Calderon Injured at Eurobasket!!

[RAPresenting]

Poor bastard can't stay happy for the life of him. Tim thats a great idea about him doing Yoga.

Here is to hoping Bayless is currently working hard and is going to run with this opportunity.

[heinz57]

I think he was going to play less regardless. How long do you figure Dwayne Casey was going to tolerate pylon caliber defense?

we should just call him "The Spectator"

all he does on defense is watching and clapping

[Bendit]

Reeally? Oo Dragic. You gone and done it now.

Time to start booing him Raptors Fans!!

Raptors Fans, UNITE!!

Assuming that Dragic was purposeful, I just want to remind that nationalism in Europe at this level of sports starts to raise its ugly head and makes players do whatever it takes to win. This is "their" big tournament and why just about ALL of the Euro players are playing for their teams unlike the Canadians who blew off their team for the FIBA games recently. The competition is fierce and the local reward great and why JV's performance is meaningful in this tourney at his age.

Edit: Oops, this was meant as reply to Pesterm1

[jimmie]

Hamstring is a long way from the ankle. I know they're both on the leg, and all, but it's hard to injure them both at the same time.

[Apollo]

we should just call him "The Spectator"

all he does on defense is watching and clapping

He is no doubt the Chad Ochocinco of the team's defense.

[heinz57]

He is no doubt the Chad Ochocinco of the team's defense.

LOL... i've been googling Ochocinco all morning since you started that thread.. There's a massive gap of time between now and the last time i watched the NFL... so i had a "who the hell is ochocinco!?" moment... google image searched him and was like "isn't that CHAD JOHNSON!??! Did he take his wife's name or something!?"

he's one wacky dude

[Apollo]

What happened was instead of having the name "Johnson" on the back he wanted have the spelling of his number in spanish on there. The league would not allow it, stating that space is for his actual legal name. So, one off-season he goes and changes his last name to it. Everything is perfectly normal here.

If Calderon did this his new name would be "Jose Ceroocho".

[heinz57]

What happened was instead of having the name "Johnson" on the back he wanted have the spelling of his number in spanish on there. The league would not allow it, stating that space is for his actual legal name. So, one off-season he goes and changes his last name to it. Everything is perfectly normal here.

If Calderon did this his new name would be "Jose Ceroocho".

lol... i read all about it... WACKY! apparently a few years ago he intended to change his name again to "Hachi Go"... japanese for 85

[Tim W.]

we should just call him "The Spectator"

all he does on defense is watching and clapping

In his defense (no pun intended) his poor defense is less desire than physical ability. And he's not nearly as poor a defender as a lot of Raptor fans seem to think. Apparently a lot of them believe that any PG that gets beat on a regular basis is a poor defender, not realizing that 9/10 PGs in the league get beat regularly.

[Apollo]

Good defensive PGs don't get beat by everybody and their Grandmother on a nightly basis Tim.

I could argue that Bargnani isn't a bad rebounder because 9/10 bigmen can't beat Dwight Howard and Kevin Love to a board.

[jimmie]

So this -- like Arse's specious editorial on the main page -- has turned from "Jose is hurt (again)" to "Jose sucks" (again). Well, we're nothing if not a predictable bunch of fans, that's for sure.

1. Jose isn't injured. It was a twisted ankle and he's expected to play today in the semi-final. So talk of him being "injury-prone" can hopefully cease.
2. ... leaving us to either call this a non-story and move on, or continue to debate whether Jose does, in fact, suck.

- Jose doesn't suck. His defense is no worse than half the starting PGs in the league. As Tim W. stated, there aren't many "defensive stoppers" in the PG ranks. And on offense, he is highly efficient and effective.

- He's not too old to be considered a key part of the Raptors in 2011-12 or 2012-13 (when his contract expires). Whoever comes and goes after the new CBA signed and before the season starts, the team needs veterans badly, and having one who has been here a long time, wants to be here, has a solid work ethic, and is clearly a passionate, team player is a positive, not a negative.

- His contract isn't an albatross. It's high for what he does, but it's not high in comparison to other players around the league. And it's an expiring during the next 'full' season in 2012. Trade him then, or let him walk, or re-sign him at a (much) lower salary if he wants to begin and end his career in the same city.

I honestly don't know why we spend so much time discussing Jose when he's one of the true constants -- in terms of being a good soldier and in terms of efficient, steady on-court contribution -- that the team has right now.

[GarbageTime]

Good defensive PGs don't get beat by everybody and their Grandmother on a nightly basis Tim.

I could argue that Bargnani isn't a bad rebounder because 9/10 bigmen can't beat Dwight Howard and Kevin Love to a board.

The significant difference there is that Bargnani literally gets beat by every C on the boards.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/pl...nters/count/81


(you can't find his name on the qualified list because he didn't technically qualify by not grabbing enough rebounds)

Chris Paul is widely considered one of the top defensive PGs in the league, yet Jose seems to eat his lunch. (he averages 15 pts, 11 assists, 70% fg%, and 50% from 3 against New Orleans over the last 4 years... in fairness not ALL those minutes are against one player, but of 7 possible games, Jose started 6, Chris Paul started all of them. The one Jose did not start he still played just shy of 30 min) Is everyone wrong about Chris Paul's D if he can't even stop a PG like Jose?

Remember when Jack was considered a good Defensive PG before he got here?

Jose is not a good defender, but Raps fans have blown it out of proportion after his hamstring injury in 2008/09. He was terrible that year, weak the year after and pretty close to average last season. Welcome to what having the defensive dynamic duo of Bosh and Bargnani backing you up does to people's perception of your defense.

[Tim W.]

Good defensive PGs don't get beat by everybody and their Grandmother on a nightly basis Tim.

I could argue that Bargnani isn't a bad rebounder because 9/10 bigmen can't beat Dwight Howard and Kevin Love to a board.

Maybe you could point to the sentence where I stated that Calderon was a good defensive PG.

I am constantly amazed at how people don't seem to realize that there's a whole lot of middle ground between horrible and good.

[Apollo]

The significant difference there is that Bargnani literally gets beat by every C on the boards.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/pl...nters/count/81


(you can't find his name on the qualified list because he didn't technically qualify by not grabbing enough rebounds)

Chris Paul is widely considered one of the top defensive PGs in the league, yet Jose seems to eat his lunch. (he averages 15 pts, 11 assists, 70% fg%, and 50% from 3 against New Orleans over the last 4 years... in fairness not ALL those minutes are against one player, but of 7 possible games, Jose started 6, Chris Paul started all of them. The one Jose did not start he still played just shy of 30 min) Is everyone wrong about Chris Paul's D if he can't even stop a PG like Jose?

Remember when Jack was considered a good Defensive PG before he got here?

Jose is not a good defender, but Raps fans have blown it out of proportion after his hamstring injury in 2008/09. He was terrible that year, weak the year after and pretty close to average last season. Welcome to what having the defensive dynamic duo of Bosh and Bargnani backing you up does to people's perception of your defense.

Jose is a very good offensive player when he takes his open shots. He's an excellent open shooter, he protects the ball at all times and has good court vision. This isn't about Chris Paul but there is no shame in him having trouble guarding Jose Calderon because most people have trouble guarding Jose Calderon unless Jose is hurt. I've never complained about Jose's offensive game besides the fact that at times he "goes into his shell", becoming too conservative or not willing to take his open shots when he should. Nobody on the Raptors can hit an open shot from anywhere better than a healthy Jose Calderon.

Who Chris Paul can and cannot guard has nothing to do with Jose's nightly human pylon impersonation.

Maybe you could point to the sentence where I stated that Calderon was a good defensive PG.

I am constantly amazed at how people don't seem to realize that there's a whole lot of middle ground between horrible and good.

I'll pass because I wasn't suggesting you said that. If we're talking middle ground, then Jose Calderon is on the side closest to horrible.

I'm telling you guys, if there's a season, the only way Jose stays in the starting five all season is because Bayless falls flat on his face. My money is on Bayless impressing Casey enough to take over starting PG duties before the season is out.

[Balls of Steel]

Too bad he's getting 10 Mil...

It's too bad, but does this really have any long terms effect on the team? First of all, if the season starts before the New Year, I'll be shocked. Secondly, Calderon actually has a positive effect when he's on the court, and in a season where we want a high pick, him playing less might not be such a bad thing.

As for the hamstring, I think the guy needs to start getting into yoga, or something.