The Case for Calderon

A comment I left on my favorite Raptors blog, Raptors Lair, making the case for Calderon, All-Star:

I love the blog, but I’ll politely disagree.

Jose is a deserved All-Star. Hamilton has put up nice numbers on a top team, but I think Jose has meant far more to Toronto than Hamilton has to Detroit.

Season Averages

Hamilton: 19 points, 4 assists, 3 boards, and 1 steal, 50% from the field, 47% from three, and 1.89 turnovers/game.

Calderon: 12 points, 9 assists, 3 boards, 1 steal, 52% from the field, 45% from three, and 1.58 turnovers/game.

Both of them get you 3 boards, a steal, shoot above 50% from the floor and above 45% from three. A nice coincidence, making it look closer than it really is.

Where Jose Stands Out

Jose as a starter is getting 14 points and 10 assists a night. The only other point guards getting those numbers are also All-Stars (minus Deron Williams). As a starter, Jose’s averages easily eclipse Hamilton’s season averages.

Jose has a 5.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, currently the best in the NBA by a mile. What does Hamilton lead the NBA in? Nothing. The best he can do is 6th in three-point shooting, and Jose is 9th. Jose is also 3rd in free-throw percentage, and 5th in assists.

Finally, the most important consideration: who has meant more to their team? Jose has saved the Raps’ season – can Rip claim that sort of significance to the Pistons?

Thoughts?

Game Recap: Lakers 121, Raptors 101

Disgusting. The trade, the game, the refs, the dunks. In a very disappointing loss, the Raptors showed fight for three quarters before horrible calls, bad choices by Sam Mitchell and the Raptors, and a guy wearing the number “24″ took the game away.

First off, congratulations on the Lakers landing Gasol for basically nothing. In what can be considered an absolutely horribly one-sided trade, the Memphis Grizzlies basically got cap space for their best big man. The Lakers, on the other hand, rid themselves of a perennial turnover machine named Kwame Brown. In fact, not having Brown in the lineup probably helped the Lakers further in the win, as it allowed the Lakers to keep their turnovers to just five for the night.

On this night, though, it was the Kobe and Bargnani show. Just as Kobe got his calls for ticky-tack fouls, he also made a variety of incredible shots. To make matters worse, the Raptors kept playing him to shoot rather than drive, giving him the opportunity for several beautiful dunks throughout the game.  For a while, it looked like a flashback to two years ago as the Raptors had nothing in the interior that could stop Kobe.  Then the rest of the Lakers started making all their shots, and as a result, the Lakers put some distance against the Raptors.

Nevertheless, it’s just inexcusable that the Raptors, and especially Chris Bosh, did not receive the same kind of calls that Kobe was getting.  Within our own building, the Raptors tried to get the ball inside multiple times and were hammered every single time without a whistle.  On one particular occasion, Jose drove to the hoop and was ridden down by a Laker all the way, only to miss the shot and have no call go against him.  With another play, Jose was on the break, pulled up and got smacked in the back of the head as he laid in the basket.  Once again, no foul was called.  Surprisingly, the Raptors still managed get almost double the amount of shots LA was taking from the line.  Largely, this was due to the continued improved play of Andrea as he once again managed multiple trips to the free throw line.  Shooting a high percentage, and playing somewhat adequate defense, Andrea was the consistent bright spot of the night until Sam pulled in in the fourth.

The fourth was when things really came off, and the blame has to go with Sam on this one.  By going small against an already quicker, more athletic, and now bigger Lakers squad, the Raptors saw the Lakers run away with the game.  There’s just really no excuse for having Calderon, Dixon, Moon, Bosh, and Kapono on the floor at the same time.  First of all, none of these players were shooting well except for Kapono and Bargnani, and more importantly, this group would be very weak defensively against a guy like Bryant and taller guys like Odom.  The sad thing was, fans could see that Bosh was gassed before the end of the third, and yet, Nesterovic (playing an excellent first half) was nowhere to be seen to relieve Bosh.

Overall, this outing was a very disappointing loss.  The Raptors had every chance to take the lead at some point, but instead, allowed the Lakers to come back at every turn.  It’s this ability to constantly keep an opponent down in a close game that the Raptors had last year, but seem to lack this year.  People might want to talk about margin of victory and other stats such as those, but in the end, there’s a feeling from those teams that exude the confidence that they can win each and every single game.  That’s just not present in this year’s squad, and will continue to be the downfall for our boys in white and red.

Next Game:  Toronto @ Miami

Blogging with the Enemy: Forum Blue and Gold

We’re starting a new feature here at HoopsAddict.com. Bloggers have quickly become a great resource around the net and we’ll be trying to get in touch with the best blogs around the league as the Raptors play their respective teams.

Today, we have Kurt from Forum Blue and Gold.

Q: How has the loss of Andrew Bynum affected the Lakers?

Being without Bynum has turned this team into the squad Kobe feared last summer. Bynum has developed into the true second option on offense by taking that pressure off the streaky Odom, who when asked to win the game last night against the Pistons shot an airball. Tex Winter’s triangle offense that the Lakers run has one corner of the triangle in the low block, and Bynum has provided that — single cover him, and he can score on just about any big, double him, and he passes out well (and to double him you leave someone like Derek Fisher open). The other thing Bynum did well on offense was play off Kobe. He would come down and set a pick for Kobe out by the three point line, and when the two defenders did the smart thing and made sure Kobe didn’t drive past them for an easy basket Bynum would roll to the hoop for the lob and dunk. The help defender couldn’t rotate off of Bynum without paying a price, and that opened things up for all the Lakers who can drive the lane, such as Kobe, Odom, Fisher, Farmar, and Ariza.

But the bigger thing Bynum did was on the defensive end. He was a shot blocker in the paint who could also alter shots. That allowed the wing defenders to play tighter, jump passing lanes, and be more aggressive. When the Lakers play well, they are playing good defense, and Bynum had become a big part of that.

Q: Is Kwame Brown the Laker version of our former draft pick, Rafael Araujo? And will he ever become the player that GMs seem to want from him?

The worst thing to ever happen to Kwame was being drafted #1 and coming with all that hype. What we’ve learned over the years of watching guys come out of high school is that the ones who are really driven to improve (Kobe, KG, Jermaine O’Neal) become good players, but the ones who quickly become comfortable never reach that level. Kwame Brown is the latter. My suggestion is to read this story from Kevin Ding in the OC Register. The fact of the matter is, despite what is expected of him, Kwame is quite happy being who he is. And that is the role of a backup center in the NBA. You just can’t look at him as a #1 pick overall or as a guy who is making $9 mil this season. He should never have been asked to be that guy. He just is what he is, and that is pedestrian.

Q: What move do the Lakers need to make to get to the championship?

A little more maturity, allowing them to play better in tight situations. A little more depth and talent, particularly along the front line. More consistency. More Time. To stay healthy.

Now even with all of that, winning the West right now is all about match-ups. The Spurs can beat the Suns, yet struggle with Dallas. Phoenix has days where they look like they can’t be beat, then they lose to teams with good scoring centers. (They even lost to the T-Wolves because they couldn’t stop Al Jefferson.) Nobody is sure what the Hornets and Timberwolves will bring to the playoffs this season. It’s going to be interesting.

HoopsAddict.com would like to once again thank Kurt for his time. Please don’t forget to visit Forum Blue and Gold!

Just in, a Bonus Question:

Q: What are your thoughts on the Gasol Trade?
YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!!

On a more rational note (and, by the way, Laker fans are not rational right now, exuberance has run amok): Gasol is a great fit for the Lakers offense. He’ll play the four where he’ll get the ball in the high post or low post (depending on matchups), be asked to move without the ball (something he does well) and will get good looks inside and out. Gasol’s well-rounded Euro game is a great fit at the four for the Lakers offense. What are the knocks on
him?  He’s not an intimidator in the paint on defense and not great on the boards?  Well, with Bynum back he doesn’t have to be.

Think about the Lakers starting five once healthy: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum. Off the bench comes Vladamir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Ronny Turiaf for energy, Sasha Vujacic for shooting. That’s a title contender in a big way.

NBA Newsflash

Does Dallas Have ‘It’ This Season?
31-14, 11-11 on the road, 3^rd in West

For whatever the reason, the Mavericks don’t seem to be as dominant as they have been the past few seasons even though they are currently the third seed in the Western conference. But, it’s probably because other teams such as the Blazers, Hornets and Lakers have all surpassed expectations laid upon them by the basketball pundits south of the border. This is probably a very good thing as a little adversity cannot hurt come playoff time, maybe they haven’t won anything yet because the Mavericks have not had to face any the past few seasons. Think about it, they were the cream of the crop last season and bowed out to Golden State in the quarter-finals. Maybe the Mavericks need an old-school point guard that helps everyone around him and just need to start (Jason) kidding around –if you catch my drift. If they do that, everything else will fall into place.

Kidd Rumours …Finally
11.3 PPG, 10.4 APG, 8.2 RPG

Well, it’s about damn time, don’t you think? To be honest, I had November 28^th, 2007 circled on my calendar as the day I thought Jason Kidd would ask for a trade, no wonder I don’t win baby pools. Never the less, I digress (what does that word mean anyways? It sounds classy though), with Jason Kidd looking for a plane ticket out of New Jersey, it’s time they hit the lottery. There are no shortages of teams who can use a talent like Kidd, but there are very few teams who would be willing to trade for him whether it is because they don’t have the cap space or they don’t have the package of young players it would take. So far the rumoured destination is Dallas, and why not? Jason Kidd to play with an all-world talent in Dirk Nowitzki, can you say Larry O’Brien trophy? I am a huge fan of Devin Harris, but rarely do you get a chance to make this kind of move. Jason Kidd has triple-double potential every night, even when his shots aren’t falling consistently, and because of that his teammates would be far better off as well.

Spurs Ink Stoudamire, Raptors Miss out

Stoudamire: 7.3 PPG, 3.9 APG, 2.4 RPG
West: 6.9 PPG, 3.3 APG, 20 MPG

 

The Spurs have signed Damon Stoudamire to shore up their back court and what a good pickup it is. Quite a few teams were interested in Stoudamire and the Spurs lucked out once again. The allure of winning a championship was probably the reason Stoudamire chose the Spurs, and who wouldn’t? He is going to be a perfect fit there as he doesn’t have to be the go to guy as on any given night there will be four or five more formidable options. The Raptors weren’t able to snag him, but news out of the Raptors camp in the last couple of days is that TJ Ford is close to practicing again. Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell should probably ease him into the lineup when he does get back however, as you never know with his type of injury; because of that Toronto should still try to go out and get a point guard in case of emergency. I am suggesting Delonte West of the Sonics, he is apparently not happy in Seattle because of his playing time and because of that still hasn’t opened the boxes he brought with him from Boston. It is unclear what kind of role he would get in Toronto once Ford returns, but until then he can backup Jose Calderon and be a viable option at the 2-spot as he is a good shooter, something you can never have enough of.

Calderon Left Off All-Star Team
13.9 PPG, 10.1 APG, 51.6 FG% (As a Starter)

Staying with the Toronto theme, how sad is it that Jose Calderon was not named to the All-star team? Since TJ Ford went out of the lineup he has helped Toronto to a 13-10 record and is putting up stats not seen in the NBA for years. He gives it his all every night, gets on the nerve of opposing point guards, see Anthony Johnson of Atlanta, and oh yeah his shooting percentages are very good as well. What more is there to say? What are these coaches thinking? I am not exactly sure who I would leave off the Eastern team, it would have to be one of Richard Hamilton or Joe Johnson, but the point is this guy deserved to be there. The same people that are raged not to see him at the big game this season are generally the same group who weren’t happy that he wasn’t in the rookie-sophomore game last season in Las Vegas. I hate to say this, but he probably wasn’t selected because he isn’t a ‘household’ name yet in the NBA. Point is however, when you are putting up the numbers he is this season as a starter, it’s hard to agree with the decision made by the coaches.