The Wolves officially introduced veteran center Ronny Turiaf today before a youthful audience at the Ronald McDonald House on the U of M campus today and he showed up with the No. 32 jersey he will wear in Minnesota.
Turiaf has worn No. 21 much of his career, but Kevin Garnett wore that for the Wolves all those years, of course.
Turiaf called Garnett "my favorite player, one of my favorite players" and said "I love his passion for the game. Out of respect, I could not wear No. 21."
So he called heart-surgery soulmate Fred Hoiberg and asked the Iowa State coach for his "blessing" to wear the 32 that Hoiberg once wore for the Wolves.
Hoiberg and Turiaf have become friends for life, bond together by the same heart surgery each had nearly a decade ago.
"We have this special bond nobody but the two of us can understand," Turiaf said. "I thought, for me, it was so natural to pay homage. He helped me get through the most difficult time of my life."
Here's a bunch of other stuff from chats with Flip Saunders and Turiaf this morning:
- Spain advanced to the Eurobasket semifinals by just clobbering Serbia today, which means Ricky Rubio likely won't arrive here for training camp until just before media day on Sept. 30. Don't expect Ricky – and probably others – to play both games of the team's two back-to-back situations in the preseason. Rubio, Alexey Shved and J.J. Barea – all of whom played for their national teams this summer – probably will be given some rest early in training camp.
Also now that Flip's in charge, don't expect back-to-back games next preseason. He doesn't like them.
