Comments on: In Defense of Jose Calderon

By: Tim W.

Tim W. — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:00:09 +0000

Jeff,

Calderon was signed as a free agent. He was never drafted. As for Ukic, I don’t see the same things as I did watching Calderon. While Ukic can get to the basket, is a good ball handler and has the physical ability to be successful, as a PG, he’s pretty awful. What I mean by that is that a PG needs to pass and run an offense. That should be his primary function. Ukic has never shown to have even average abilities in this area. Players don’t suddenly start making good decisions. It takes years to learn how to do so.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:53:30 +0000

Thank you. When the Raps drafted Calderone, I remember one GM commenting that he was a potential steal. I had seen him play once or twice for Spain and was impressed. His dramatic improvement in shooting % is also no surprise – he came to the NBA not speaking very good English and had to adapt to the NBA “style” of ball.

I have always believed he was talented (and I believe that Roko Ukic may eventually make me remind people of this)and had the ability to be a top flight point guard. He may nnot be able to guard Chris Paul, but Chris Paul cannot shoot like Jose8.

By: brothersteve

brothersteve — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:56:21 +0000

No one should have to defend Jose!
Unfortunately, it seems people have very short memories.
Hollinger said Jose was ripped off of an all-star berth 2 seasons ago due to a lack of name recognition.
Last season, if the team had played better, he might of had a shot even with the injury. Mo Williams and Jameer Nelson got consideration based on their team play – neither of those guys actually ran the offense.
If the Raps perform well and Calderon plays up to his ability, he will have a legit shot at an all-star berth this season.

By: Ragu

Ragu — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:44:50 +0000

Thank you.

I remember watching @ the ACC when Rafer was a Raptor, and hardly anyone cheered when he made a subtle spin or cross-over because no one (ie Raptors media) had appointed him as “the man” to cheer for.

TJ vs Jose? All I remember was people makin TJ out to be an “AI” clone–and that was/is a good thing?

There are STILL a WHOLE lot of believers out there who are entranced with the flashy, me first, “I”-before-team “point guards”, who would have NEVER given a player like Stockton any credit.

Where is “AI”, Steve”ie” “Franchise”, and “Starbury” playing now? Ask 70% of Raptors “fans” and they would trade Jose for AI in a second. It’s sad really.

I am just happy that there are people out there like you who are giving Jose credit.

Thank you.

By: SkyJ

SkyJ — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:47:07 +0000

Great post. It frustrates me to hear some of the short-sighted comments from fans. The people complaining about Jose’s efficiency (!?) would probably be the same people calling him a me-first ball hog who coughs up the ball too much. And if you’ve ever had a hamstring injury, you’d know that what he accomplished was still pretty remarkable.