Tech needs Shumpert to be lockdown defender again

By Carroll Rogers

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

MILWAUKEE -- Ho hum, it must be getting a little dull to defend the way Iman Shumpert has lately. Go to sleep, wake up, lock down another of the top players in the country.

Shumpert did it to Maryland's Greivis Vasquez, the ACC player of the year, in the ACC tournament, then Duke's Jon Scheyer, runner-up to Vasquez for that award, for the better part of the ACC tournament final. Friday night, Shumpert shut down Big 12 player of the year James Anderson of Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Sunday's assignment? Evan Turner of Ohio State, Big Ten player of the year and national player-of-the-year candidate.

"It's tiring," Shumpert said of all the marquee matchups. "But I'm not going to get tired of it. I'm starting to kind of like it."

Sunday's matchup is special. Shumpert is going up against his old backcourt mate from his eighth-grade team in Chicago. Shumpert was the point guard, playing up a grade, and Turner was the two-guard.

"Iman texted me the other day after we won the Big Ten [tournament] like ‘I don't understand why everybody is talking about your ball-handling skills, I just remember you being a lights-out shooter,'" Turner said. "I said ‘It's crazy, because I try to tell everybody I'm a lights-out shooter, but nobody believes me.' He'd break down the defense, and I'd stand in the corner and get hot quick."

Shumpert said after practice sometimes, they would play mini-tournaments of one-on-one. "You always knew at the end you'd have to play Evan," he said.

And?

"I always remember me winning, but I could be biased," Turner said. "Iman was a great player when we were younger. He was 11 years old playing with 14-year-old kids and holding his own."

The two have kept in touch this season by text message. When Tech recently handed in its cellphones for tournament time, they chatted on Facebook. Friday night, the two talked face-to-face between games at the Bradley Center, encouraging each other to get this matchup.

"Once they won, he saw me walking out to the floor and said ‘All right, I've done my part; you've got to do your part,' " Turner said.

Turner actually is coming off his worst shooting night of the season at 2-for-13 against UC Santa Barbara. He scored only nine points in 37 minutes, but still had 10 rebounds and five assists.

Turner, a 6-foot-7 point guard, led the Big Ten in both scoring (20.3) and rebounding (9.2). He did so after missing a month with a broken bone in his back from a vicious fall after a dunk against Eastern Michigan.

Unlike Vasquez and Anderson, what makes Turner tough, Shumpert said, is that he's the one bringing the ball up court.

"Evan's really aggressive going down the middle," Shumpert said. "A lot of people I've guarded this year are more so on the wing. When you're aggressive on the wing, you can always force somebody into some help [defense]. It's harder to do that when somebody is going down the middle as much as Evan does. It's going to be a harder matchup."

Shumpert helped limit Scheyer to three field goals in the ACC final before his game-winning 3-pointer with 18 seconds left.

He held Vasquez to 6-for-21 shooting and six turnovers and blocked his attempt at a game-tying 3-pointer with five seconds left.

Shumpert made two key steals against N.C. State in the ACC semifinals, including one which led to an intentional foul against Derrick Favors and a 3-point swing with 1:27 left.

He did the same thing Friday night against Oklahoma State, with two steals off Anderson in the final 2 1/2 minutes. He poked the ball away from Anderson with 20 seconds left to secure the win.

Anderson scored only three field goals and had 11 points, 11.6 below his season average.

As erratic as Shumpert can be on offense, averaging 3.2 turnovers per game, he can force his opponent to play to his aesthetic -- ugly. And that, very often, is a beautiful thing for Tech.

"He gives us the best chance to win big," Hewitt said. "Because when you're going to win big games, especially this time of the year, you've got to be able to shut down or at least bother the other team's go-to guy. ... Do I wish he were further along [on offense], like a Jarrett Jack? Yeah. But Jarrett Jack could never dream of being the defender this kid is."