Wildly Unnecessarily Lengthy 2015 NBA Draft Board, Part 4: NCAA Centres
Kiel Turpin
Turpin played four years at Florida State, but also played two years at junior college, redshirting twice. He will therefore turn 26 on October 1st, and thus is extremely old for his class. Even when he did play for the Seminoles, Turpin didn't play much playing only 12.5 minutes per game as a senior and 15.8 minutes as a junior.
The first of his two redshirts was for a heart murmur and a bout of mono; the second was for a torn patella tendon in his knee. But last year, returning from the knee injury, Turpin looked to have lost something. Not so much offensively - Turpin has always been a scoring talent - but defensively. Whereas he was once a disruptive shot blocker, Turpin lost much of this facet of his game. It's still there in spurts, but the rotations are slower and less frequent, and the well timed contests have been replaced by grab and touch fouls. Furthermore, Turpin has never been a good rebounder - not strong, not keen on physical contact and often out of position due to his desire to provide weakside help, as well as a general lack of defensive awareness. Outmuscled out the rim too easily, Turpin struggled on this end before the injury, and really struggles now.
What Turpin does have though is a high skill level on offense. Utilising a mid-range jump shot and a hook shot, Turpin can score from the post and from mid-range, and can create out of both pick-and-pop and post isolation action. Turpin has good hands and runs the floor well, as well as the shotmaking ability and high release. He is soft, yes, but he also has a high skill level, good awareness, and a level of finesse not often seen from a seven footer. Turpin is smooth and offensively versatile, even with his limited mobility and stamina.
If Turpin did exactly what he already did but with three point range, that would be quite the combination.
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Turpin played four years at Florida State, but also played two years at junior college, redshirting twice. He will therefore turn 26 on October 1st, and thus is extremely old for his class. Even when he did play for the Seminoles, Turpin didn't play much playing only 12.5 minutes per game as a senior and 15.8 minutes as a junior.
The first of his two redshirts was for a heart murmur and a bout of mono; the second was for a torn patella tendon in his knee. But last year, returning from the knee injury, Turpin looked to have lost something. Not so much offensively - Turpin has always been a scoring talent - but defensively. Whereas he was once a disruptive shot blocker, Turpin lost much of this facet of his game. It's still there in spurts, but the rotations are slower and less frequent, and the well timed contests have been replaced by grab and touch fouls. Furthermore, Turpin has never been a good rebounder - not strong, not keen on physical contact and often out of position due to his desire to provide weakside help, as well as a general lack of defensive awareness. Outmuscled out the rim too easily, Turpin struggled on this end before the injury, and really struggles now.
What Turpin does have though is a high skill level on offense. Utilising a mid-range jump shot and a hook shot, Turpin can score from the post and from mid-range, and can create out of both pick-and-pop and post isolation action. Turpin has good hands and runs the floor well, as well as the shotmaking ability and high release. He is soft, yes, but he also has a high skill level, good awareness, and a level of finesse not often seen from a seven footer. Turpin is smooth and offensively versatile, even with his limited mobility and stamina.
If Turpin did exactly what he already did but with three point range, that would be quite the combination.