Turkoglu has Arrived
There's too much talk about when or how a player arrives but it makes sense. For those Sacramento Kings fans who had Gerald Wallace and Hedo Turkoglu coming off the bench as your 8th and 11th guys back in the glory days, you can sit back and wonder how good that team really was (and also how much you hate Robert Horry).
Today in a thrilling 96-93 victory over Boston, Hedo Turkoglu finally got his shot off in the national spotlight—and he buried it with no time left on the clock. For years PBS has watched Hedo blossom into one of the league's most skilled and versatile players. All of this bears well for a young and budding Orlando team that's taken a huge step by learning to win on the road this year (17-10). Orlando has to address the point guard position and bring in one more scoring/rebounding big man to move Rashard Lewis over to the SG spot and let Hedo play 3. With that younger nucleus having the size, quickness, scoring, rebounding, and defense they will be in the Eastern Conference finals for years to come.
But today was Hedo's day and you could tell that his team loved it. As Boston roared back from 7 down on the heels of its smothering defense all of the momentum was on Boston's side. You can also tell how many Boston front-runners there are in this country as both the stadium song-player-guy and fans moved and danced to the songs of the Boston comeback (in Orlando). After a Rondo steal from Arroyo (see last paragraph), Paul Pierce drove to the hoop and kicked to a waiting, salivating Jesus Shuttlesworth—who promptly buried it.
Then Hedo took an inbounds pass with under 5 seconds left dribbled from the corner to the wing beyond the 3 point line, elevated, and it looked good the moment it came off of his hand. The Orlando Bench came running over to a jumping Turkoglu as the whole team looked in unity. On national TV as he was interviewed Hedo could barely breathe and you can bet that his homeland of Turkey couldn't either considering they televised the NBA draft live when Hedo was picked up by the Kings in 01.
Now that Hedo has arrived PBS wants to see if he can carry the load. If the Orlando Magic are smart they might just give it a try.
Today in a thrilling 96-93 victory over Boston, Hedo Turkoglu finally got his shot off in the national spotlight—and he buried it with no time left on the clock. For years PBS has watched Hedo blossom into one of the league's most skilled and versatile players. All of this bears well for a young and budding Orlando team that's taken a huge step by learning to win on the road this year (17-10). Orlando has to address the point guard position and bring in one more scoring/rebounding big man to move Rashard Lewis over to the SG spot and let Hedo play 3. With that younger nucleus having the size, quickness, scoring, rebounding, and defense they will be in the Eastern Conference finals for years to come.
But today was Hedo's day and you could tell that his team loved it. As Boston roared back from 7 down on the heels of its smothering defense all of the momentum was on Boston's side. You can also tell how many Boston front-runners there are in this country as both the stadium song-player-guy and fans moved and danced to the songs of the Boston comeback (in Orlando). After a Rondo steal from Arroyo (see last paragraph), Paul Pierce drove to the hoop and kicked to a waiting, salivating Jesus Shuttlesworth—who promptly buried it.
Then Hedo took an inbounds pass with under 5 seconds left dribbled from the corner to the wing beyond the 3 point line, elevated, and it looked good the moment it came off of his hand. The Orlando Bench came running over to a jumping Turkoglu as the whole team looked in unity. On national TV as he was interviewed Hedo could barely breathe and you can bet that his homeland of Turkey couldn't either considering they televised the NBA draft live when Hedo was picked up by the Kings in 01.
Now that Hedo has arrived PBS wants to see if he can carry the load. If the Orlando Magic are smart they might just give it a try.
Comments