There is no reason for optimism around the Toronto Raptors right now.
None.
The star player is playing some of his worst basketball of the season at the worst possible time, and worse still, seems determined to share the blame as widely as possible.
The star free agent signing has been a bust and has four years and more than $40-million remaining on a contract for a player in the midst of his worst statistical performance in six seasons at age 31.
Worse still – and there’s a lot of worse to be had here – that’s only part of the problem.
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.
I was talking to him before the game last night and it took about 30 seconds before he began complaining about his role and the system.
And you know what? He’s right. It is different here than in Orlando. Everything goes through Bosh, who holds it, or Bargnani, who holds it, and this is usually after Calderon has pounded it for a few seconds. So when Turkoglu does get it it’s often late in the clock and let’s face it, he’s not LeBron, Wade or Kobe.
