Selecting Turner in NBA draft would give Sixers a solid backcourt combo

OVER THE PAST 2 decades, trying to find a successful backcourt pairing for the 76ers has been about as hard as, well, getting close to an NBA title.

The 1990s featured Johnny Dawkins with Hersey Hawkins; Hawkins and Jeff Hornacek; Hawkins and Dana Barros. There were even sprinklings of Willie Burton and Vernon Maxwell.

When Allen Iverson solidified one spot in the backcourt after being taken with the top pick in the 1996 draft, there was still trouble finding him a mate. Jerry Stackhouse, then Larry Hughes didn't pan out. When Eric Snow was plugged in beside Iverson, the team was at its most successful, ultimately getting to the NBA Finals in 2001, where the Sixers lost to the Lakers in five.

Then Snow left after the '04 season, and the carousel started again. Aaron McKie, Kevin Ollie, John Salmons, Lou Williams, Andre Iguodala and Willie Green. Then, when the Iverson era ended early in the 2006 season (not counting last year's 25-game return), the organization had to start from scratch in an effort to find a capable guard tandem.

Iverson was traded for Andre Miller, who was to man the point for two-plus seasons, but a suitable mate for Miller still couldn't be found - not permanently, anyway.

About 7:45 tonight, the Sixers could, and probably will, have their backcourt set for not only this season but for many to come.

Since this time last year, Jrue Holiday was taken by the Sixers with the 17th pick out of UCLA but was deactivated for his first NBA game. He then played in 73 pro games, including 51 as a starter, and did enough on the court to solidify himself as the starting point guard. Oh, yeah, and he turned 20 last week.

Tonight, the Sixers are expected to select Ohio State's Evan Turner with the second overall pick in the draft. At 6-7 with terrific ball-handling and passing skills, as well as a strong scoring game, he could wind up being the ideal partner for Holiday, who is 16 1/2 months younger than Turner.

If there is doubt that Turner will be selected tonight, the Sixers have played a terrific smoke-and-mirrors game. They had Turner in town last Thursday for a workout, then made him available to the media. Later that day, the team traded disgruntled center Sam Dalembert. However, team president and general manager Ed Stefanski and new coach Doug Collins were not made available to the media until the next day to talk about the trade - probably because they didn't want to take the day away from Turner.

Turner compiled impressive numbers in his third and final season at Ohio State - 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.7 steals - in leading the Buckeyes to 29 wins, the second-most in school history. He overcame a serious midseason back injury, missed just six games - during which time the Buckeyes went 3-3 - and returned healthy enough to capture the James Naismith Award and the John Wooden Award as the top collegiate player. He did it all while playing a position - point guard - that he hadn't played much in college and probably won't play much as a pro. Which is something Collins can relate to.

"When I came out of college, I was the type of player who always had the ball in my hands," Collins said of his days at Illinois State before becoming the top overall pick by the Sixers in 1973. "But when I got to the Sixers, [then-coach] Gene Shue taught me how to be a player without the basketball. He taught me how to work to get open so that I could get the ball going to the basket, or get the ball in a position for an open shot. If we take Evan, that's one of the things we'll work on with him. He's a great competitor. When you watch him on tape, you see the really competitive side of him. You've got to be a great competitor in this league to be a great player.

"I told him that if he has the great opportunity to play here in Philadelphia , if you're passionate and competitive these fans will love you. When I came in here after a 9-73 season, 4 years later I was playing Portland in a world championship and how quickly things change."

Just like the role of Turner changed during his final year as a Buckeye. Coincidentally, Holiday was kind of a tweener guard when he came out of Campbell Hall High School near Los Angeles, which was all of 2 years ago. The 6-4 Holiday was ranked as the top overall high school guard in the country, but didn't necessarily have a true position, with the ability to play both the point and shooting-guard spots. He played mostly the two under UCLA coach Ben Howland in his 1 year at Westwood, while Darren Collison held down the point-guard spot. Holiday posted 8.5 points per game in his lone year as a Bruin.

Last year, when Lou Williams went down with a broken jaw, Holiday was thrust into the starting lineup and showed more than glimpses of what should be a productive and long career at the point. No game was more telling than in late March when the team played in Milwaukee and Holiday was matched up with Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings, who was receiving some serious rookie-of-the-year mention. That night, Holiday overpowered the slender Jennings, driving on him at will and getting to open areas of the court to create easy baskets for all. Defensively, Jennings could not get around Holiday, stymied by both his quickness and size.

In his last 16 games, Holiday averaged 11.4 points, 6.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.93 steals a game.

And tonight, Holiday just might get the running mate he desires in Turner. "I kind of need a wing to play with, so Evan Turner would be nice," Holiday told Dime Magazine.

Turner had equal praise for Holiday, saying: "He's bigger than I thought and he's really talented. If the Sixers choose me, I think it would be great playing with him. With both of us being so young, we could be together there for a long time."

That very well could be the plan. One that might be set in motion tonight when the second overall pick is announced in the Theater at Madison Square Garden by commissioner David Stern.

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