Overall, I am a fan of Porters. Or at least I want to be I do wonder if a great game coach had Devon for 4 years where would he be. He got labeled a 3 pt specialist because he can shoot, but I think is overall game is far more well rounded (and I always have) that Porter seems to believe. Devon handles the ball better than most of our guards, drives to the basket better, passes better (when given the opportunity to create) and even rebounds better than most of our team. Honestly, I think his talents have been underutilized. He's even improved a lot defensively. Oh well, just my thoughts.

Turk IS performing well offensively--I like his forays to the net, BUT we have a stable full of that. He needs to be out on the three point line while others do the slicing--His occasional drives to the hole keep the other teams guessing. We have a bunch of small runners and gunners who play great Defense--BUT we are little.

I was thinking some of the same things the other day about how DT has improved As a freshman he couldn't guard a ham sandwich and traveled more than the Secretary of State. He has improved all around..kuddos to him for the hard work

Personally, I think there's a misconception that we have a "stable" of those that can go to the basket. Peterson can and I really like the way he plays. Milton can if he doesn't turn the ball over. Getting the basket is extremely problematic too. I think PM thought of Turk has simply a 3 point specialist. Probably due to his lack of defense early in his career. I wish we had developed him more. I think he could've been an all-around top MVC performer.

Turk has improved year by year, adding mid range shots and this year adding a dribble drive game while improving his defense. That track shows steady progress, good coaching, and hard work by the player.

Any college player would be proud of that.

You're wrong if you think PM limited Turk to a certain role. He's been pushed to do more and has learned how to accomplish it, but at the same time you have to play to your strengths which in this case is being one of the top three point shooters in the league.

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At this moment Devon appears to be the best we have offensively--He IS doing it all , even an offensive board or two

IMO, we will never know what might have been. Is it that Turk has just been slow in developing is overall game or did PM label him Freshman year. I have seen him all 4 years and I just don't know the answer. Remember in PM's first 2 years, he was especially prone to pulling someone who wasn't doing things right. It was easier to get in his doghouse and harder to get out. Personally, I do think he stifled Turk's development a little, but we will never know. Fortunately, he needs him this year more than ever AND I do think he has developed more in the last year than previously. Either way, I love watching him. If Milton can find himself, that could be a very serious 1-2 punch. Now if someone could truly be a point guard...we'd be better off.

The better we get...the more we will be able to recruit players from really good AAU and really good high school programs....and I think it makes a huge difference in the overall skill. fundamental sets the player comes in with, irregardless of their physical skills. My gut feeling and I dont know for sure is that Devon came in wth few skills but probably was still a star on his high school team. Some kids sulk when they cant do what they did in high school others work to get better. It appears that DT has worked to get better.

Sam, you are saying that we don't know if coaching might have hindered Turk's development. It's interesting speculation. But we do know that his development has been phenomenal and it wouldn't have happened if he didn't work very hard on his game. As has been noted, he had very little in the way of defensive technique as a freshman. I know the coaches worked hard with him on that and after about two years he was a decent defender. He was pretty slim, but he worked to get stronger. It didn't affect his shot, as sometimes happens. He worked to develop some ball-handling skill. By the end of his sophomore year, he was a very good three-point shooter with defense and ball-handling that didn't hurt the team. He was valuable and could even win a game almost single-handedly, but still one-dimensional. I was happy to just settle for that. Then over the course of last year he learned to drive and that improved the rest of his offensive game. Now he's added a pull-up jumper. The three is still the thing we all love, but he's now a complete player. He's had almost four years of intense coaching and it is unlikely, but maybe possible, that it didn't add much to his development. But his hard work certainly did. And the main thing ought to be to congratulate him for persevering and making himself a the complete player he is now.

Scream, I agree with every word you typed. KUDOS to Turk. I'm a big fan. I also give credit to PM and his staffs, but I still believe that he was "typecast" the first 2 years at LUC. Whatever happened, I'm certainly glad PM saw his broader ability and that Turk responded. GO RAMBLERS!