Doug Collins says he is 'blessed' to have Jrue Holiday as his point guard

While training camp doesn’t start for a few more days, players have returned to the area and have been scrimmaging against each other. Turner, who did not have a strong showing at the summer league in July, is adjusting to a game that is faster and more physical than the game he experienced playing at Ohio State.

“Evan got knocked back this summer, and I think it is the thing that happened to him,” Collins explained. “I think it gave him an idea of how hard it is and how tough it is in this game and how nightly he is going to have a bull’s eye, and that guys are going to go at him. He is learning that you have to earn your stripes in this league”

During a few scrimmages Collins has observed that Turner is most comfortable with the ball in his hands and playing alongside Lou Williams. Turner has been doing more of the play-making while Williams is doing more of the scoring. Long term this team clearly envisions Turner as the starting two-guard with Jrue Holiday in the backcourt.

“Right now [Turner] is much better as a facilitator then a guy with a scoring mentality,” Collins continued. “One thing I talked to him about is that he is going to have to have a tremendous mid-range game as opposed to long perimeter jump shots – that is not his strength. I am teaching him to play with contact and use his body, and I have used [Blazers guard] Brandon Roy as an example.”

When Collins was hired this past May, he was adamant that he wanted Andre Iguodala to be his starting small forward. With the subtraction of Green and Turner learning the nuances of the NBA game, Collins admitted that Iguodala will have to play a significant amount of time as the team’s shooting guard. That move would also have Thaddeus Young playing more time at the small forward. Collins gave Young some advice on how he could best help himself at that spot.

“I told him he cannot be a mistake player,” Collins said. “I told him today that when I was in college I had the ball a lot in my hands, and then I figured it out when I was playing with Maurice Cheeks that I would throw the ball to him and let him do all the work, and then I would get the shots at the other end, and it was easy. So why don’t you do that with Jrue.”

Collins is also a strong believer that to be a good NBA team it is imperative to have a good point guard. With Holiday he considers himself “blessed.”

As a rookie last season, Holiday showed tremendous growth; by midseason, he was anointed the team’s starting point guard, and in April, he averaged 11 points and 7.4 assists.

“He is the total package,” Collins said. “He is such a good kid and such a hard worker and he is pure. I honestly believe that next year you will talk about him being one of the top five point guards in the league. I think you will speak about him with Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose.”