Hedo Turkoglu is the key to our success

[Undefeated]

if he looks primarily to get other people involved instead of being aggressive looking for his OWN shot, then Hedo can be very good for us.

How can a player who's aggressively looking to attack the basket be bad for this team? That's what Hedo has been doing lately and I suggest Hedo to be more selfish and attack.

[HiMyNameIsTrey]

totaly agree.. he is the one of the main reason..

but he is gonna move to spurs next year.

You certainly love Hedo, don't you

[C3SIUM]

I never lost faith, never called him a bust and never wanted him moved. I am happy he is finally stepping up (getting more comfortable) and producing. Down the stretch is when it matters, keep it up!

[antzinpants]

Yeah hes good and everything but how does he make bosh better?we have so many good shooters that spread the floor making more room for bosh to go to work.when hedos has the ball in his hand good things can happen,but he doesn't pass to bosh as mush as he should.Like that time with the game on the line hedos drives and kicks it out to Wright Antoine?! Antoine Wright!!! bosh went cold in the 4th because hedo didnt make plays for bosh.

[GamePoint]

Some people don't like to look into stats, but it makes a pretty good case.

ORL 08/09
16.8 pts
5.3 reb
4.9 ast
41.% FG
35% 3pt
36.6 minutes
13.3 shots

TOR 09/10
12.4 pts
4.5 reb
4.3 ast
40% FG
38% 3pt
32.6 minutes
9.9 shots

With it lined up like that, I don't see how anyone could be say he's declined significantly. We already can see he's shooting similar percentages. But honestly, you give him the 4 extra minutes, and more than 3 more shots that he got in Orlando, and he'll be putting up an almost identical statline as he did last year.

In his last 2 games(SAC/NYK), where he's actually seen a jump in shots and minutes (similar to his Orl statline), he's been quite good.

21 pts
7 reb
3.5 ast
46% FG
38% 3pt
36 minutes
15 shots

I know it's a small sample size, but I wouldn't be surprised if Turk continues to get the similar amount of shots, touches, and minutes he saw in Orlando, that he would continue to put up decent numbers; or at least decent enough to show he hasn't declined yet.

[Undefeated]

Yeah hes good and everything but how does he make bosh better?we have so many good shooters that spread the floor making more room for bosh to go to work.when hedos has the ball in his hand good things can happen,but he doesn't pass to bosh as mush as he should.Like that time with the game on the line hedos drives and kicks it out to Wright Antoine?! Antoine Wright!!! bosh went cold in the 4th because hedo didnt make plays for bosh.

Pick and Roll. There have been plenty of times where Turkoglu would turn the corner and connect with Bosh rolling to the basket for a flush. And with Hedo's height advantage, he usually passes the ball to Bosh in the post more quickly so he can take advantage of the single coverage. Hedo does pass the ball to Bosh in the 4th, but Bosh is doubled most of the time...

[antzinpants]

Im still not sold on this "all offence and no d".If Jose or hedo is not traded by the deadline this team is going out on a disappointing first round exit.I'd rather have a solid 48 mins of guard play then 28, 30 mins of hedo at the 3.This team needs more playmakers like they need more offence.

[gregdj]

next time hedo injures his face give him this mask instead... im sure his play will be significantly better...

[MEDIC]

Completely agree with OP. Hedo has been a big piece of our success. What he does may not be flashy, but it translates to winning.

Ask Orlando if they miss Hedo.

You watch, as the season progresses, his intensity will go up as well. I love the fact that he has some of that veteran/ winning swagger about him too.

People have odd expectations of him on this board. He is not your prototypical SF, but he is a very valuable player.

I absolutely love players that help a team win by doing things that don't necessarily show up on the stat sheet. I've said before, Hedo helps this team win by simply being on the floor. He has a reputation of being a dangerous/ solid player in this league & the defense focuses on him when he has the ball. It opens up a lot of shots for other players.

[Hendrix]

He's a bit of an x factor. But really I think our offense is pretty damn good no matter what.

I'de say the real key to success is playing good D. O's never been a problem for us. What we do defensivly will determine how far we go imo

[knickerbocker2k2]

In hindsight I would preferred we get player like Battier or defensively specialist who can shot the 3pointer at the SF spot. We probably could get one at around $5M instead of overpaying Turko at $10M. I think our offense would be just as good. And our defense would be much better. It is not so much that Turko is not as advertised but our offense doesn't really need him at the price he comes at.

Last year we struggled because we had literally only one player who we could count on to handle the ball. This year we have Jose/Jack + role players like Beli/DD/Weems who can actually drive to the bucket. Even Wright is coming around. And than you have Bosh playing at super-star level and Bargani playing near all-star level. With future development of DD, Turko role will be diminished as he ages, and his salary will look like huge dead weight.

People keep forgetting that our defense is among the worst in the league. Our management seems to commit to Bosh/Bargs, if this is true, than we need to get SF who rebounds + plays good defense.

[tush]

If you take Hedo out of the equation I dont think we have even a top 10 offence. He really makes defences key up on him, and finds open players who will make that extra pass, not necessarily getting an assist but leading to one.

I don't think you can say that Beli/DD/Weems are better wing options than Hedo, atleast at this point in their career. We would be without a wing player who can create their own shot again (which hedo does quite well, maybe not as athletically as some of you may like, but it produces results), and our veteran leadership on the wing would be coming from Antoine Wright.

Another thing is Hedo takes the pressure off of our PGs at certain points of the game by handling the ball, again another thing that has affected our offence. Take that out of our game, along with all the other things Hedo brings to the table... and I really don't see us having a top 10 offence.



Also, why are people always mentioning players they want who weren't even available? I would have preferred Lebron over Hedo, but guess what... Hedo was the best free agent last summer, and we were lucky to land him.

[basketball royalty]

Meh. Hedo is what he is and it works out fine if somehow the idea that defense wins in the playoffs is completely reversed.

[Condi Rice]

I'd take a cheaper declining Marion before an overpaid declining turkey

[SaveTheHens]

Marion wanted to sign with a contendor & didn't want to come here so there goes that dream.

I think Hedo can be huge for us come playoff time. Not to mention , haven't you guys realized we've been winning games late? I wouldn't attribute that to Bosh, Calderon, Bargnani since they've been here before when we struggled finishing games (although I gotta say Barg's has done a good job nailin 3's late in games). I guess that leaves Jack, Wright, or Hedo as the culprits for us being able to finish off games..

If you check out 82 games for clutch statistics, the guy with the highest win % on our team is Hedo. I don't think that's a coincidence either. Hedo brings the confidence late in games, he finds the open man, once he get's his shot to fall (or if he already did judging by his last 2 games), his scoring in the 4th quarter can help us out even more.

Raptor fans take all our positives for granted & search for every negative. Remember back in the day when we couldn't close out games at all? That's all changed now & a HUGE part of that is Hedo.


& about his contract, yeah it'll probably seem way too high in a few years, but remember Hedo doesn't rely on athleticism for success, he relies on his IQ/skill which won't deteriorate. Not to mention his last year isn't that big of a deal even since he'll be a valuable expiring by then.

[tush]

Thats true, he only has to be productive for 3 more years, after that in the last year of his contract he will be an asset regardless as an expiring.

His game is similar to an Anthony Parker type of player (not playing style), in that he doesn't rely much on athletisim, so his game won't decline rapidly from one season to the next. It will be a gradual decline, and I don't see that happening within the next 3 years.

[raptorsriot]

I've been really critical of Turk but I must admit that he's brought creativity to our offense that we haven't had in a very long time. His passing has also been extremely valuble considering our two best offensive options are both bigs. This is especially true with regards to post entry passes to Bosh, I think Hedo has contributed to his success this season. Orlando didn't really have a legit first option on offense the way we do with Bosh, so his numbers were probably inflated by that somewhat.

[RealGood]

What I like most about Hedo: his ability to give his teammates great looks. He doesn't have to play the point to do this. He throws alot of great alley-oop passes, and always looks for Bosh.

He's the only guy on the team that's been to the NBA Finals, and consistently been on winning teams (Orlando, Sac-town, San Antonio). If people aren't happy with him now, they just might be come playoff time when the games really count.

[RealGood]

I'd take a cheaper declining Marion before an overpaid declining turkey

I'd take a cheaper, younger Amir Johnson before an overpaid declining 'Matrix'.

[elitehunter99]

If Hedo does not step up BIGTIME in the playoffs, he has been a pretty big failure this season, period.

I'd say this team was struggling earlier in the year because of the bad schedule AND because Calderon and Turkoglu didn't work well together in the starting 5..... Jameer Nelson was a very good fit next to Hedo, and if Jack can become as effective a shooter as Nelson, he is easily the better fit next to Hudo.