Turkoglu Eerliy Like Ehlo

In the wake of LeBron James' shot over Hedo Turkoglu, what has been lost is the interesting tangent that has emerged since that shot and its predecessor 20 years earlier. Michael Jordan nailed a two-point shot at the buzzer over an outstretched Craig Ehlo, which came to be known as "the shot".

Remarkably, Ehlo and Turkoglu have had remarkably similar careers.

Ehlo took six seasons to emerge as an all-around player from nothing more than a defensive specialist, while Turkoglu emerged after four seasons from being a three-point shooter to becoming a regular.  While Turkoglu was a better foul shooter and three-point shooter, Ehlo was more accurate from the field.  Admittedly, Ehlo never became the prolific scorer that Turkoglu was.

As for peripheral stats, this is where the comparisons become uncanny.  To examine:

1. Career assists/game -  Ehlo 2.8, Turkoglu 2.7
2. Career rebounds/game - Ehlo 3.6, Turkoglu 4.2
3. Career steals/game - Ehlo 1.1, Turkoglu 0.8
4. Career blocks/game - Both 0.3
5. Career turnovers/game - Ehlo 1.4, Turkoglu 1.7
6. Career fouls/game - Ehlo 1.9, Turkoglu 2.5

Most of Turkoglu's higher scoring totals are due to the fact that he has averaged four minutes more per game than Ehlo in his career.  Turkoglu is obviously considered the better player, but their careers are remarkably similar.  Ironically, while Turkoglu is in the prime of his career, Ehlo's career took off after the Jordan shot.

Looking at the numbers from basketball-reference.com, one can state that there is a definite linkage between Ehlo and Turkoglu that goes beyond each giving up "the shot" to the greatest player of each one's generation.