I don’t know if that’s analogous. If the Lakers give the ball to Kobe all the time, that isn’t their most efficient means of scoring, whereas, like I said, running the screen and roll for Bosh is simply our most effective play, for better or for worse.

I’m not saying Calderon is as good as Nash or Billups, I just feel he’s undervalued for what he does. You say if all we needed to do was throw it in the post we could have signed any scrub, but that clearly isn’t true as you can see with Roko and Will. Throwing a simple post-feed is still a skill, and it’s these non-flashy aspects to running a team, along with timing and recognition that make Jose a great point guard.

I agree he could be penetrating more, but as I said, I’d wait until he’s completely healthy to say anything. Besides, that’s like saying Devin Harris should turn the ball over less and get his teammates more involved. They’re different types of players who will always have different strengths.

As for the hammy, I’ll take Jose at 70% on the floor over Roko/Will at 180% any day please. That’s why he doesn’t sit, and frankly I am thankful for it.

Also, I think your TJ assessment is more towards his post injury return, then prior to (?).

Great/solid points you’re making here.

re: Calderon’s a better jump shooter than any of those guys, but none of that has any bearing on my point, which is that (this type of) good point guards are able to stay calm, direct traffic, and take care of the ball.

Correct me, if I’m wrong about this, in your opinion, but I think you might also be willing to say that … part of what sets Calderon above the other PG’s who just “stay calm, direct traffic, and take care of the ball” is the fact that HE CAN/DOES stick the open jumpshot with regularity when it’s presented to him as the best option for his team at that moment in time.

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re: but regarding Nash, look at how average he’s looking now that the Suns are running a standard half-court offense–pretty much exactly how he looked in Dallas. In that type of system, I genuinely believe Jose would be better than Nash.

This is outstanding recognition, on your part.

Part of Mike D’Antoni’s [and not Bryan Colangelo's] authentic genius, in Phoenix, was his realization and his COMMITMENT to allow both Steve Nash & Amare Stoudemire the freedom they each need to function at their highest levels of capacity, operating exclusively within the confines of a basic 4 out/1 in alignment which finds Stat as the Center-piece of his team’s offensive deployment of pieces, setting a relentless series of picks for his PG, without the lane being clogged up by a 2nd Big, regardless who it might be.

Steve is a very good PG, in the NBA … but it’s a simple fact that he BECOMES an All-Time Great Point Guard, in this League, if/when he’s allowed/made to function in THAT type of specific offensive environment.

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This corner of the internet just got a lot more fun to frequent with your recent arrival. : )

Regarding your specific points about TJ:

He does penetrate and dish. Not as much as TJ, but he also throws it away a lot less, and takes a lot less bad shots.

He runs the fast break when it’s there. TJ would run it even when it wasn’t there, 2 on 3. Sometimes good things would happen, but there were also a lot of turnovers, bad shots and, most importantly, broken, ad-hoc offensive sets.

TJ could create his own low-percentage shot. Jose tries to get the best shot for his team, every possession. The offense was always better when Jose was in the game.

Defense, no argument there. TJ was better, but wasn’t exactly a stopper either. And I think that IF O’Neal can stay healthy, Jose’s defensive liabilities can be mitigated.

IMO, there were two distinctions, re: the title-winning efforts of AJ.

1. Despite being only 5-11, which is short by PG standards in the NBA, Avery weighed-in at a fairly sturdy 185 lbs., ala Isiah Thomas [180] & Chris Paul [175], respectively; neither of whom would I put into the “small” category. It’s more a combination of height, weight, strength and explosive power that determines if a quality PG fits into the “smallish” category or not [ala TJ Ford, at 5-11/6-0, 165], in the NBA.

2. If you’re going to be a “smaller PG”, in this League and hope to lead your team to a NBA Title one day, it also behooves you to play with a front-court that features two of the All-Time Best Centers in History, i.e. Tim Duncan [6-11] and David Robinson [7-1], side-by-each, as noted shot-blockers, Lane Patrols [in various "help" situations], and Defensive Rebounding Specialists.

And, if that’s all we need from a PG.. we didn’t need to sign Jose.

He doesn’t penetrate and dish (ala TJ).
He doesn’t do anything in the open court or transition. (ala TJ)
His half court game.. blah, I dunno.
He can’t create his own shot. (ala TJ)
He doesn’t play good D. (TJ was better,IMO)

I don’t think anyone is arguing that Jose is not a good (tennis ball machine like) distributor.. just need to see more then that, more often, more consistently.

I don’t think he’s up there with these guys yet, he may look like he could be, I just don’t see him there.

“There’s as much improvisation involved in playing PG than there is following directions from the coach.” This is what bothers me about the NJ playoff series or when people blame Sam for plays that he draws up.

No doubt, don’t play with an excuse.

Khandor, how does Avery play into the diminutive PG never win chips argument?

It sounds to me as though both you and Simon may have played the PG position at a high level over the course of your basketball career [or are still playing at that spot today].

Joe D. definitely fit into that category, as well.

There’s no such thing.

Point guard is a hell of a lot harder of a position than it looks. Just being a point guard who can efficiently run an offense without having a high turnover rate is a very rare skill. That kind of “floor general” is an invaluable commodity that most NBA teams would kill to have. I can only think of a scant few in the past 15 years or so: Calderon, Avery Johnson, Stockton, Billups, and Andre Miller. Brevin Knight in a good year might fit into that category. None of those guys are known for shot creation, none of them would ever be the central superstar of a championship team, but they all do good things for the teams they’ve played for. Miller in Philly turned them around, and Denver declined drastically when they swapped him for Iverson. Exact same story with Billups for Iverson. Johnson was a big part of the reason the Twin Towers were so brutally efficient. Stockton, well, I don’t need to say much about Stockton, but if he had played with the Clippers his whole career we’d be talking about him in the same sentence as Brevin Knight rather than Bob Cousy.

The point is, these are guys that take a team over the hump. They can get a good team over the hump to being a great team, but they’re not going to turn an okay team into championship material. We’re not quite there yet, so Jose might be a little underappreciated, but I genuinely believe he can be the lynchpin of a championship team. He’s just not going to carry us there.

(btw, watch out for Denver this year. With the resurgence of Nené and the Birdman and Billups at the helm, they just vaulted into the top 3 in the West.)

What you wrote there about playing the PG position … especially at the highest levels of the game … is 100% crrect. Kudos to you!

If all we needed was a PG who could pass Bosh the ball and control the pace we would’ve signed a 3rd-tier PG who doesn’t turn the ball over much. Calderon as advertised (to me at least) is supposed to score for us, run the pick ‘n roll with Bosh and when need be, create for Parker/Kapono/Bargnani on the wings through dribble penetration (optionally using the high screen).

Here are a few examples of great PGs that create consistently for their mates: Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash. Here is a second tier of PGs that do the same: Devin Harris, Andre Miller, Raymond Felton… I’m not saying this second-tier is better than Calderon (except Harris), I’m saying Calderon needs to take a component from their games and add it to his, if he has the talent/ability to do it.

I don’t get the strained hamstring bit. If you’re hurt, sit down. Don’t play with an excuse.

If you’ve ever played basketball, you’d know that a PG’s job isn’t to “create” shots for his teammates in the sense that s/he simply dribble around then spoon feed a dump-off or kick out for a layup or jump shot.

These are good plays, yes, but to expect a point guard to do this every possession means you’ve been watching too much street ball.

A PG should facilitate the offense, which means control the pace, limit turnovers and get the ball to where it needs to go at the right time. He isn’t expecting to get an assist with every pass (nor should anyone in basketball). It’s about making the right pass at the right time, even if it means making the pass that leads to the pass that leads to an assist.

Dumping it into the post or handing it to Bosh is the smartest offensive play 95% of the time for this team. So wouldn’t you agree Calderon is making the smartest play 95% of the time then? So how can you complain about that?

Who’s the prototypical point-guard of our era? John Stockton? Steve Nash?

Those guys racked up assists predicated on a 2-man offense with these guys named Malone and Stoudemire. If you criticize Jose for not “creating” you basically have to level the same criticism at Nash and Stockton.

Also, have you ever tried to play basketball with a strained hamstring? It’s hard. Really really hard. And that’s the typical lame pickup rec-leage ball. To be playing in the NBA with a bad hammy is damn near impossible considering the speed and athleticism of these players. Cut the dude some slack.

First. Highest commendations on your effort. I appreciate THAT most of all.

Second.

re: 1 & 2

Neither is relevant, at least, to me … as the answer to that particular riddle [i.e. D12 vs Toronto] is not what caused the Raptors to lose that playoff series last season, IMO.

The Raptors’ would have eradicated their main problem from last season simply by removing TJ Ford from their roster. Period. Via buyout, or a trade for a marginal player like Rodney Carney. It did not matter, as long as they didn’t do something ridiculous like add $21 Million worth of salary, in the form of a single player, that was going to hog-tie their roster this season, given the current budgetary climate at MLSE.

Losing Mr. Ford, by himself, was addition by subtraction, in my book book … which is a viewpoint that my compadre, Flux, for example, disagrees with vehemently [and, thus, we simply agree to disagree with one another, as reasonable people the world over should do with and for one another ... no harm, no foul].

re: 3 & 4

The “pace” at which the Raptors play is of little consequence to me. When I watch an NBA game and then break it down into its smallest components parts, what concerns me most is a team’s effectiveness during the individual possessions which are crucial to deciding the outcome of a specific game. These possessions change game-to-game and opponent-to opponent, regardless what the pace of play is.

re: 5

Actually … prior to the last night’s game the Raptors did not know that they could beat the Hawks team this season, as they lost their first meeting with Atlanta this season.

Beating Charlotte was a known quantity prior to the game this past week as the Raptors had previously beaten the Bobcats in North Carolina earlier this season.

What the Raptors learned this week, specifically in these two games, is that they can and did beat the Hawks and the Bocats in solid outings at home without Jermaine O’Neal not in the line-up, which is basically part of what I said in my original comment here.

The fact is … the Raptors did not know that they could do this before … despite what I felt their capabilities were without Jermaine O’Neal in their line-up.

If you’ve visited my blog then you know already that, in my book, Confidence comes from Accomplishment.

In comparison, what the Raptors have “accomplished”, thus far, with JO in their line-up is, indeed, precious little, in the grand scheme of things, in the NBA.

What I say isn’t “Right” simply because I’m the one saying it.

If what I do say happens to be “Right”, however, it’s because, with the passage of time, and after the proverbial pudding has been eaten by the guests invited to the party … what I say can sometimes be shown to have been “Correct” in the first place, despite the initial mis-givings of others.

Hopefully, you should be able to see the difference there.

re: 6

Those were my specific thoughts on the Raptors’ performance after last night’s game, and reading Arsenalist’s article this morning. If that’s a soliloquy, then, I will need to plead “Guilty as charged”. I do not tell others to say what they have to say about the Raptors with MORE words than what they choose to use; or, with FEWER words, either. The comments I have no interest in reading, I scroll by. Others are free to do likewise with mine.

Third. In reply to the question you asked me … know that, at this time in my life, choosing to work for one NBA team is of little interest to me, as I much prefer to do what I do at present, in comparison with that.

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From my perspective, it’s a pleasure exchanging thoughts and ideas about the games people play with others in an environment like this one. : )

If speaking specifically about Kapono, I agree that it seemed that there were 2 specific plays run for him, but the others were him creating his own shot…something he could have been doing all season. What irks me is how, as Sam said, Kapono had to be “reminded” he’s a shooter. If that is truly the case, it’s mindblowing.

You make a great point about plays we SHOULD be running, but I wonder if we have the horses to do it. Moon’s mind is elsewhere and he seems content to stand and wait either for a pass or a chance to go up for a lob, Parker I think should definitely move more, Solomon is out of control, Humph and HO are more about the boards. Bargs would be an interesting experiment to run off screens, but I have to wonder if teams would switch a big on him. If they do, it negates one advantage he usually has against opponents. I also fear that we would get called a lot on illegal screens with guys like Joey, Humph, etc stepping out a bit too much. Murphy’s law.

Be interesting to see if Kapono continues to play with his head in the game and if AP can put another solid game together. More than Joey and Kris, in a few ways I think those two are keys to any success.