Ronny Turiaf to Join Tony Parker in Lyon
Ronny Turiaf, the latest NBA player to stretch his legs in Europe as the lockout drags on, could finally take the floor for ASVEL (Lyon/Villeurbanne) this Sunday.
Tony Parker, ASVEL minority owner and current starting point guard, made the comment on the Halloween edition of The Tony Parker Show on RMC radio. News of the imminent departure of the Knicks big man for the Continent first broke in mid-October, but problems insuring his $4.36 million contract with the New York Knicks had threatened to derail the move until now.
Parker didn't provide financial details, but seemed confident that the Knick's big man would be available to provide ASVEL with much-needed interior force in the very new future.
And they sure do need it. While Parker's presence has been predictably revolutionary for ASVEL (19.3 ppg, 5.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals while averaging just 28 minutes per game), the 7th-place team is sorely in need of a disciplined force in the paint. Ronny Turiaf ought to fill that gap nicely, at least for a while.
There was a sequence in the Paris-Levallois game (10/14) that nicely summed up ASVEL's problems under the basket: Bangaly Fofana, ASVEL's talented 6'10" reserve pivotman, took a pass on the block, made a move and got his shot blocked. He might have been fouled...but instead of popping up and getting back on defense, he sat on his rear end in the middle of the lane with his arms in the air, baiting the ref while his teammates gave up an easy 5-on-4 basket at the other end.
I waited for the explosion from coach Pierre Vincent, the quick substitution and tongue-lashing the young big man deserved, but it never came.
This is simply unacceptable, at any level of basketball. Similarly, too many loose balls get away--sometimes it seems like Parker, the guy paying almost €200,000 each month to play here, is the only one hitting the floor to fight for a loose ball--and opposing players never seem concerned for their safety when they drive the lane. Were it not for Parker's clutch fourth-quarter shooting, the Parisians, 11-point underdogs, would've won that game with hustle and discipline and ASVEL would be 1-3 right now.
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