"The Last Straw for Hedo"

[Rastapopoulos]

Tee hee:

The days of Hedo Turkoglu cutting corners are over, whether his future in Toronto is over remains to be seen. Turkoglu’s season of unfulfilled promise and disappointment reached a new level Sunday night in Miami, where the Raptors blew a 17-point lead in the second half to drop a 97-94 decision to the host Heat, a loss that laid to bare all the problems plaguing Toronto. Turkoglu dressed, but never saw the floor. His ability to create would have been welcome when the Raptors couldn’t create enough against a stifling Heat defence that simply took over. The loss, which puts Toronto’s playoff footing on even more unstable ground, paled in comparison to the drama surrounding Turkoglu. Turkoglu missed Friday’s heartbreaker to Denver because of a stomach ailment, which first surfaced at halftime of last Wednesday’s loss to Utah. It was later discovered that Turkoglu spent Friday night out on the town.
The team became aware of the situation following e-mails that were allegedly sent to different club officials. The decision to not play Turkoglu clearly stems from Friday’s no-show against the Nuggets. When pressed, general manager Bryan Colangelo politely responded by saying the matter was being handled internally. Turkoglu didn’t have much to say following Sunday’s loss.
“I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay,’’ Turkoglu said when asked to comment on not playing against the Heat.
Raptors head coach Jay Triano said it was a coaching decision not to play Turkoglu, even though he was available.
“He was active. It was a coaching decision to not play him,’’ Triano said.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I am guessing that Turk wants out and is forcing the issue. He knows Bosh is gone and he wants out too.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Typical NBA baby. Gets his fat contract and then retires on the court. It was "a great day to be a Blazer" when he spurned us to rape the Raptors.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

So glad he's somebody else's problem.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Typical NBA baby. Gets his fat contract and then retires on the court. It was "a great day to be a Blazer" when he spurned us to rape the Raptors.

I'm glad my team's GM is as lucky as he is cunning.

 

[speeds]

An unfortunate commercial...

[video=youtube;QtgcyQy9jcc]

 

[Boise Blazer]

I love being wrong in cases like this. I really thought Hedo would have worked well with our team (and he might have) but I was never happy about a 5 year contract. If he was here and we had these problems for 4 more years I would be furious.

 

[Shooter]

Thank God, we dodged a bullet!!

 

[THE HCP]

CLASSIC!

 

[mook]

An unfortunate commercial...

Wow. The most immediately prescient commercial of all time.

 

[crandc]

A local reporter in the Bay Area, a Laker lover who has hated the Blazers since at least Drexler days, has written multiple columns on the "serious problems" in the Blazers backcourt with Andre Miller (which would apparently all be solved if Portland played Patty Mills instead, I kid you not). Funny, looks like Portland's "serious problems" are not very serious and Turkoglu has turned into, or has always been, take your pick, a "serious problem" headcase.

Yeah, I am also glad to be wrong. I was stunned and PO'ed when I heard he'd signed with Toronto. Poor Toronto. That is a great city that deserves better.

 

[Hank The Dwarf]

Thank God, we dodged a bullet!!

Its all about fit in the NBA.

Hedo would have been a very good fit here.. not so much in Toronto.

 

[THE HCP]

Just think if he had come here how little time Nic would be getting.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Just think if he had come here how little time Nic would be getting.

Because Hedo is a iron horse who plays large minutes no matter his physical situation?

 

[jlprk]

Its all about fit in the NBA. Hedo would have been a very good fit here.. not so much in Toronto.

Exactly. He fits McMillan's system, which depends upon exactly what are Hedo's strengths. He would have looked great here. But the 5 years was too long.

Well, I wonder what his wife's decision will be this time around.

Whose bullet did we dodge again? Strangely, this thread doesn't name the error-er.

 

[alex42083]

Wow... Hedo looks more and more like a bitch each day, and Andre just looks better and better every day. Tough for the Raps.

 

[maxiep]

If KP thought his job was in jeopardy before, could you imagine what would have happened if we would have landed Turkoglu? Seriously, a signing this bad is a firing offense.

 

[Nikolokolus]

If KP thought his job was in jeopardy before, could you imagine what would have happened if we would have landed Turkoglu? Seriously, a signing this bad is a firing offense.

I have a feeling it might have been a Penn-KP combo firing a week ago.

 

[OddEnormous]

:signofthecross:

 

[BGrantFan]

An unfortunate commercial...

That pizza was as stiff as cardboard and the cheese looked to be spackled on the crust. Is that what passes for pizza in Toronto? You poor people...

 

[Minstrel]

Exactly. He fits McMillan's system, which depends upon exactly what are Hedo's strengths.

A small forward version of Steve Blake? I pretty much agree with that. But rather that "fitting" lesser talents into a system, I'd rather McMillan adjusted his system a bit to better utilize better players...which, to his credit, he has done with Miller.

 

[Blazer_Hippie]

I'm glad my team's GM is as lucky as he is cunning.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I'm glad my team's GM is as lucky as he is cunning.

Very good point.

 

[BlazersBlood]

A small forward version of Steve Blake? I pretty much agree with that. But rather that "fitting" lesser talents into a system, I'd rather McMillan adjusted his system a bit to better utilize better players...which, to his credit, he has done with Miller.

About 3 or 4 months too late. I will never forgive McMillan for wasting the preseason to try to iron out the kinks with Miller & Oden.

 

[BBert]

About 3 or 4 months too late. I will never forgive McMillan for wasting the preseason to try to iron out the kinks with Miller & Oden.

Not just the preseason but a good chunk of the early season. I have to admit that as successful as the regular season is turning out in spite of the injuries, and Nate deserves a lot of credit for that, I'm still having a hard time getting over Nate's shear incompetence at the beginning of the season. I hope such episodes are in the rear view mirror for good.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

 

[Pinwheel1]

Not just the preseason but a good chunk of the early season. I have to admit that as successful as the regular season is turning out in spite of the injuries, and Nate deserves a lot of credit for that, I'm still having a hard time getting over Nate's shear incompetence at the beginning of the season. I hope such episodes are in the rear view mirror for good.

That 8-3 start was pretty bad.

 

[MARIS61]

...I'm still having a hard time getting over Nate's shear incompetence at the beginning of the season.

Your hair will grow back.

Next time, go to a barber like everybody else.

Not just the preseason but a good chunk of the early season. I have to admit that as successful as the regular season is turning out in spite of the injuries, and Nate deserves a lot of credit for that...

We are where we are now because Nate went where he did back then.

Scrappiness and swagger doesn't just happen.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

That 8-3 start was pretty bad.

After going 8-3, we proceeded to go 4-5 to close out our first 20 at 12-8. Here's the losses:

Denver
Houston
Atlanta
Atlanta
Golden State
Memphis
Utah
Miami

Out of those, two are unforgivable (GSW, MEM). And none of the remaining 6 were so much better than we were. I'd like to have 4 of those losses back right now.

Now, would starting Andre have done that? Knowing he starts every season out of shape, and plays his way into shape, I don't know.

 

[Pinwheel1]

After going 8-3, we proceeded to go 4-5 to close out our first 20 at 12-8. Here's the losses:

Denver
Houston
Atlanta
Atlanta
Golden State
Memphis
Utah
Miami

Out of those, two are unforgivable (GSW, MEM). And none of the remaining 6 were so much better than we were. I'd like to have 4 of those losses back right now.

Now, would starting Andre have done that? Knowing he starts every season out of shape, and plays his way into shape, I don't know.

What if Nate starts Miller, Miller starts out slow as you suggest, Portland struggles early, the fans, media, and players blame Miller for the slow start, become upset with Nate for screwing up what they thought at the time was a winning formula with Blake and never quite recover from it. OK that is an extreme, but maybe Nate wanted to make sure the new guy earned the starting position first. Maybe he wanted to make sure the players saw for themselves that Miller was the obvious choice. And the best way to do it was to wait until they struggled first. Remember BROY was not convinced at the start of the season. The best way for a coach to lose his job, is to lose his star player.