Turiaf earning his stripes with team
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. - For all the comparisons to Mark Madsen, with a little more rhythm, Lakers forward Ronny Turiaf has a different player in mind when it comes to his manic act on the bench.
"I think I´m like the Chad Johnson of basketball," Turiaf said.
While Johnson has made his end-zone celebrations a weekly event with the Cincinnati Bengals, Turiaf has provided the Lakers with an unmatched energy a month after he joined the team and completed his return from open heart surgery.
He is out of his seat and breaking into an Antoine Walker shake when one of his teammates throws down a dunk. He is turning his fingers into imaginary guns and pretending to fire them when a 3-pointer is good.
"Why not? I have energy," Turiaf said. "I´m not going to play a 48-minute game. So I´ve got to expend some energy and burn some calories."
Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who favors meditation and Zen to all-out exuberance, said he has no problem with Turiaf´s style.
"There really is something nice about it as far as energizing this team," Jackson said. "This team has some deadbeats on it, anyway, and the coach is one of them. It´s good to have some people out there that are enthusiastic about the game."
Turiaf has said that his recovery from heart surgery made him appreciate his time on the bench more. He also knows that the sooner the Lakers can get up by 10 or 15 points, the more he is going to play.
"Right now it´s just times 100," Turiaf said. "You play for the best organization and you play with great guys that make spectacular
Jackson originally hoped for Turiaf, a second-round draft pick, to play no more than a six- to eight-minute role after he joined the team. But Turiaf´s conditioning has improved and he averaged 13.5 minutes the two games before Wednesday.
Looking around: With Aaron McKie´s return from a torn left quadriceps tendon uncertain, the Lakers have continued to search for a veteran guard they can add the rest of the season.
They were interested in Tony Delk, who was waived by Atlanta and signed with Detroit on Wednesday. McKie resumed working out after the All-Star break but has missed 44 games with the injury.
If the Lakers knew McKie could return, Jackson said the Lakers wouldn´t be "as concerned as we are looking ahead to having to go through the rest of the season and the playoffs with this really young guard group."
Jackson has said the players who struggle the most in trying to pick up the triangle offense often are the ones who have played in other systems the longest. But Jackson referenced Bobby Hansen as one guard he brought in midseason who learned it.
"It´s not rocket science," Jackson said.