Speaking to the Turkish parliament today, Barack Obama said (really!) “As a basketball fan, I’ve even noticed that Hedo Turkoglu and Mehmet Okur have got some pretty good game.”
This naturally leads to the question: Who’s better?
In terms of shooting efficiency, Okur takes it with a .591 TS% to Turkoglu’s .538; in terms of rebound percentage it’s Okur again 13.8 to 8.2; Turkoglu’s got a higher assist ratio (22.3 to 8.1) but also a higher turnover ratio (14.8 to 11.3). I think you’d be hard-pressed to argue that Turkoglu’s worse shooting efficiency stems from some amazing shot-creation responsibilities he’s shouldering—he takes 13.4 field goal attempts per game which is only slightly higher than Okur’s 12.4 FGA/game.
Long story short, I’d take Okur. Hedo just happens to play on a better team. If you swapped ‘em, Orlando would be even better.
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