03.28
For Ford, playing is living. And he wants — needs — to live in the style he’s been accustomed to dating back to his roots as a Texas high-school basketball sensation.
Can he even picture himself coming off the bench over the final three years of his contract with the Raptors?
"No. Not till the end of my career," the 25-year-old said after practice yesterday. "That’s who I am right now. That’s where I’m at.
"In the NBA, I think I’m a starter. I don’t think I’m a guy that comes off the bench and plays limited minutes. I don’t think that’s my style."
But in recent weeks, counselling Ford as he tried to get his head around not being the engine that makes the Raptors run was busy work for nearly everyone in the organizational hierarchy.
Asked whether he could imagine a future playing 24 minutes a game, or some version of that, for 82 regular-season games, Ford was again pretty clear.
"No," he said. "This year was a different scenario, because I was hurt and I was out. But if that didn’t happen, I was showing I was one of the best guards in the east at the time."
Why trade Ford and not Calderon?
Fair or not, Ford’s showcase lasted all of 17 games this season before he was sent to the floor on a flagrant foul by Atlanta Hawks rookie Al Horford. Ford missed 1 1/2 seasons after he was injured in a similar circumstance in his rookie year.
As well, the Raptors can’t let an a valuable asset such as Calderon be signed away.
And they can’t tie up such a large portion of their salary total in one position if Ford has let it be known he’ll be happy only in a platoon if he gets most of the at-bats.
"We needed a win like that on our floor to get our confidence back," head coach Sam Mitchell said yesterday.
"We’ve been close, but a win like this lets you know that you are still a good basketball team. Hopefully, we can build on this. I went back and I watched that game last night and I watched it this morning. We did a lot of good things. Even when we blew coverages, we made up for it with our energy and intensity. We played about as well as we can defensively. We haven’t played that well defensively in a long time."
And perhaps the best part about the win and the changes that helped bring it about is the positive impact it had on just about every Raptor in uniform.
"T.J. was much better," Mitchell said. "Jose was Jose with that group coming off the bench. Carlos (Delfino) gave us some good minutes. He had not played well for a couple of weeks. Rasho was just, again, unbelievable with 15 points and nine rebounds."
"We beat a good team and we played well," Bosh said. "It’s not like we made a bunch of shots and gave up a lot of points, either. We weren’t making the same mistakes we were making before. We played good defence. We rebounded pretty well and we got out on the break. We were executing our offence pretty well. We had a lot of good things going for us last night."
"I think it changes the defensive approach of the whole team," Bosh said of having Nesterovic on the floor more often. "We know he’s going to talk on defence. He’s going to have a lot of fire when he’s playing and he’s going to let you know if things aren’t going well."
"I think the most important thing is when you focus on the name on the front of your jersey, not the back," Garbajosa said. "When you think about it, if you focus on your teammate good things happen. It’s not a matter of how many minutes you’re going to play."
Garbajosa only learned of his friend’s offer when the switch was announced Wednesday morning, and while he admits it’s not a common occurrence in the NBA, Calderon making such a sacrifice did not surprise him.
"I don’t want to say that’s the European way or that we are different at all, but it’s really easy to talk about sacrifices, it’s really tough to do it," Garbajosa said. "With this kind of act, you can see it was not just words (for Calderon)."
With Moon and his fellow denizens of the Toronto wing struggling to find their form with 11 games until the playoffs, Johnson’s arrival on a 10-day contract, it’s safe to say, is designed to raise both locker-room eyebrows and sagging games.
"We thought it would be a nice way to light a fire by bringing in a new player," said Bryan Colangelo, the Toronto general manager.
Johnson’s signing was made possible by Darrick Martin’s exit from the uniformed roster. But Martin, the 37-year-old point guard who has established himself as a respected locker-room mentor, will remain with the club as a player development consultant after he clears waivers.
Yes, he remains explosively talented and merely 25 years old. But the past six weeks spent slouching and sneering through a stint as Jose Calderon’s backup haven’t done much for Ford’s stock as a team-first No.1.
Far more grave, Ford’s season of scary spinal-related injuries has made it impossible for the Raptors to ponder parting with Calderon, who, at age 26, continues to shore up his all-star-worthy skill set.
That’s not to say club insiders don’t hold out hope that the two-headed point guard – a strong point of the club that has turned into an Achilles heel – can still work in the long run. But as hugely respected as he is here for his perseverance and his gutsy attack, you get the sense he’s lost some respect in the coaches’ offices and the locker room for his I-hate-being-a-backup act.
And his continuing assertion that all was well when he wasn’t a starter – "I think I did a great job off the bench," he said yesterday – is disingenuous. He could probably make it better quickly with a sincere: "My bad."
But he doesn’t appear to have it in him.
And so the Raptors find themselves in a place they never thought they’d be: at least pondering their future without him, albeit with a long way to go before decision time. Colangelo, in no mood to ponder July with three weeks until playoff time, offered this.
"If we get to that point this summer where we feel it’s not going to work (with Calderon and Ford) going forward," he said, "then we’ll have some decisions to make . . ."
So, why him? Why now?
Well, how about a shot across the bow at the guys here, maybe a guy like Moon, or Deflino or Kapono. Let ‘em know that there are hungrier, young guys out there that this organization might want to take a look at.
I don’t expect Johnson to play much right off that bat, or possibly at all, but if I know Sam and Bryan, they’re going to let him loose in practice and if starts playing better than anyone that’s here now, Johnson will find himself in games.
There are a million directions to go on this issue, but one idea worth covering off is that I think the club – Sam really – made a mistake by allowing that it was Jose who initiated the change in the line-up.
I know why he did, or I think I do: He wanted to give credit where it was due for a selfless gesture on the part of Calderon. As he said last night, his respect for the man – already considerable – went through the roof.
And so it should. But all the time and words spent in praise of Calderon inevitably – if unintentionally – cast Ford in a lesser light.
Mitchell also made the point that a starting role is even more significant to a young player like Ford in an effort to explain why Ford, though he never explicitly demanded to start, did allow that not starting was a problem for him, a fact underlined by his play at times and by his body language on other occasions.
It was pointed out to him that Calderon is 26 and Ford is 25. It could also have been pointed out that Calderon is the one headed into free agency, and Ford is the guy with the two years and a player-option left after this season on a contract worth $33-million.
“It’s different make-ups,” was Mitchell’s answer. “You can’t compare individuals. Some people can [come off the bench], some people can’t. Some people can do it more easily than others. It just depends on your makeup.
“We’re just fortunate that we’ve got guys on our team that puts everybody ahead of their own personal goals. It doesn’t tell me that Jose doesn’t want to play and doesn’t want to start; it tells me he understands that with 12 games to go, we have to do something different.”
Again, between the lines, it says that Ford isn’t a person who can put the team ahead of his own goals.
Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell might be giving Rasho Nesterovic a lot to think about this summer by giving him heavy minutes.
Nesterovic can opt out of the final year of a contract that will pay him US$8.4-million next season. And the way he is performing this month, the affable Slovenian might be able to squeeze another multi-year deal out of another general manager.
"Oh, no. No," Nesterovic said with a smile Thursday, killing any notion the veteran centre might leave via free agency.
That is probably a wise move on Nesterovic’s part — free agency could also be risky for a slow centre with limited athleticism — and good news for the Raptors.
"We were afraid of Rasheed taking Rasho out on the floor, but we also didn’t want to have to (double-team him) and open up three-point shots for Jarvis Hayes and Chauncey Billups," Mitchell said. "Rasho allowed us to not have to go and double-team."
The question is whether Nesterovic can continue to handle the heavy doses of minutes. After playing at least 30 minutes in just two games in the season’s first four months, he has reached that threshold seven times in March.
"Nobody asks you if you’re tired or not. You’re professionals," Nesterovic said. "You get paid for what you do."
And next year, he will be paid $8.4-million US for his professionalism. There will be no questioning that.
Ford also said he would be fine with that arrangement continuing next season, even though the Raptors could conceivably let Calderon go this summer, as he is a restricted free agent.
"I would love to have him back. However [the Raptors' front office] decides to make it work, that’s part of their job in the summertime to figure out how all those things will work," Ford said after Thursday’s practice. "I like it here in Toronto. I want to be here in Toronto."
It was Jose Calderon’s idea to go back to the bench and allow T.J. Ford to take over as the Toronto Raptors’ starting point guard. But when Raptors coach Sam Mitchell gave the idea the rubber stamp before Wednesday’s game against Detroit, he had the numbers to back up the change.
Despite Calderon being the superior offensive player this year, both players have actually played better in their current roles: Ford as a starter, and Calderon as a reserve. And in terms of overall production, the current lineup — with Ford starting — has been more successful for Toronto.
If there’s one thing that has to concern the Raptors organization and brain trust it’s the inability to execute effectively and efficiently in pressure situations over prolonged periods of time. In the playoffs, we can’t expect to see blowout wins, nor can we hope to see large margins of victories. Unfortunately, the team is currently having difficulties winning close games, games where the Raptors are within a few points for the majority but suddenly get blown apart in the fourth quarter as the Raptors shooting starts to get cold and the other teams’ starts to get hot.
The thought was that once Chris Bosh returned this week, the Raptors would play better, which they have. Nevertheless, the Raptors have found a little better defensive effort, but have still been unable to execute down the stretch. Is it because Sam Mitchell has to rely on players like Jamario Moon and Carlos Delfino who have not been asked to play significant clutch minutes over their careers? Even with a change to the lineup, the Raptors saw their massive lead against Detroit shrink to almost nothing in the fourth quarter.
It’s crunch time folks and it’s a lot to ask Chris Bosh to shoulder when other teams have four or five players that are hitting their stride down the stretch. Problem is, who else on this Raptors squad can step up to the challenge?
TJ is a spoiled brat. Is he happy he got the start? Was he happy when Jose got that incredible welcome when he checked in, but TJ didn’t? He got the same playing time, but all that changed was that he started the game, as apposed to coming off the bench. BUT, he played under control, scored when he should have, passed when he should have…in fact, he passed a couple times when I thought he should have passed/shot.
Iindividual player match-ups are what dictate coaching strategies, in the NBA, and determine, to a large extent, which teams Win and which teams Lose specific games and series. If the Raptors primary back-court in the playoffs consists of their 2 PG’s (one of whom is 5-11, 165; the other of whom is 6-3, 210) … then this team is going nowhere fast.
But here’s what I hate about the move. It shows a weak backbone at the coaching and managment level. I like TJ. I like his game. Overall, I think he has more talent than Jose. But this season, Jose has earned that starting position. I know the whole routine about a guy losing his position when he’s out injured, but that’s too bad. Take a look back at Wally Pipp and then talk to me about a guy losing his position to injury. Sometimes, it works out for the better. By moving TJ back into the starting position, whether it came from Jose, from Sam or from BC, it shows that you can essentially be a crybaby for a month and then get what you want. Does it make the team better? Who knows? They looked pretty good against the Pistons, but that’s one game.
Another move that was made for tonight’s game is Nesterovic making the starting line-up again and Bargnani going to the bench. This is simply because Nesterovic is playing amazing of late. I haven’t seen him play this well in ages. Bargnani has been hot in the first quarter but we haven’t seen him do much of anything after that. It’s great if you get 15 points, but you should get some in the remaining quarters. All this talk about Bargnani leaving is gibberish. This guy has sublime talent. He will take time to develop and people need to understand that. He is also playing on one of the deepest rosters in the league. If he doesn’t step up and perform, someone else will. This will help him for the better eventually but right now it will take him time. I will wait to see Il Mago earn his name again. People need to be more patient. Everyone knew this guy wouldn’t be a Dirk right from the start. Even Dirk took about 4 or 5 seasons to be the Dirk he is now. I don’t think Bargnani will take that long, but we still must be patient with him. In the mean time, be thankful for the team player we have in Calderon.
By Calderon coming off the bench with the second unit, he will instantly make everyone on the bench play much better and bring Jason Kapono back to life. Bargnani going to bench will help him get his confidence back and he will be a lethal scorer off the bench. When Bargnani started alongside Bosh, CB4 was getting most of the touches as he should and that limited what Bargnani could do. Now that Bargnani will be coming off the bench, he should be option one or option two in terms of scoring. Jose will undoubtedly find Bargnani for easy baskets and will make sure he gets the ball. Calderon also plays really well with Carlos Delfino and knows exactly where and when to get the ball to Kapono. Overall, Calderon is going to make the Raptors bench one of the best in the NBA again.
As always … 1st Class stuff with your Linkage.
Ominous signs?
They are now everywhere in Raptorland.
Despite what the ‘average’ team fan might think … professional beat reporters, like Michael Grange (for example), just don’t ‘make things up’ when they file reports or create ‘blog entries’ re: the internal goings-on or the general atmosphere surrounding an NBA team.
Mitchell-Angelo is going to have his hands full navigating this mess in a productive way moving forward from here.
Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic, tic, tic …
khandor’s last blog post..Raptors vs Pistons … post mortem
[...] some more of today’s media. Let’s get an easy win [...]
Michael G has stepped his stuff up over the past couple of years. Hard to tell he isn’t a huge NBA fan with his work.
The blog idea for he and Doug Smith is brilliant. Especially when you look at other media blogs in other cities, they are still pretty much puff pieces. While I don’t always agree with their views, Smith & Grange and the guys over at the National Post on Posted Sports have used this tool to put their true thoughts out there and, the Post especially, some great shootaround/behind the scenes stuff.
Thanks very much for the compliment on the Linkage posts.
Scott’s last blog post..Linkage – March 28