Upon being acquired from the Warriors, Ronny Turiaf was expected to be the Knicks’ starting center. Known for his intense defense, Turiaf had immediately garnered comparisons to other Knicks’ big men greats such as Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason. The team was optimistic he would deliver such a presence. Instead, Coach D’Antoni went with a young prospect, naming Timofey Mozgov the team’s starting center to start the season. While Mozgov has proven to be highly ineffective thus far, Turiaf made his impact coming off the bench, self proclaiming himself as the “quarterback” of the Knicks’ defense. The ironic thing is, Turiaf is right. After lacking a defensive intensity for so many seasons, Turiaf enlists a different mentality for the Knicks. Besides simply being a big man who throws his body around (and that he does), Turiaf shot-blocking ability and rebounding constantly gives the team a boost. During Knicks’ recent six game losing streak, much of which Turiaf sat out of...
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