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Hawks point guard Mike Bibby was smiling when he uttered the words that, to so many, might have seemed ridiculous before now.
"The Turkish Jordan," Bibby said of his former Sacramento Kings teammate Hedo Turkoglu. "That's what they call him over there. At least that's what he said they call him. He was the man over there, the first one from Turkey to play in the NBA."
Turkoglu is the man in Orlando these days, too.
No offense to All-Star center and big-man extraordinaire Dwight Howard, who is having his usual monster season, but the Magic player having a breakout year is none other than the Turkish Jordan himself.
"There's no question he's been bringing it this year," said an Eastern Conference scout who has seen the Magic often this season. "Of all the guys who could have made a case for being on the All-Star team, I think his was the strongest. But you didn't hear a peep out of him about not making it. He just kept going at people night after night, taking and making big shots like nobody had seen out of him before.
"You didn't really have to game-plan for him before this season. But he's changed the scouting report now. You have to spend time preparing to deal with him just like you do Howard."
Forget the third time. The eighth (NBA season) has proved to be the charm for Turkoglu, who is scoring a career-high 19.9 points per game, 6.6 more than last year and 8.3 over his career average.
He also has two triple-doubles, which makes him one of only five players in the league to have more than one this season. The others: Jason Kidd, LeBron James, Caron Butler and Baron Davis.
Turkoglu has also set game career highs in points (39 vs. Washington on Wednesday), rebounds (15 vs. Toronto, Nov. 7) and assists (13 vs. Dallas, Feb. 4, and vs. Atlanta, March 10).
And there are few players better this season with the game on the line. Turkoglu leads the Magic in fourth-quarter scoring with 444 points (6.3 points per fourth quarter, good for third in the league) and has had 10-plus points in the fourth quarter 15 times.
"I don't know why anyone would be surprised now," Bibby said of Turkoglu's star turn -- he has been named NBA Player of the Week twice, in back-to-back weeks Jan. 27 and Feb. 3. "In Sacramento he was playing behind some pretty incredible players, so he didn't get a chance to shine the way he is now. But it was obvious how talented he was. There aren't too many guys his size (6-10, 220) that can stroke it like that. Guys like that make life a lot easier on a point guard, I can tell you that much.
"And he's always been more than just a scorer. He's a great scorer. But he can do more than just that."
Turkoglu is posting career-high numbers across the board in addition to his scoring, averaging 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 37.8 minutes. He's also shooting the ball -- .453 from the floor, .403 from 3-point range and .830 from the foul line -- as well as he ever has.
Few would have predicted this sort of late-career rise for a guy who spent his first three years in the league as a trusted backup with a loaded Kings team that flirted with the NBA Finals on several occasions, but ultimately fell short and was eventually broken up.
But Turkoglu persevered while other imports headed back home for the security blanket and built-in stardom Europe provided.
Turkoglu's renaissance started in San Antonio, where he started 44 games, and 10 playoff games, for the Spurs during the 2003-04 season.
He joined the Magic the next season, starting only 11 games in his first campaign, and has been a fixture in the lineup ever since.
But only now is he drawing notice leaguewide. And only now is Bibby willing to buy Turkoglu's stories about being the Turkish Jordan.
"It doesn't seem so ridiculous now," Bibby said, smiling. "Because he's cranked it up to another level this year. No one can deny that."
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