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AG's Wildcat Report - Dispatches on the Wildcats, from Anthony Gimino

Posts Tagged ‘Josiah Turner’

Ex-Cat Josiah Turner gets a second chance in Canadian league

Friday, January 25th, 2013
Josiah Turner

After his one season at Arizona, Josiah Turner is with his second Canadian team. Photo by Jason O. Watson-USA Today Sports

Former Arizona Wildcat point guard Josiah Turner, in his first season out of college, has moved on to his third pro team.

Turner, debuted Thursday night with the Summerside Storm of the National Basketball League of Canada. He was released from the league’s franchise in Halifax a few weeks ago, with coach Rob Spon saying, “Josiah just didn’t buy into my system. Josiah wanted to do what Josiah wanted to do.”

Turner played 16 minutes in the Storm’s victory over the London Lightning. He was 1 of 5 from the field, finishing with two points, but he did have eight assists in 16 minutes.

Turner, who left the Arizona program after his freshman season, played for a few weeks with a Hungarian team in September before asking out of his contract. He then signed with Halifax, which plays against Summerside on Friday night.

Turner, 20, still has plenty of basketball in front of him. Perhaps this new assignment will last longer than the 15 games Turner played with Halifax.

Ex-Cat Josiah Turner squanders another chance, is released by Canadian team

Sunday, January 6th, 2013
Josiah Turner

Josiah Turner is now looking for another shot, somewhere. Photo by Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports

Point guard Josiah Turner, at 20 years old, has had a chance to play for the Arizona Wildcats’ and learn from coach Sean Miller en route to what everyone assumed would be an NBA career.

That didn’t work out, so then he planned to play for legendary coach Larry Brown at SMU. Another great opportunity.

The former five-star recruit changed his mind and turned pro, but then asked out of his deal with his Hungarian team in September after only a few weeks.

And now he has been released from the Halifax Rainmen of the National Basketball League of Canada, with coach Rob Spon telling the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, “Josiah just didn’t buy into my system. Josiah wanted to do what Josiah wanted to do.”

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Josiah Turner done for the season; future at Arizona to be determined later

Monday, March 12th, 2012
Josiah Turner

Has Josiah Turner taken his last shot for Arizona? Photo by Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona freshman point guard Josiah Turner will remain on suspension for the rest of the season, with his fate with the Wildcats to be determined after the season.

“It’s as much his choice as mine,” coach Sean Miller said at a news conference Monday afternoon.

Miller suspended Turner for an undisclosed violation of team rules before the Pac-12 tournament, where Turner missed three games. As Arizona opens as a No. 1 seed in the NIT on Wednesday vs. Bucknell, the Wildcats will continue with a combination of Jordin Mayes and Nick Johnson at the point.

“Josiah is done for the season, it doesn’t matter if we play one game or whatever it would take from this point on,” Miller said.

“I won’t elaborate beyond that just because when our season ends we will be able to take the next step and get on the same page with Josiah moving forward. That shouldn’t be interpreted as he will never play at Arizona again, but I know he won’t play this season again.”

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Will Josiah Turner’s indefinite suspension become permanent?

Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Josiah Turner

Josiah Turner struggled from the free throw line in the regular season, making 62.7 percent (64 of 102). Photo by Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats point guard Josiah Turner is suspended again, which is a third strike.

Is he out?

At this point, the chance that Turner will never again wear the cardinal and navy (or special Nike “platinum”) seems like a very real possibility. Coach Sean Miller on Wednesday put the freshman on indefinite suspension for a violation of team rules on the eve of Arizona’s quarterfinal appearance in the Pac-12 tournament.

So, nice timing, Josiah.

“I am disappointed in Josiah for his actions,” Miller said in a statement.

“Unfortunately this suspension comes at a time of great excitement and opportunity for our team. However, the standards of our program will not be compromised under any circumstances. Hopefully, Josiah will learn a valuable lesson from this experience.”

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Rejection, dejection: Wildcats in a tough spot after loss to Huskies

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

Arizona fans pulled off a White Out vs. Washington for the second consecutive year. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Josiah Turner sped down the court, the final seconds ticking away, Arizona trailing by two.

Dribbling down the right side of the court, he picked up a huge screen from Solomon Hill near the 3-point line to shed one Washington Husky, stepped inside another defender and reached for the hoop, ready to tie the game with a driving layup.

“It was an easy-looking layup,” said Washington’s Terrence Ross, “and I was worried.”

And then Washington’s Tony Wroten came flying in and swatted the ball away from the rim.

The Wildcats lost 69-67 on their White Out night at McKale Center in front of a national ESPN audience. Instead of getting a chance at overtime, Arizona lost a chance at a needed victory for its NCAA resume.

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Trending: Positive signs for Arizona basketball

Friday, January 27th, 2012
Sean Miller

Pointed in the right direction? Sean Miller sees reasons for optimism. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller, after a home loss to Oregon on Jan. 14, used his press conference opportunities to alternately blast his team’s effort and carelessness with the ball.

Neither has been a problem since then. Imagine that.

In the past three games, Arizona has played with passion and as if ball security were as precious as playing time. The Wildcats are coming off perhaps their most well-rounded game of the season Thursday night, an 85-61 victory over Washington State.

The Cats have won two of the past three games, with the loss at Colorado being avoidable if they had been merely awful from 3-point range rather than a horrific 3 of 20.

Hold the applause — considering the level of competition hasn’t been stellar — but the trends are moving in the right direction for Arizona, which is 14-7 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-12 heading into Saturday’s spotlight game against Washington.

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Go-to guy? Freshman Josiah Turner earning Sean Miller’s trust

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Josiah Turner

Josiah Turner's ability to get to the hoop is one reason why he could succeed in late-game situations. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

It’s been a season-long question. Do the Arizona Wildcats have a go-to guy on offense?

They really don’t.

That was evident in the last game, at Colorado on Saturday. Arizona, down one point, worked the ball around … and worked the ball around … and worked the ball around — hey, somebody take a shot! — before Kevin Parrom ended up with the ball in his hands from behind the 3-point arc for a buzzer-beating shot.

It was an airball.

Not exactly how coach Sean Miller drew it up.

He indicated this week that he is, in a sense, going back to the drawing board in practice.

“I think I have to do a better job of building confidence and who’s going to take the last shot,” Miller said.

Ok, so, who’s going to be taking that last shot?

How about you, Josiah Turner?

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Josiah Turner back for the Wildcats; not a bad kid, Miller says

Saturday, December 10th, 2011
Josiah Turner

Josiah Turner goes up for a basket against Clemson. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

A third of the way through the regular season, Arizona Wildcats freshman point guard Josiah Turner hasn’t always made a positive first impression.

He lost his starting job after the first game, was benched for the third game, suspended for the ninth. He’s not, as some in the NBA Draft projection business extolled in the summer, headed to the NBA after one season.

Amid the rocky start, Turner was back on the court Saturday as the Wildcats defeated Clemson 63-47, the latest step in his adjustment to college basketball, to college life.

This does not appear headed to the same kind of case where freshman big man Sidiki Johnson was suspended indefinitely before deciding to transfer at the semester break.

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More freshman trouble: Arizona suspends point guard Josiah Turner

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
Josiah Turner

Josiah Turner is averaging 7.1 points in seven games. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

They are Josiah Turner’s own words. Three games after riding the pine for all 40 minutes against Ball State, the Arizona Wildcats freshman was asked what he had learned.

“It made me realize what was going on and that coach Sean Miller don’t play around,” Turner said.

Yeah, coach Sean Miller don’t play around.

He already had to suspend freshman center Sidiki Johnson, who then announced his transfer on Monday. And, now, comes more trouble for Turner.

The school announced Tuesday night that Turner has been suspended for Wednesday night’s game at Florida because of violations of team policy. Turner missed practice, according to a tweet from Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com

On Monday, Miller talked about how Turner had been making progress on and off the court since the early season “attitude adjustment.”

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Sean Miller delivers message to freshman point guard via the bench

Sunday, November 13th, 2011
Nick Johnson

That was Nick Johnson bringing the ball up court and calling out plays, not Josiah Turner. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Freshman point guard Josiah Turner did not start Sunday against Ball State. That didn’t seem to be much of a big deal, considering Jordin Mayes started the last game and scored 19 points.

The first sign that something was amiss came in the first few minutes, as freshman Nick Johnson came in the game, not as a shooting guard but as a point guard alongside Kyle Fogg.

No Turner.

In fact, there was no Turner for the entire game.

He wasn’t hurt. He wasn’t suspended. Call it a coach’s decision.

Call it coach Sean Miller delivering a message.

“We care a lot about Josiah. It’s not like he’s a bad kid. He’s a great kid,” Miller said after Arizona’s 73-63 victory over Ball State at McKale Center.

“He’s trying to find his way from where he left high school … on and off the court, making good decisions, working hard every day. Sometimes, especially very, very early in someone’s career, if they don’t play, it’s a feeling they haven’t had before.”

And they probably don’t want to have that feeling again.

Turner was the most highly touted of Arizona’s four freshmen, but none of that matters now. Miller even went on a rant a few weeks ago about websites and such that proclaim certain recruits to be one-and-done players to the NBA. Turner has been included among those with that kind of talent, and he has received plenty of preseason freshman accolades.

Key word: Preseason.

Turner started both exhibitions and the season opener against Valparaiso, but he has looked out of control at times. He wasn’t able to finish drives to the hoop and his jumper certainly wasn’t falling. He was 1 of 7 from the field through two games, including 0 of 3 from 3-point range.

“I hope we can get him in the fold and he can develop,” Miller said.

“We’re trying to help him. Hopefully, he can help himself and keep working and get back out there.”

Miller pointed to freshman center Sidiki Johnson as an example. Johnson has been in the doghouse while working on his practice habits and poor on-court decisions. Johnson played four minutes in the second half Sunday; not a lot, but consider that he played only one total minute in the first two games.

One of the first things Johnson did Sunday was chase down an offensive rebound and go up strong to the basket.

That’s more like it.

“He is getting better and it was nice to put him in there,” Miller said.

“We went through the same thing with him (as with Turner). Everybody anoints young players as they’re going to be in college for a year or two. Each one of these guys has their own process to work through.”

Nick Johnson, who moved from shooting guard to backup point guard without much notice, did a credible job. He played 24 minutes, sometimes playing with Mayes, and scored nine points. He had one assist and two turnovers.

Previously, Miller said he did not want to burden Johnson with having to learn two positions this early in his career.

“It’s a transition, definitely,” Johnson said.

“Basically, that was the first time I ever played it. AAU ball doesn’t really count. … I want to be on the court and help my team, so I told Coach I wanted to try to play the two positions. I stressed to him I think I can handle it.”

If nothing else, Arizona now has more position flexibility with Nick Johnson being able to play the point.

As for how much and how much longer, that might depend on how Turner responds.