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* No-Defense Player of the Year: Hedo Turkoglu, Toronto. Welcome to the instigator of this year’s Eyeball Test theme.
This season, I watched three or four Toronto games, almost from beginning to end. And each time that I saw a heavy, lead-footed, non-rotating large man dressed in a Raptors jersey, I thought, “When did Swen Nater get traded to Toronto and why is he playing at age 60?”
Oh, wait, that wasn’t Nater.
That was Turkoglu, who used to be a decent defensive player. And yet each time I saw him this year–his first in Toronto–I thought he was decidedly slower and more disinterested even than Andrea Bargnani, and that is saying something.
Turkoglu’s periphals aren’t good–Toronto gave up 116.1 points per 100 possessions when he played, and 111.9 when he didnt–but Bargnani’s are worse.
Still Turkoglu, to my eyes, was the foundation and personification of the Raptors’ defensive listness this season. He waddled around out there, let dribblers through, didn’t contest, stopped dead when he met a screen, didn’t get back in transition… he was awful.
The Raps have been bad on D for a while. It’s just that I thought Toronto stopped trying about mid-season, and my eyeballs tell me that Turkoglu was at the heart of that.
Plus, I made up my mind early on that, to honor the Raptors or Warriors’ season-long defensive surrender, the 2010 NDPOY had to come from one of those two rosters
Congratulations, Hedo.
This season, I watched three or four Toronto games, almost from beginning to end. And each time that I saw a heavy, lead-footed, non-rotating large man dressed in a Raptors jersey, I thought, “When did Swen Nater get traded to Toronto and why is he playing at age 60?”
Oh, wait, that wasn’t Nater.
That was Turkoglu, who used to be a decent defensive player. And yet each time I saw him this year–his first in Toronto–I thought he was decidedly slower and more disinterested even than Andrea Bargnani, and that is saying something.
Turkoglu’s periphals aren’t good–Toronto gave up 116.1 points per 100 possessions when he played, and 111.9 when he didnt–but Bargnani’s are worse.
Still Turkoglu, to my eyes, was the foundation and personification of the Raptors’ defensive listness this season. He waddled around out there, let dribblers through, didn’t contest, stopped dead when he met a screen, didn’t get back in transition… he was awful.
The Raps have been bad on D for a while. It’s just that I thought Toronto stopped trying about mid-season, and my eyeballs tell me that Turkoglu was at the heart of that.
Plus, I made up my mind early on that, to honor the Raptors or Warriors’ season-long defensive surrender, the 2010 NDPOY had to come from one of those two rosters
Congratulations, Hedo.
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