a top-25 team that has a chip on its shoulder after two Big Ten losses thus far.

“It really doesn’t change anything,” he said. “The team’s great with or without him.”

Crean agreed, saying there are other threats IU must deal with on the court, as well.

“It’s not like you can drop everything you’re doing and say ‘Evan Turner’s back, let’s really focus on him.’” he said. “Jon Diebler has played extremely well against us. William Buford averaged 21 points last year as a freshman in the two games against us. David Lighty we didn’t face last year, and he’s a major-league athlete on both ends of the court … So we’ve gotta really be locked in to what our game plan is.”

However, the game would change should Turner return for this game.

“You hate to say that it’s two preparations,” Crean said. “We’ve tried to really make sure we focus on how we want to defend and the things that we want to attack, but certainly you have to adjust for him to being in at a different position or being in at the point guard spot, and that’s exactly what we’ve tried to do. “

Turner is such a big threat to opposing squads because he can score and also effectively distribute the ball.

“He does so many things with the ball that create for everybody else.,” Crean said. “They can all get their own shot. They can all make shots on the perimeter and they can all get their own shot.”

Sophomore forward Tom Pritchard said another concern is dealing with the emotions associated with OSU getting its top scorer back. If they do, then there might be a spurt of energy to come with it at the beginning of the game, which could spell trouble for the Hoosiers.

“Any time a team gets one of their best players back, they’re obviously gonna be on a high or ready to play, and I think it’s something we gotta counter with pressure defense and offense – just pushing the ball and doing what we want to do,” he said.

One advantage for IU, Watford said, is that OSU’s look hasn’t changed much since the Turner injury, giving the team more time to focus on a single set of defensive strategies in practice.

“All their systems they ran for Turner, they really just gave them to Lighty,” he said.
Crean said his team has to be ready for the possibility of Turner, even if it is only that – a possibility.

“Our players are certainly aware of how good he is, and it only makes good sense to prepare for him,” he said.