VITALS: 6-10, 249, Gonzaga OVERVIEW: A native of Martinique, a French-speaking island in the Caribbean, Turiaf finished his four-year career with 1,723 points - fourth on the school's all-time list. Despite playing on a pair of lingering ankle injuries for half of last season, the power forward captured the West Coast Conference Player of the Year award, averaging 15.9 points and a league-best 9.5 rebounds. Turiaf, a three-time member of the WCC All-Conference team, did set the Bulldogs' single-season record for blocks with 59. LIKELY DRAFT POSITION: Late first round or early second round. COMPARATIVE UPSIDE: P.J. Brown COMPARATIVE DOWNSIDE: Tony Battie ROLE PROJECTION: Backup power forward. POSITIVES: Besides having a winning personality and being a great teammate, Turiaf is a full effort player who gets up and down the court like a small forward and makes lots of hustle plays. He consistently runs balls down in the corners, ends up with balls being fought for in traffic and switches out to bottle up a driver. He has a nice assemblage of post-up moves and can be very crafty in getting shots off down low. Turiaf is not going to get tons of blocks on the stat sheet but seems to get the type of athletic blocks that energize his teammates and swing momentum. SHORTCOMINGS: Turiaf could use 10 to 15 more pounds to do stout battle against the behemoths in NBA frontcourts. He is not a great shooter beyond 14 or 15 feet, so teams will use his man for double-teams against the post. He has had some problems in the past with foul trouble, but mostly because he is an all-court help defender.
I don't know why he needs another 10-15 pounds. He is already 250, and that's pretty good weight for a PF. If he wants to play Center, then yeah, but he's got good weight and size for the 4.
If he ends up in the East, he might need that wait for Shaq, but no need unless he wants to become a Shaq.
I would love to see him in a Rockets uniform...he had an excellent outing at the Chicago NBA Athletic combine...plus with Yao, Howard and Mutombo, he'd have room to grow and develop under the tutelage of some great and experienced players...
