Epps v. Turner

[wcc31]

Maybe my two favorite Wildcats of all-time. Who was better?

Epps finished with a national title and runner-up as the starting PG.

Turner finished with a national title as starting PG and runner-up starting alongside Epps.

Both were very intelligent basketball players on both ends who made everyone around them better. Epps was a better shooter and extremely clutch. Turner was a better driver and probably a better on-the-ball defender.

Epps' shining moments included a huge game against Arkansas in the class SEC Tournament thriller in '95 and a heroic effort in the title game in '97.

Turner was a defensive monster in the '97 F4 game against Minnesota and keyed the ridiculous comeback against Duke in '98 by mandhandling Wojo.

Who was better? I'm torn myself.

 

[JohnnyGentle]

premium on open shooting is such that i'd probably lean towards epps. but he wasn't nearly as good a penetrator, which would have mattered more if he'd played on what was merely a very good college team rather than the 96 & 97 teams which were thoroughly loaded and had a bunch of wing athletes and 3 point shooters. he could be a caretaker/game manager with mccarty and walker and mercer and anderson and delk flying around. evans & padgett could both put it on the floor and make a play, but turner had more of a burden in terms of creating offense

turner got in the national semi before the under 12 but didn't play against syracuse in 96. i guess because of the zone, or because pitino wanted to throw multiple defenders at padilla

cleaves outplayed turner in his final game. i was quite surprised

 

[jrpross]

Good question. I've compared the two in my head a lot just because they both filled similar roles for the team. Both were smart, didn't make a whole lot of mistakes, and good passers. Epps was a much better shooter but Turner was probably the best defensive player on the team. For that reason I give a slight edge to Turner. Part of that is because there were a few good shooters on Wayne's team. Sheppard, Mills, & Padgett could light it up enough that Turner didn't need to shoot. Although his 12' floater in the lane was spot on.

 

[Nubb16]

I would probably take turner as long as the guys around him could score from the perimeter. turner was a good athlete and a dog on defense.

 

[Bobcat94]

Turner was a Defensive lock down but was limited on offense. Epps was just a hard nosed floor general that could shoot the ball pretty good. Both was great with the right mix of talent. Epps would be my choice for the teams and style Calipari runs.

 

[StubbornPenny]

I'll say right off the bat, you can't really go wrong. Not only are they some of the best UK point guards (#2 and #4 all time assists, #3 and #10 single season), but I believe they are some of the all time leaders in NCAA tournament games. I remember hearing that Epps had the all time assist-to-turnover ratio in his NCAA games, and Turner had like the 4th most steals even in the 97 tourney... it's actually really hard to find overall tournament stats, so I can't really confirm those.

Either way, I take Epps just because of Turner's wacky shot.

 

[Xception]

I'd take Turner

 

[jrpross]

Either way, I take Epps just because of Turner's wacky shot.

God bless him, Pablo Picasso couldn't have designed a weirder shooting form for that poor guy.

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

Man this a draw. 2 similar guys basically all around. Though maybe the tipping point is Turner played in the most total games as a Wildcat.

 

[J-Town Chargers]

Can't go wrong either way but Epps remains my favorite Wildcat. Loved watchin that guy run the show for us. Remember the beautiful bounce pass from around mid-court to DA that led to DA turning a UL flunky into a poster.

 

[turkeywildturkey]

Maybe my two favorite Wildcats of all-time. Who was better?

Epps finished with a national title and runner-up as the starting PG.

Turner finished with a national title as starting PG and runner-up starting alongside Epps.

Both were very intelligent basketball players on both ends who made everyone around them better. Epps was a better shooter and extremely clutch. Turner was a better driver and probably a better on-the-ball defender.

Epps' shining moments included a huge game against Arkansas in the class SEC Tournament thriller in '95 and a heroic effort in the title game in '97.

Turner was a defensive monster in the '97 F4 game against Minnesota and keyed the ridiculous comeback against Duke in '98 by mandhandling Wojo.

Who was better? I'm torn myself.

Both were great point guards, and in my opinion, the 2 most underrated point guards to ever play at UK. It would be hard to pick between these 2 guys, but I'd gladly start my team with either of them.

 

[BoulderCat]

I liked them both a great deal as well, and it is a tough call. I'd go with Epps though. Not saying he was a better player, but I loved his guts. They both had plenty. I have this memory of one game where he was either slightly injured or winded, but he didn't want Rick to see because he wanted to be in the game every single second. And we were better when he was. Just a ton of great Epps and Turner memories. Those were good years! We got a guy right now who's right there with them. Ulis is already one of my all time favorites at UK. We're very lucky to have him.

 

[WhiteCityCat1]

Maybe my two favorite Wildcats of all-time. Who was better?

Epps finished with a national title and runner-up as the starting PG.

Turner finished with a national title as starting PG and runner-up starting alongside Epps.

Both were very intelligent basketball players on both ends who made everyone around them better. Epps was a better shooter and extremely clutch. Turner was a better driver and probably a better on-the-ball defender.

Epps' shining moments included a huge game against Arkansas in the class SEC Tournament thriller in '95 and a heroic effort in the title game in '97.

Turner was a defensive monster in the '97 F4 game against Minnesota and keyed the ridiculous comeback against Duke in '98 by mandhandling Wojo.

Who was better? I'm torn myself.

I'll take Turner every timeevery time

 

[Xception]

Cliff Hawkins is similar as well , his teams may not have been as good but that's the least important factor . You can't control how good your teammates will be .

 

[kennywalker34]

Epps is my 2nd favorite player ever. I was at the game in Knoxville back in 1994 when Prickett,Martinez and Ford were suspended. Epps was a Freshman and played way more mins. than usual that night. He nailed two clutch free throws down the stretch to help seal the win. UK only had 8 players that night.
Of course the 96 team really took off once Epps took over at the point and Delk moved back to SG. Epps also hit a clutch 3 late in regulation of the 97 Championship game to sent it to OT.
Turner led the comeback in 98 against PUKE when he took Wojo to school over and over.
Both great players. I would give slight overall edge to Turner. Both played huge roles in Championships.

 

[ORCAT10]

Both were winners and two of my all time favorites. Hate to pick between the two. Turner took over the Duke game in 98. Epps was always such a clutch player. Will never forget his 2 big FTs vs. Ark in 95. I'll go with Epps.