A Salute to Ronny

Ronny Turiaf was never supposed to be the answer to our problems.  Now that we are well into the season, we can safely stand by that original assumption.

His averages are down, he's prone to travel, he telegraphs his passes, he passes too much, his mid-range jumpers are ill-advised, and his offensive post game is anemic.

Nevertheless, I strongly believe that Ronny Turiaf is one of the most important players on our roster, and here are a few reasons why.

Attitude-The kid brings spunk, something this broken team, and the cursed Bay as a whole, desperately need.  Despite his reduced playing time here, he always seems ready and willing to bring the noise when he steps out, and that’s refreshing to see in the NBA.  Plus, it seems that his encouraging influence in practice has really meshed the squad together. 

Defense-He plays defense.  He is not a lockdown guy, but he gladly accepts a lot of ‘tall’ orders and rarely embarrasses himself too badly.  He’s not afraid to get posterized like most pros these days and sometimes it results in a facemelting block that stirs the depths of Oracle.  Especially considering Goose’s continuing struggle with fouls, Ronny is ready at all times to make a contribution.

Rebounding- Late in games, he is the only one still boxing out and playing fundamentally.  His numbers are decent and he always has a few savage pull-downs.

Pick and Roll- Ronny is a bulldog on the roll, the guy is always cutting.  Movement to the basket is rare for the Warriors, and it’s something that needs to be improved (calling out BWright, AR and even Beans).  Yet Ronny keeps his head on straight and it usually results in at least one wide open, hefty two-hander per game.  In fact, he is usually my favorite dunk of the night cuz he puts that rock down with AUTHORITY (just gloss over the few he puts off the iron).

Improvement- Turiaf, AR and BWright are the only Warriors that I have clearly observed progressing in their game.  Ronny seems more and more confident in the offensive system, and he has become an anchor of the second team defense.  You can’t teach that willingness to learn

Warriors Blog- Apparently the rest of the Warriors are too busy to indulge us with the trivialities of their daily life.  Once again, humility shines through and we get little nuggets of broken English goodness about once a month.  Thanks Ronny, I think fake white Christmas trees are neat too.

Free Throws- He knocks them down like all pros should, and I deeply respect that.  Furthermore 10-10 against the Celtics could perhaps be called the difference maker.

Overall, I rep this guy hard and I hope he has a long and prosperous career here.  Making him a captain was one of the only administrative moves I have appreciated this year, and I think he fully deserves it.  Ronny was made for the Bay.  The guy drinks raw adrenaline with his breakfast and perspires a fusion of French-Thizz that I never thought possible.  He has already won Oracle over, and I feel that it is time that this blog gives him some proper respect.