With the preseason over what are your impressions of Ronny Turiaf? I know a lot of you were skeptical about the contract he signed, but after seeing him play a few games what are your thoughts about him? Was he a good signing? Does he fit in with the team?
I like the signing a lot. Hes a quality backup at the 5, not just some big scrubjay like POB or Foyle of old. Ok size, very good athleticism, good strength, can score a little bit, has a nice mid-range J, tons of energy, great passer, great team player. If we had a quality big off the bench like him last season it would have made a big difference.
He is now. We ran Harrington and Barnes as Cs at times last season so he's plenty big to be a 5. A lot of people see Biedrins as a PF too (hes only like 230 lbs) but hes fine for us at C. Unlike LAL we don't require our Cs to be 7'0+. We'll take whatever we can get.
I haven't watched many preseason games, but it seems like a good pickup. I can't wait for the season opener and see how he and the rest of the team play.
Turiaf has the arm span of a 7 footer. He should be fine at the 5 spot for the Warriors. Nellie has always been willing to sacrifice size for speed. Turiaf might not be able to defend Shaq in the post, but how is Shaq going to beat Turiaf in a foot race down the court? One problem with Turiaf though is picking up fouls in bunches. He would always go for the block with the Lakers and it would put him out of position to make a follow up play on the offensive player. He used to go over the back quite a bit too.
I'd imagine Turiaf will replace the role that Adonal Foyle had. He'll block shots, set screens, rebound, and he'll hustle. He's a lot better than Foyle offensively, but his role will be relegated to doing dirty work and actually being an enforcer (something that Adonal was not). Turiaf has a lot of good big man fundamentals in need of polishing, but he's not horribly raw offensively/defensively. He'll be a good compliment to Biedrins in big matchups where we want Biedrins on the power forward with Turiaf on the center. I've always felt if we could get Biedrins playing inside against power forwards, it would be hard to stop him because of his length, athleticism and his step. From what I've seen, Turiaf has been fine. I like his role. He's a competent basketball player with solid skill base and he comes with high energy and great attitude. I just wouldn't get too high on him being a star. He'll brick a few easy ones and he'll be a little wreckless in his job of enforcing the paint.
I love the flexibility the Warriors have on the front line now. You can go pretty big with combinations of Turiaf, Biedrins, and Hendrix (would be interesting to see Biedrins play some PF) and then you have Wright and Harrington and Randolph to give you cutting athleticism or outside threat. They definitely haven't had so much talent up front for many years, especially if Wright gets some minutes and develops a bit more this year.
Agree with you HiRez this year will be fun because we actually have options up front. Also agree on Wright. Seems like he might be shaping into that scoring threat down low that CR2 has been yearning for since as long as I've been lucky enough to read his diatribes. I haven't been able to actually see much pre-season action but it seems like hes taking a lot more shots, mid-range Js, shots out of the post, penetration on bigger guys, etc. He may not be the traditional, burly low post guy that we've dreamed of but perhaps hes closer to becoming a Chris Bosh-type scorer. We can only hope.
If we could just get some decent big men we'd see an improvement like the New Orleans Hornets / Oklahoma City Thunder. We don't need a Chris Paul necessarily, but a dynamite backcourt that can neutralize anything a Chris Paul point guard would do. Heck Erick Dampier / Clif Robinson was good enough for me at one point because the two could score, pass, and they could both defend. For us it has been one or the other: offense only or defense only. oh and very little passing.
Turiaf is great in Nellie's system because he's smart, coachable, can pass out of the post and hit an open 15 footer. He's a great addition to the team and IMO any team would be lucky to have him. At the time of his deal I thought it was a mediocre deal, simply because I thought we'd use that cash together with more cash to land a star player. But since we didn't get a star player, Mags/Turiaf is s terrific bargain at the price, IMO.
I think the Lakers really wanted Turiaf back but obviously they had to watch helplessly as Mullin snatched him away. I think Turiaf's exit from LA will hurt the Lakers more than they wish to admit...
I disagree. Sure the Lakers would have wanted him but not for the price you guys paid him. He isnt a good rebounder for a guy his size. He was a fan favorite for his Ra-Ra attitude but that only gets you so far. I wish him the best. Josh Powell is a fine replacement for him who has more upside and is a better rebounder
