Thrust into the starting role after point guard T.J. Ford went down to injury, Jose Calderon has been everything and more for the Toronto Raptors since. Calderon has been phenomenal this season, and the NBA is starting to take notice of numero ocho.
Not only has the Spaniard put up great numbers on the floor, he's also been a big hit in the world of fantasy basketball - another reason why he's being shown some love. I'm more of a fantasy hockey guy myself, but I know how serious people take their fantasy games. For owners of teams who picked up Calderon off the waiver wire, he's been nothing short of a God-send. Rotowire's got a blurb on Calderon over at Yahoo! Sports and they're mentioning our good old Jose in the same breath as Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and, yes, Steve Nash.
Since taking over the starting point guard job for the injured Ford, Calderon has been averaging 13.4 points and 9.7 assists per game. Much has also been made about Calderon's incredible assist-to-turnover ratio: 5.54. He leads the league, by far. His nearest competition is Brevin Knight of the Clippers who sports a ratio of 4.28. Calderon simply gets all his teammates involved, and doesn't turn the rock over. He's racked up 371 assists this season, while only committing 67 turnovers. Money.
The man can shoot as well. Calderon's shot has improved by leaps and bounds since he came into the league back in 2005. In his rookie year, Calderon shot 42% from the field, only 16% from deep, and 85% from the free throw line. He didn't have much confidence in those days, and I never, ever, thought he would blossom into the Jose Calderon we are blessed with today.
His numbers this season are off the charts. A 51% shooting percentage from the field, 43% from beyond the arc, and 92% from the line. As the good folks at Rotowire were so sweet to point out, the only other cat to shoot 40/50/90 is - you guessed it - two-time MVP Steve Nash. Calderon is in some heavy company, and he deserves to be.
I figured a part of Jose's success was attributed to the fact that he was a starting point guard playing in a backup role against other team's second units, on a deep Raptors team. But Calderon has proved his worth as a starter, going up against the league's top point guards, and leading the Raptors to victory. He's the real deal and, astonishingly, only 26 years old.
T.J. Ford may not come back this season. This we know. If he does, he'll come back and play behind Calderon, as he's done before when he's been out of the lineup for an extended period of time. It's tough to argue with Calderon's success, and Ford is a team-player. He knows it's the right decision. If Ford doesn't return this year, the Raptors need to address their backup point guard situation. Darrick Martin, the quasi-coach, and Juan Dixon, are not getting the job done, and Jose is logging a ton of minutes.
Doug Smith at The Star writes in his blog that Mighty Mouse, Damon Stoudamire, is working on a buyout of his contract down in Memphis. Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Stoudamire will be waived by the Grizz on Monday and if he's not claimed in 48 hours he will be released and become a free agent. His potential destinations? Boston or Toronto. It would be tough to turn down the Celtics, especially with the season they are having, but I'd definitely be open to having Stoudamire return to Toronto, especially if Ford isn't coming back. Damon didn't leave Toronto on good terms but we're a welcoming folk, and we'd accept him back in Toronto with open arms, especially if it means Darrick Martin doesn't see any more floor time.
The best-case scenario would be the return of Ford, but who knows when he'll be ready to resume practicing with the team? Certainly I don't. Mighty Mouse, round two, is definitely an intriguing proposition.
The Raptors are on a roll, having won four out of their last five, and seven out of 10. They are starting to solidify themselves as a legitimate playoff team in the pathetic Eastern Conference, and are in a dog-fight with the Washington Wizards for the coveted fourth playoff spot, and home-court advantage. Jose Calderon deserves a boat-load of credit for the Raptors success. So, thank you Jose. You are appreciated.
I leave you, fellow Raptors fans, with some news I'm sure you'll enjoy as much as I did. Adrian Wojnarowski, a hoops columnist at Yahoo! Sports whom I frequently peruse, has picked his winners for some first-half awards, now that the NBA season has reached its halfway point. Vince Carter, that loathsome little turd who now plys his trade (read: complete indifference) over in New Jersey, was named the Least Valuable Player. Little things like that just make my day.
"Half-man, half-hearted," indeed. Even though it was one of the most one-sided trades ever, the Toronto Raptors won when they traded Vince Carter by simply getting rid of him. Addition by subtraction, my dear Watson.
Stupid question of the day: I wonder if the Nets are regretting that four-year, $62 million dollar dear they gave Carter last summer...?
It was the Sunday of Sports.
I caught a lot of action today on the tube, and unfortunately I did watch the Raptors lose to the Portland Trail Blazers, minus the franchise Chris Bosh.
I fully expected the Raps to win this game. They play good ball at the ACC, and I think the Raptors are a better team than the Blazers. I almost had it labelled as a "for sure win." Now I don't know why I think the Raptors are entitled to any "for sure win" games anymore, but clearly they're not ready to be given that right.
The Raptors played like the Craptors, let me tell you. It was a sad performance that highlighted the teams weaknesses, and without Chris Bosh, who's out for a few games with a sore knee, the Raps didn't have a chance.
Weakness #1: Way too much perimeter shooting
Why do the Raptors love to just jack three ball's all day long, when none of them are dropping? Why do the Raptors love to take the long jumper, that don't usually go in, and have no one under the bucket to rebound? Why are the Raptors so reluctant to drive to the basket?
Toronto shot 35% from the field today. They pulled down a measly 34 rebounds. They played with zero energy and zero intensity. If this team continues to settle for the jump shot, they simply won't win ball games. Granted, they were missing their best player and inside performer, so other guys had to take more shots. Mo-Pete and TJ Ford were those guys tonight. Ford was 7-19 from the field while Peterson was 8-15. Ford has got to be better than that, and he needs to look for the pass a little bit more. The Raptors simply didn't share the ball much today, and I think that was mainly due to the fact that the team was minus CB4.
The Raptors shot only 26% from beyond the arc. 6 out of 23. That's not NBA-calibre shooting, to say the least. The team has simply got to be more aggressive, cause right now it's just too easy to beat the Raptors.
Weakness #2: The Raptors have no clue how to play defence.
Forget about their shooting woes, the team can't play defence very well either. That's been a problem for years now, and the Raps miss Bosh's presence on the boards too, big time. The Blazers were blazing and shot over 50% in the first half. The Raptors just didn't bring it today, and it was evident in the game. Portland had far too many easy looks.
Not a very good game to watch. Now the Raps are off to Florida to face Miami and Orlando. The Raptors are a pathetic road team, and without Bosh, it's going to be a wee bit difficult on the road.
After the debacle by the Raps I settled in to watch the Buffalo Bills take on the New York Jets. It was a big game for the Jets, who's playoff aspirations could have gotten a huge lift had they beat the Bills.
Buffalo played a great game and won it 31-13. JP Losman and Lee Evans hooked up for another long touchdown pass. They've got great chemistry on the long passing plays. That's about all JP Losman can do, but he has been better as the season has gone on. The Bills are at 6-7 and are still mathematically alive in the playoff race. Progress people. Progress.
Props out to Willis McGahee today. He was fantastic and rushed for 125 yards on only 16 carries. After his 57 yard touchdown run in the first quarter I was up on my feet yelling "What you talkin 'bout Willis!" repeatedly. He was sick too, literally. Puking on the sidelines in the first quarter. He's a soldier though, and stayed in the game and dominated the Jets defense. McGahee has struggled a bit this season, and he's always got nagging injuries, but games like today's make you see that he really does have the potential to become one of the NFL's better running backs.
The Bills played a perfect road game. The offence played well. Losman finished with two touchdowns and the defence was solid in shutting down Chad Pennington.
The playoffs are a stretch but hopefully the Bills can finish the season above .500, and build towards a playoff run next season.
The Bills make me wanna SHOUT!
Other interesting tidbits from the day in sports:
- LaDainian Tomlinson is a touchdown machine. He broke the single-season touchdown record today, with this 29th TD in only his 13th game. That is ridiculous. That is more touchdowns than the Bills offence has all season. LT is far and away the best running back in football, and it's not even close.
- Welcome back Martin Havlat. With another 2 points tonight, that's 5 in two games since coming back from an ankle injury. The Hawks won both games and they're clearly happy to have him back. The Hawks are playing well since the coaching change that brought in Denis Savard. Gotta love the Savardian Spinorama!
- How bad is Martin Gerber? Very bad. The Senators lose back-to-back games on the weekend after getting pasted by the Blue Jackets 6-2 in Columbus. Gerber played a horrendous game and was replaced by Ray Emery. The Gerber signing is clearly turning out to be a mistake, and Ottawa must be regretting it, especially after tonight. The Ottawa media is going to be all over Gerber and the Sens, and Emery has got to be the number one man in the crease. As a team, they've been extremely inconsistent. With 31 points they're tied with, guess who, the Maple Leafs. That's got to be pissing them off a bit too. And so is watching Martin Havlat tear it up, I'm sure. Good call letting him walk away for nothing! I'm definitely enjoying that one. And they should have kept Chara, not Redden, who can't stay healthy this year. Hopefully our rivals in the capital can keep up the good work.
- Andy Pettitte is returning to the Bronx to pitch for the Yankees. Great news for Blue Jays fans. And the Cubs are reportedly going to sign Jason Marquis to a 3 year deal worth around $20 million. Marquis' ERA last season was above 6.00. This signing has made me reach a decision - my son, when I have one, is going to be a pitcher. Even the bad ones make millions.
- As of tonight, there are only 3 teams in the NBA's Eastern Conference that have a winning record; Detroit, Cleveland and Orlando. The Atlantic Division, in which the Raptors play, does not have a team with a winning record. The Western Conference, in contrast, has 9 teams with more wins than losses. Disparity, please.
- Steve Nash is once again improving on his incredible statistics of the past 2 years. He's in line to win an astounding third-straight NBA MVP. Steve Nash is a true Canadian hero, and I like the fact he cut his hair. I never really was feeling the long locks.
Goodnight, Toronto...
