People improved themselves to move freely in melee combat, people such as Spamwhore, Rest in Peace, Antonio, Darmaster etc. all do really nice plays and moves while fighting, which means it is doable with the turnrate nerf as well but it is more experience and skill based. Turnrate nerf isn't "godawful" for combat, I actually believe it's a good addition of c-RPG, in native or Mercenaries fights are as spastic as it gets, and literally anyone with an awlpike becomes a god because of retarded stab directions you'll have. Same would happen to c-RPG, 2d stabby weapons would be incredibly powerful (which they already are, especially the awlpike, but it is at least "sorta" skill based) and that is not quite pleasant for gameplay.
As Gurni said, mid range poles are the ones that got cucked the hardest by the turnrate nerf, however those are still awesome teamfighting weapons, but imo they need a boost in damage in order to compensate, to make them more rewarding.