Changing of the Guards

There are two NBA teams that have backup point guards who are better than the starters. Those are the Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets. I’m calling out Rick Adelman and Sam Mitchell and telling them to start Jose Calderon and Steve Francis for the remainder of the year. I’ll explain why:

First, let’s look at the Raptors, as this is the more clear cut obvious case. TJ Ford is a wonderfully talented player, and it’s apparent that he’s worked hard on his shot to increase his field goal percentage to 46.5% (career high). TJ is also one of the quickest players in the league with the ball, which is why he is so effective at getting into the lane. Those are the reasons why the Raptors traded for him. His weaknesses are that he shoots too much, especially in key situations. He is a horrible three-point shooter (25%), and although he is great at dribble penetration and dishing out to the open man, he is not great at running this offense. That’s where Jose Calderon comes in.

Jose is also very quick with the ball, albeit not as fast as TJ. He has a great shooting stroke with 49% from the field and 36% from three. He is also much better and more experienced in running an up-tempo style of play with him playing for his national team, Spain. Jose is an extremely smart basketball player and much more unselfish. Yet, he is more effective when his scoring is needed, as you can see from his percentages. This unselfishness is key, because they are not utilizing their best player, Chris Bosh, to the fullest when TJ is on the court.

Chris is a multi-dimensional extremely talented player who started the season in a slump. Some say it is because of his lingering injuries, which may be true; however, it is more than that. Sam Mitchell is not allowing Chris to run this team from start to finish. He is giving that opportunity to TJ Ford and Andrea Bargnani (to some degree), which is a big mistake. Chris can do everything on the court and Mitchell must use those skills to run this team more efficiently. The point guard that enables Chris to do this… Calderon.

Look at the last 6 games, where Jose has started and played the majority of the game because of TJ’s injury. They are 4-2 (they were 5-6 before this stretch of games). Bosh came out of his slump completely and was having some very nice games, while they were winning. Calderon is averaging 11 assists per game and the offense is running much smoother. In fact, let’s look at what TJ is averaging as a starter as compared to Jose as a starter:

            PPG  RB   AST   STL   TO   FG%   3P%  Min
TJ:      13.9   2.2   7.7     1.2     2.25  .47     .25      27
Jose:   11.8   3.3   11      0.7     1.5    .45     .58      37

With starters minutes (37 per game) Jose is averaging 11 assists, granted it’s a small sample of 6 games, but the Raptors have looked better and more complete as a team, and they are winning!

I will give Sam Mitchell credit. Ford has been back for 2 games now, and Calderon is still starting and getting big minutes. I’m hoping it’s because Mitchell has realized his team is much better with Jose running the point, but I fear it’s because TJ is still coming back from the injury and he’s being worked in slowly. I’m not saying relegate TJ to the bench and only play him 10 minutes a night, but please keep Jose as the starter and give him 30 minutes per game! You’ll thank me for it later, Sam.


Now onto my home team, The Rockets! I picked the Rockets to be the best team in the West this year and I did it because they got a new coach, and improved in their two biggest weaknesses; point guard and power forward. Well, we are 18 games into the season and the Rockets are a .500 team. Yes, they played the toughest schedule in the league up to this point, playing San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix twice each, and they dealt with T-Mac already missing time due to an injury. Even with those caveats, I do not believe the Rockets will win the West, if Aldelman continues to start Rafer Alston and Chuck Hayes! They improved so greatly, why do I still see the same team I watched last year? I will likely discuss Luis Scola at a later date, but today we will talk about Rafer.

First you need to understand that few people were happier to see Steve Francis get traded than me. He was a ball pounder (he took too damn long to get the offense running and make decisions), he couldn’t make an entry pass to save his life and had a TON of turnovers. That was 4 years ago. Now Steve is older, wiser and less selfish. He still has his issues, but he is an upgrade over Rafer Alston!

This is Rafer’s third year with the team, and we are still pulling our hair out! He is a horrible shooter. He lacks the basketball IQ of most starting PG in the League. He is not athletic enough to make up for his lack of shooting ability and his court vision is average at best. The only thing that Rafer excels at is his ball handling ability.

While Steve has a lot of the same flaws (poor shooter from long range and lack of basketball IQ, when compared to above average point guards), he makes up for it in his athleticism and playmaking abilities. Steve is still able to make that “special play” in the course of a game. He can take more a scoring role when T-Mac or Yao are not playing their best, or at the very least be that consistent third scorer this team is in desperate need of. He brings experience and maturity (believe it or not) that Rafer lacks. Most of you who are up on the situation are probably saying, “Maturity? He came into camp out of shape and overweight! He was the likely starter until he did that. How does that show maturity!?” And you would be correct. I didn’t say he was the constant professional like Shane Battier. I merely compared his maturity to Rafer’s. How was Alston’s offseason???? Exactly. Plus, the Steve Francis of old would have caused a scene or too over not starting or even playing for that matter. The new Steve… Nothing but support and understanding. It’s starting to pay off, as he is getting minutes, and he should continue to get more. Hopefully, take over the starting role soon.

I wish I could give you some statistical analysis to backup my opinion, but Steve has only played in 5 games, and in a limited role at that. However, he has looked good in that limited role. He is passing the ball very well and making quick decisions. He is still able to get into the key, even after his surgeries. He simply brings the intangibles that Rafer has never and will never possess. Also, there’s the fact that I just watched the Rockets lose to the Kings, who suck. Rafer was pathetic, making no impact. In fact, the whole team was pathetic, making no impact, except for T-Mac and Yao. Just like last year. Steve was out with a sore back. Which again, is why he hasn’t gotten much burn this year. I just hope he gets in shape quickly and Adelman puts him in there! We are in desperate need of his talents!