Turkey Time

The last time I heard the phrase "Turkey Time" uttered, it was 2006 and the Pulse Man was throwing an undercooked turkey burger over the right field fence during regional baseball play at Lake Zurich High School. Since then, he has applied at the school for employment and for some strange reason was hired. Also during that 5 year span, the Bulls scouted and signed Turkish center, Omer Asik, who is winning over Chicago's collective heart one impressive performance at a time.

There are currently 5 NBA players who hail from the Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. These players include Hedo Turkoglu, Mehmet Okur, Ersan Ilyasova, Semih Erden and Omer Asik. By no matter of happenstance, these players seem to all possess the same greasy hair and lack of defensive prowess that the Euro league holds near and dear; except Omer. This 24 year old, 255 lb. Doug P. Wynn look-alike has been a product of rapid improvement for this year's Bulls. Earlier this month, the "Turkish Delight" became the first player in the longstanding history of the NBA to record 10 rebounds without even attempting a field goal. Aside from his unselfishness on the offensive end, Asik has solidified himself as one of the most active interior defenders in the Eastern Conference. Although his full name has more umlauts and accent marks than a German Heferweizen, the fans in this great basketball city are starting to become familiar with his name, his game, and his 7-foot frame.

When the city was up in arms after Chicago refused to deal their reserve big man for an overrated, troublesome OJ Mayo, I was confused. The only way I would want to acquire Mayo was to use him as a condiment if we somehow acquired Hedo Turkoglu from the Magic, making the Bulls the first team in the history of American professional basketball to be able to successfully compile a certifiable "turkey sandwich".

In holding onto Asik, the Bulls maintain the rights to the man in the middle who is currently holding onto these stats--2.26 PPG, 3.90 RPG, +5.49 Efficiency rating (an underrated stat). Even though those may seem like small potatoes for this particular Turkish import, I'm sure his presence in the post will prove to be invaluable during the last months of the season and on into the playoffs. Just look at what he's done over the course of the past 4 days. His 4 point, 9 rebound performance in Atlanta was the lone bright spot in the Bulls' unimpressive defeat in the dirty south. Then on Friday, he posted a 5 pt., 13 board performance against the NBA's top center, Dwight Howard, and only got posterized by the genetic freak on one occasion. Ladies and gentleman, the man, the myth, the Omer.

As for Pick of the Day, the Pulse Man thought the Heat would rebound to beat the Spurs on Friday and they ended up concluding their weekend apparently shedding tears in their own locker room. I guess he was a bit off. For Monday night, the Pulse Man likes Gonzaga to maintain their stranglehold on the West Coast Conference and defeat St. Mary's Australian-laden roster by more than a point.

Pick of the Day: Gonzaga (-1) @ St. Mary's- GONZAGA

Record:(60-45-0)

Now I'm done. Rack me

Frost