"The Last Straw for Hedo"

[MIXUM]

As you can imagine, Hedo isn't terribly happy that fans are keeping tabs on his movements around the city.
"It's all good, man," Turkoglu said. "I've been dealing with this [stuff] the whole year. They've been on me on this [going out] the whole year long. If I wasn't out, sick or healthy, they [the fans] would still say something. I don't say anything. Ten games left of the season, all I try {to do is] finish strong."
The fans are mad at Hedo for underperforming and going out, so Turkoglu goes out then gets mad at the fans. Interesting choice. Sounds like a very fun situation for all involved.
But Torontonians need to be careful — there's another guy running around the city, looking like Turkoglu, and he loves clubbin'. Don't take it out on Hedo that Tas Melas spends so much time chillin' at Lobby.

 

[BGrantFan]

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

I'm glad that my team's GM is a cunning linguist.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

This guy hates Hedo so much he's devoted a blog to it. Hedon't:

Turk however has transcended sports hate for me. I have realized that I legitimately hate Hedo Turkoglu. If I saw him walking down the street I would either scream obscenities, spit, or just turn red and walk away to avoid somehow making him worse. Remember, this man plays for MY Toronto Raptors! Turkoglu has managed to personify everything I hate about modern athletes. Entitlement? Check. He needs the ball to be effective, doncha know. Laziness after a big contract? Check and check, no explanation required. Lack of hustle and emotion? BIG check. But hey, jogging 60-70 feet to get back on defence once every ten to fifteen minutes IS something. Lack of desire to fit in to a ‘team’, and a system? “Ball”. I’d call him a mercenary but mercenaries are actually EFFECTIVE.

 

[maxiep]

I really hope we're looking at the situation up in Toronto and make it a "teachable moment". When it comes to players at the end of their career looking for their last big contract, we need to look at more than fit or skill, we need to look at motivation. What's going to keep them hungry? Theo Ratliff was the guy that fooled me. He was terrific for us, but the minute he signed that extension, in his mind he went fishing. I saw some of the same traits in Hedo. Not that I know anything about hoops, but my spider senses were going off with that guy. Beware the player who has a career year at the end of their contract.

I maintain that Andre Miller was going to be a Blazer whether we signed Hedo or not. I think we had a deal lined up with Philly for Blake and either Outlaw or Webster in a sign and trade if we didn't have the cap room to sign Dre. There was simply too much talk of how badly we wanted him.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I really hope we're looking at the situation up in Toronto and make it a "teachable moment". When it comes to players at the end of their career looking for their last big contract, we need to look at more than fit or skill, we need to look at motivation. What's going to keep them hungry? Theo Ratliff was the guy that fooled me. He was terrific for us, but the minute he signed that extension, in his mind he went fishing. I saw some of the same traits in Hedo. Not that I know anything about hoops, but my spider senses were going off with that guy. Beware the player who has a career year at the end of their contract.

I maintain that Andre Miller was going to be a Blazer whether we signed Hedo or not. I think we had a deal lined up with Philly for Blake and either Outlaw or Webster in a sign and trade if we didn't have the cap room to sign Dre. There was simply too much talk of how badly we wanted him.

Theo had me fooled. That year he played for the Blazers, he played with a lot of heart and was third in voting for defensive player of the year. He embrassed Ptd and seem to be a good fit for the team. Then like you said, as soon as he signed the hefty extention, he wasn't the same player and seem to lost all heart to play the game. He was more into his energy drink and making money than his court play.

I wasn't big on Miller, but never doubted that he would work hard on a last contract or lose his motivation. I'm not sure what motivates Miller, but I don't think it's all about money. I would like to believe deep down inside he wants to win a title to shut up all his critics and ride off into the sunset with as few interviews and public exposure as possible. That would be classic Miller style of getting in the last word.

So what do you think of a Camby extention . . . what's his motivation?

 

[mook]

Well, if it's any consolation, Theo Ratliff has conned 6 different teams into paying him since leaving the Blazers. He's not getting paid nearly as much as he did by Portland anymore, but still.....The guy must have a hell of an agent to be getting contracts at the age of 36 with his kind of effort level.

 

[maxiep]

Theo had me fooled. That year he played for the Blazers, he played with a lot of heart and was third in voting for defensive player of the year. He embrassed Ptd and seem to be a good fit for the team. Then like you said, as soon as he signed the hefty extention, he wasn't the same player and seem to lost all heart to play the game. He was more into his energy drink and making money than his court play.

I wasn't big on Miller, but never doubted that he would work hard on a last contract or lose his motivation. I'm not sure what motivates Miller, but I don't think it's all about money. I would like to believe deep down inside he wants to win a title to shut up all his critics and ride off into the sunset with as few interviews and public exposure as possible. That would be classic Miller style of getting in the last word.

So what do you think of a Camby extention . . . what's his motivation?

Camby scares me a bit. I've seen him unmotivated, petulant and selfish (his last year in Denver). Right now he's playing for his next deal. He knows the best way to get a deal is to get Portland to offer him something outrageous and leverage that into a great offer in someplace he wants to be.

The difference between Camby and Theo is the talent level. I think Marcus playing behind GO for 20 minutes a game could still be pretty good. What we can't do is give him a long deal. Something like two years with a third year team option at $5-$6MM would be okay. If he moves elsewhere for that money, then no-harm, no-foul.

 

[Minstrel]

From a Toronto sports writer:

Treated with velvet gloves by management to start the season and allowed to sit most of training camp and six of eight exhibition games, Turkoglu was seemingly empowered to embrace what appears to be a broad perfectionist streak, which is to say, if he don’t feel perfect, he don’t play, or practice.

This was not a deal-breaking issue (and oh how Bryan Colangelo probably wishes it could be) until the “Turkoflu” hit last Wednesday.

It’s the virus that keeps on giving.

Hedo quit – I mean, stopped playing – at halftime of the Utah Jazz game last Wednesday, didn’t practice Thursday, met with team doctors Friday, who apparently agreed he should be kept out the game against Denver. He also didn’t make it through practice Saturday.

Now, sick is sick, though four days off for an upset stomach seems like a stretch for an elite athlete paid absolutely enormous amounts of money to be in the peak of health and fitness at all times. And as I wrote last week, sick or not, Turkoglu has a credibility problem. By not giving the impression that he’s living or dying with every win or loss, or even suggesting he notices, he’s given license to people to go: “Ya right” whenever he’s sick or hurt or whatever.

Which makes it all too perfect that Friday night Turk is feeling a bit peckish, and heads out to Yorkville for a bite to eat after the Raptors get what heart they have broken by the Denver Nuggets, only to be seen by some fans who wonder why someone too sick to work is out for dinner, and respectfully inquire about the issue, raising the question through some media and team management.

Well.

Enough’s enough, apparently. And Turkoglu gets fined and benched for the Raptors collapse in Miami last night.

And for what it’s worth, when I asked him about it before the game, Turkoglu denied he was out and then started complaining about how he’s been getting targeted for this stuff all year.

Sigh. Where do you start with this? Seriously.

It’s apparent Colangelo and Triano screwed this up from the start. Both are smart, dedicated people, but they chose the wrong guy to give the benefit of the doubt to in the early going, and have been paying for it ever since. The word out of Orlando was that Turkoglu needed to be constantly poked, prodded, pushed and pulled to get him to deliver his best. It’s not clear that’s what’s happened here.

Turkoglu? He should be ashamed of himself. He’s taken the money but at no point has he given the impression he’s determined to prove he’s worth it.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor.../no-hope-for-the-raptors-none/article1515947/

The writer goes on to discuss how a lot of people feel Bosh has also checked out and has gone into "protect myself from injuries" mode, focused only on his next contract.

Wow. Crappy situation in Toronto. I feel sorry for Raptor fans.

 

[hasoos]

There is one thing I would point out about this. Bad franchises have a a way of tearing down the best of players, ruining teams with upside, and in general, finding a way to blow it. Toronto has a record of that.

 

[Fender]

I'm glad that my team's GM is a cunning linguist.

According to the Toronto fans at realgm Pritch is a horrid gm.

 

[BasX]

Tas Melas is awesome

 

[Nate Dogg]

Similar information from yahoo sports.

Hedo Turkoglu has been a bit of a disappointment to Raptor fans this season. And by "a bit" I mean "colossally huge," of course. A five-year, $53 million contract and not a lot of production will do that. Oh well, sometimes players struggle. Have some pizza, I guess.

But things took a turn for the worse this weekend. Turkoglu sat out Friday night's game against the Nuggets with a stomach virus. No big deal, people get sick. Except that after that game he missed, he hit the clubs in T.O. There were consequences and repercussions — a fine and a benching for Sunday's game with the Heat.

How'd he get busted? This little thing you might have heard of called "the Internet."

From the Globe and Mail:

The benching came in the wake of reports that Turkoglu was out in Toronto's trendy Yorkville district after the Raptors' crushing loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, a game he didn't play because of a stomach virus that caused him to leave at halftime of the Raptors loss' to the Utah Jazz last Wednesday.

When pressed, Raptors president Bryan Colangelo said that word of Turkoglu's night out had reached the team — apparently fans had spotted him and sent e-mails to team officials and some media — and the matter had been dealt with "internally," the implication being that the Turkish small forward had been fined.

Ooooooh, busted. Maybe it's not the best idea to sing "The World's Greatest" at XO Karaoke right after you miss a game with illness, especially if fans are already unhappy with you.

As you can imagine, Hedo isn't terribly happy that fans are keeping tabs on his movements around the city.

"It's all good, man," Turkoglu said. "I've been dealing with this [stuff] the whole year. They've been on me on this [going out] the whole year long. If I wasn't out, sick or healthy, they [the fans] would still say something. I don't say anything. Ten games left of the season, all I try {to do is] finish strong."

The fans are mad at Hedo for underperforming and going out, so Turkoglu goes out then gets mad at the fans. Interesting choice. Sounds like a very fun situation for all involved.

But Torontonians need to be careful — there's another guy running around the city, looking like Turkoglu, and he loves clubbin'. Don't take it out on Hedo that Tas Melas spends so much time chillin' at Lobby.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Hedo-Turkoglu-just-wants-to-party?urn=nba,230813

 

[tlongII]

Camby scares me a bit. I've seen him unmotivated, petulant and selfish (his last year in Denver). Right now he's playing for his next deal. He knows the best way to get a deal is to get Portland to offer him something outrageous and leverage that into a great offer in someplace he wants to be.

The difference between Camby and Theo is the talent level. I think Marcus playing behind GO for 20 minutes a game could still be pretty good. What we can't do is give him a long deal. Something like two years with a third year team option at $5-$6MM would be okay. If he moves elsewhere for that money, then no-harm, no-foul.

There is no freaking way we could get Camby at $5-$6MM per year. Not a chance. He will command at least $8MM. I think we need to offer him a 2 year deal with a 3rd year team option at 8 per.

 

[Nikolokolus]

There is no freaking way we could get Camby at $5-$6MM per year. Not a chance. He will command at least $8MM. I think we need to offer him a 2 year deal with a 3rd year team option at 8 per.

That sounds about right ...

 

[MickZagger]

Contract years are funny things.

 

[Minstrel]

There is risk to Camby, but I'd take that risk for two years, if Allen is willing. The big problem with the Ratliff/Miles contracts was that they were locked into bad deals on a bad team. Bad deals on a bad team pretty much prevents the team from improving. Portland has become a very good team, with room for internal improvements. They're not going to have cap room for the foreseeable future. Camby represents probably the only chance to use money to potentially upgrade the team for the next few years. In the worst case scenario (he goes Ratliff and loses all his defensive intensity and will to play), it's dead money...but dead money that really couldn't have been reinvested elsewhere.*

In the best case scenario, he remains motivated and effective for another year or two and gives Portland easily the best front court rotation in the game with Oden/Aldridge/Camby and needed big man insurance if a starter gets hurt.


*All of this is moot of Allen has financial qualms about locking up players like Oden, Batum and perhaps Bayless and Fernandez down the line. In that case, dead money to Camby would absolutely hamper the team. In that case, the team has to be very careful.

 

[jlprk]

Theo had me fooled. That year he played for the Blazers, he played with a lot of heart and was third in voting for defensive player of the year. He embrassed Ptd and seem to be a good fit for the team. Then like you said, as soon as he signed the hefty extention, he wasn't the same player and seem to lost all heart to play the game.

He was trying to play with injuries on a losing team.

We got Theo and Shareef for Sheed on 2/9/04. Theo played every game that season and looked good. We signed him to $36M on 9/28/04. He played only 63 games that season and 55 the next. Then we traded him with Telfair for Foye and LaFrentz.

The old, "He turned into Roy and Miller" argument.

 

[BGrantFan]

He was trying to play with injuries on a losing team.

We got Theo and Shareef for Sheed on 2/9/04. Theo played every game that season and looked good. We signed him to $36M on 9/28/04. He played only 63 games that season and 55 the next. Then we traded him with Telfair for Foye and LaFrentz.

The old, "He turned into Roy and Miller" argument.

Stupid, wasn't it? He should have been an afterthought. Instead, his contract becomes a centerpiece.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Tas Melas is awesome

Indeed.

http://video.thescore.com/watch/the-jones-hedo-turkoglu-party-machine

 

[speeds]

Here is the footage of "sick" Turkoglu out on the town.

http://blogs.thescore.com/tbj/2010/03/31/the-jones-hedo-turkoglu-party-machine/