What Is a POY Made Of? Comparison Of Evan Turner Vs. John Wall

I believe the game of basketball, like all things, must look toward the future. 

With regard to POY Evan Turner is the future of the game. 

As a smart, all around talent, Evan Turner is a player who specializes in everything.  Why the broad debate between him and Wall, I don’t know.  I was once told that stats don’t lie.  More importantly, who is the OVERALL better player?  Well, that would beeee... Evan Turner. 

Now don’t get me wrong, John Wall is exciting and a raw talent.  He has a quick first step and is fast.  He is a great player among a great cast.  Kentucky is the sum of all its parts;   that includes Patterson, Bledsoe, and their loose cannon Cousins.   Great team, but they aren’t ranked #1 anymore.  What’s the problem?

Let’s look at the total body of work between these two players, taking into account the complete package i.e., the total sum of their excellence.   If we do that, you’re looking i n one direction---directly at Evan Turner.   He plays any position on the court, he plays the entire game, and he makes every other player better. 

Looking back, I believe this contest would have been over before it ever began had Matta not sidelined him his freshman year.  Can you believe he came off the bench behind Diebler?  Does that make any sense to anyone? 

Now, as to Turner’s body of work; including leading OSU to winning the NIT, leading OSU to last years’  Big Ten Final and the NCAA tournament, and this year he'll take them, well who knows. 

Now for John Wall, well is he living up to the expectations put upon him before his very first college game?  Well he is fun to watch, but they  did say he would  average a double  double, not yet.  They said he would average 25 points a game, well not yet.  He  would smoke every other player by a wide margin.  Well, he doesn’t even lead Turner in points to date.  They said he is the reason Kentucky is ranked #1 and he would lead them to an undefeated season, well close but no cigar.  

While putting in an impressive performance thus far he is not leading any other POY candidate in any category.  Why is he the frontrunner  in this competition?  Oh yeah, publicity.  People don’t believe the hype.  Believe your eyes.

So in this race for POY, talent, work ethic, and productivity are not enough.  Turner has to have the best season of any player, including all previous players of the year, in the past 20 year in order to rightfully claim this award.  Why? 

What does he have to do to gain the respect as a great player?  Will it take breaking all the records to convince critics that there is more to basketball than the run and dunk.  Turner is a player’s player.  He is generous on the dish, he does the work others won’t, and takes over a game. He gives  hope for a team where there once was none.   That’s a winner.  That’s a Player of the Year.  Oh, and by the way, he may yet surpass the expectation of the 20/10/5.  You never know.  He's just that good.  Why, isn’t it enough?