For those of you wondering about Ronny Turiaf’s debut with Asvel Basket, well, it was a bit of a mixed bag of results on Sunday. After resolving insurance issues, the locked-out New York Knick started for Asvel as Tony Parker’s side hosted defending LNB champions/ Euroleague team SLUC Nancy.
Turiaf looked good enough in his first game since injuring his hand in a friendly match leading up to the 2011 EuroBasket tournament, going for nine points (including one effusive dunk early on; see below Asvel-based YouTube clip), eight rebounds (four offensive), three assists and five fouls drawn in 25 minutes of court time.
Unfortunately for Asvel, they were totally outclassed by the Euroleaguers and went down in defeat, 92-77. Victor Samnick put in 25 points as Nancy didn’t mind losing the battle of the boards, 41-29.
Turiaf himself reportedly appeared fatigued in the game, and Asvel coach Pierre Vincent explained in the post-game that “I had no plans to play [Turiaf] so much. I left him in at the end of the game because of his play and his experience.”
Parker, who threatened a triple-double with 20 points (though a woeful 6-of-24 overall from the floor), eight rebounds and nine assists, was quoted as saying that “It’s not easy for him since he hasn’t played for two months. He was a little apprehensive about playing with the hand, but even so he had a good performance.”
