Old mail found to get you through a slow day

I’m going to take the easy way out this morning since yesterday was dead slow in the basketball world and most of it was spent marveling at the Morrow fellow.

I have to tell you, that would have been an A1 weekend at the ballyard, no? A million homers Saturday, the one-hit shutout Sunday? Can’t imagine much better.

Anyway, on a week where Birth Week ends today officially, I’m Tennis Boy on Tuesday and Wednesday (that ought to be a hoot) and finish up with the big national team games here against France on Thursday and Friday, here’s the old mail I found to get us through the morning stuff.

I know there's more mail in there, saw it at the end of the day yesterday and I'll get to it when I can. Promise.

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Q: Simple question: Why is Jose Calderon so hard to trade? By now, it's no secret the Raptors are trying very hard to move Jose and having little luck. Yes, Jose is a bad defender, is over-paid and is too careful with the ball, but he is a low-mistake point guard who can take care of the ball and shoots well. Surely, there must be a team who wants him?!

Kate M, Ottawa

A: I’m not sure he’s “so hard to trade” at all; there is a fair bit of interest out there – I know for a fact Indy’s called a few times – and it could be just a matter of the Raptors waiting at a lull time in the summer to get the best offer.

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Q: Hey Doug. I have a question concerning Rookie contracts. I was under the impression that the contracts were standardized based on where the player was taken in the draft - top 3 guys make more than bottom 3 sort of thing. Yet we read that rookie players are in contract negotiations or working things out. Barring a hold out or extenuating circumstances like Rickey Rubio, shouldn’t rookie contracts require very little negotiating/time to complete?

Ryan M, Ottawa

A: Actually, there’s a 20 per cent “negotiating” window upwards in rookie-scale contracts. It’s generally a given that the player will get it but sometimes – as was the case in Memphis, I believe it was, earlier this season – teams try to get out of paying the extra. It’s rarely a sticking point, though.

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Q: Hey Doug. Quick question. With all the young guys the Raps have now, there seems to be a strong friendship forming with the core guys. Do you recall a time when the Raps a core group of guys who worked well together on the court and off it?

Thanks.

Zack B, Singapore

A: I do. The group of Vince, Alvin, Muggsy, Dell, Oak, AD and Kevin Willis was pretty close; as was the 2007 team that had Darrick Martin as its ringleader.

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Q: Hi Doug. I'm a recent transplant from Mississauga living in London UK (as of January 2010). Each morning I still read my thestar.com/sports including your blog. I need to stay true to my roots.

Just read your note on Raptors/Nets O2 Arena.

HOW DO I GET TICKETS?!?!?!

Omair R, London, UK

A: You’ll wait until after the actual schedule is released on Aug. 10 and then wait to see what’s up.

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Q: Hey Doug. You mentioned that Amir was the only guy in town and that he came in for some weights and shooting. I'm guessing by the "only one" you mean that he was there with an unknown workout buddy/rebounder to spot him and pass the ball back after shots. My question is if the Raptors have staff around to do that stuff or if Amir just brings a friend or someone he pays to assist him? Either way, how can I get that job?

Paul C, Brantford

A: It’s been my experience – and was the case with Amir this week – that they have friends who are in town with them who hang out in the gym doing that kind of stuff. If worse came to worse, I know the hard-working souls on the back-of-house staff would be called on to help out.

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Q: Doug, not so much basketball related as it is a question about local newspaper reporting. In the Miami sports sections I've been reading, the new Big Three are being lionized. There's nary a criticism. Countless Championship rings are being polished, the Hall of Fame awaits, and one would think all three had taken a Ghandi-like vow of poverty for giving up what's really a pittance of their salary to make this NBA "miracle" possible. At the same time, the Miami media are criticizing fans and media in other parts of North America (particularly in Toronto and Cleveland) for being blind to this and not seeing the awesome virtues of these virtuous, professional gentlemen and for having the audacity to question their desires and motives.

Given the differences in reactions, my question is, how much are sports reporters influenced by community feelings and sentiments. (A Miami sports reporter that said something negative about the Heat would probably be tarred and feathered.) Do editors or publishers "guide" reporters slants? After all, the goal is to sell papers.

Joe S, Kingston

A: I don’t know if it’s “guiding” really but there is a tendency for some columnists and reporters to get caught up in the emotion of something as substantial as what transpired on the Miami sporting landscape this summer. Not saying it’s right or that it happens all the time but it does happen.

But I also don’t think true professionals care much about being “tarred and feathered” and in fact, some quite relish it.

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Comments

[PC]

Doug,

What's your opinion of Isiah getting hired again in NY (reportedly behind Donnie Walsh's back)?

How does that saying go? Fool me once...??

Blogger's note: I think Isiah's a great judge of draft talent and can be quite a recruiter of free agents. I think it's not a bad hire, actually.

[Matthieu]

Quick note to say that Pops Mensah-Bonsu signed a one-year contract with a Spanish club: http://thehoopsmarket.blogspot.com/2010/08/caja-laboral-in-advanced-talks-with.html

[Peter]

Hi Doug,

I know that you've mentioned that you don't think that the Raptors are done when it comes to moves this summer. Is there a reason to be waiting to make the next moves? Is there any sense that they might begin the year with the roster as is and make moves as other teams find their places in the standings?

Blogger's note: I'll say it again, the sense I'm getting is that there are moves to be made. As for when? I have no idea.

[LeeZ]

Hey, when are you going to get to yesterday's comments? I've got a potential Pulitzer Prize winner in there! Or at least a ding! ding! ding!'er

[Young James]

To Kate M...

This is another reporter's version of your question. Remember Doug covers the Raptors so his information, as it can be very accurate can also be misleading. He is a reporter for the Star not a Raptors representative so his information he recieves is always given to him in caution. In other words because he is a news portal "Raptors" reprenstatives will often be carefall of what information guys like Doug recieve.

Steve Kyler - Publisher of HOOPSWORLD - a very reputable website and reporter that cover the NBA not just the Raptors. The word coming from other GM's (which Doug has no inside information with like he believes he does with the Raptors) say this:

"Very little interest in Jose...
Most teams have shut things down for vacations. A lot of guys are involved in Team USA and international scouting and a number of teams have guys at Tim Grgurich's camp in Vegas - everyone tries to get in a little vacation/family time in August.
I doubt seriously that Jose is moved before camp starts, just does not seem like anyone really wants him. I think Toronto could dump him for nothing in return, but they want something back".

So use your disccretion. I will say this, I do belive from what I read from other NBA people, is that if Jose does get traded, Indiana seems like it makes the most sence because it has a big need for a PG and has let the league since the draft it coverts a PG. As far as Jose doing "the little things" he not still does produce enough for his money and the league knows that (his money is important becuase it is a salary capped league) - he is in the tier 3 level of PG in the league (viewed by almost everybody else except a few Raps fans and Doug). Some players don't play defense that well, Calderon doesn't play it at all!...You can score 12 pts, have 7 assists but if your giving 20-25 pts per game from the opponets PG then it is considered unproductive, and for 9 million - this is exactly why Charlotte backed out of the trade last month, Jose scared them.

Blogger's note: So, you're here quoting other reporters answering a question you posed to them to refute an answer I gave? Um. Okay.

[LeeZ]

Hey, I have an idea that you might want to run by the tall foreheads at the Star and Raptors: how about a "post of the week" contest? The winner would get two tickets to a Raptors game, air fare and hotel accommodation and a meet and greet with the Raptors dance pack. (Alright, perhaps just the tickets.) What say you, Doug? (oh and feel free to judge this missive as the inaugural post of the week winner).

Blogger's note: I'll talk to the appropriate authorities

[sam]

Young James - why bother to participate if opinion of the host of this blog and the information he passes along is always up for your unique brand of skepticism?

[CC]

Enough is enough... people here who criticize Jose as a bad defender and all are pretty sure the same people who were fuming a few years back when Jameer Nelson was selected as a replacement PG over Jose in the all star games a few years back.

I hope they won't trade Jose. I like players who wants to play for this team and this city cause i know they will not take a day off. - hey. see that banner at the ACC? Jose is part of that team too.. did anybody complain then?

end of rant!

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Dear Tennis Boy,
Will you be hosting any live blogs on this gig? A "The Goods of the Game, Set, Match" kind of thing? And while you're out there, could you please rally the crowd to grunt in unison with each offending grunt-infused swing by the offending grunters? Please?!! Then you can write your own headline, "Grunt single-handedly kills grunts" to the delight of us all. And then, when you get to be Soccer Boy, could you please stump hard to see to it that the playing field gets re-sized to a far more reasonable, goal-oriented 15% smaller, at minimum? Please?!! (I know, I know, sacrilege and blasphemy. Whee.)
And thanks for all of your efforts as Star ship commander this past weekend. You and Perk have obviously infused some major mojo into those Young Gun Jayz. Cheers.

[Mike kovacs]

We were at the Jays game sat - awesome. What wasn't great was finding out on the radio on the way in about the Gardiner being closed! that added 1 hr to the trip both ways!

[3rd and goal]

Hey Doug,

Looking forward to London in March?

Aside from the the obvious interest for Raps fans, do you not think the NBA could hvae picked a better match-up to try and sell the game internationally?

[J]

@Young James:

Wow, did you really quote a HoopsWorld source as being very reputable? If anything, those websites tend to be less credible, as they already proved with their Josh Howard to Toronto nonsense. If you think HoopsWorld has the ear of BC moreso than a Toronto Star reporter, then that's fine, but it's obvious your opinion of them is colored by your own bias.

[GM]

Young James - Are there hard stats on Jose giving up 20-25 points per game from the opponents' PG? Or is this just guesswork? Last season, I broke down the opponents' starting PGs in games when Jose started. Not only were there no career highs, there was only one or two times when the opponent got his *season* high to that point. So is this 20-25 ppg just a nasty meme that people hear and repeat without factual basis, or is there actual proof? I'm open to it if it's there. I just never hear it.

[Richard]

Been meaning to raise this for some time. I love reading your blog and also the answer to the questions sent to you. However, I have trouble reading the questions. The bold face font used is somewhat difficult to read on my notebook screen. Am I the only one experiencing this?

[Lorie]

Afternoon Doug,
Cool idea: a "post of the week". Would it be open to all your faithful readers - even outside the GTA? And would spelling count? How about grammar? Would you judge the "submissions"? (and can your vote be bought?) Or would it be a celebrity judge; i.e., The Chicken perhaps? Would the winner be able to meet and greet with you, Stumpy and other members of Media Row instead of The Dance Pak? (I think it would be an absolute blast to experience a Raptors game in the trenches with the grunts!) Are we getting a bit ahead of ourselves here? Yes? Well, it's a good idea and I think you should run with it! Salut!

[Marques]

GM - You must remember taht JJ gets more playing time than most back ups. And JJ is a good defensive point guard. He often plays against starters, and that has to be taken into consideration. There is no doubt that Jose lacks the lateral quickness to be a great defender, and that he is definitely below average as a defender, however he does make up for that with his jump shot and court vision.

Doug feel free to correct me with any of this post or add in to this topic.

[ikonn]

I've posted this before (and that should be enough for all of you to understand, isn't it?)but I'll post again: you trade Jose if and only if there is clear, clear upgrade coming back (i.e. a centre or a high scoring 3 or clear future flexibility). Other than that, the Raps are much better off with both PGs as the double-headed monster (as Rick Kamla likes to call them) and with Jose's shooting, low TO's and leadership which this team sorely needs to complement it's roster of young-uns. Nuff said.

[Paul B]

LeeZ
don't you mean a potential ding, ding dinger, or at least a pulitzer price winner?

[CARLoS M.]

So LeBron and Wade got invited to play hoops at the White House with Obama. I feel so sorry for Bosh right about now (dripping with sarcasm). He will always be Shemp in Miami.

[Young James]

"Young James - Are there hard stats on Jose giving up 20-25 points per game from the opponents' PG? Or is this just guesswork? Last season, I broke down the opponents' starting PGs in games when Jose started. Not only were there no career highs, there was only one or two times when the opponent got his *season* high to that point. So is this 20-25 ppg just a nasty meme that people hear and repeat without factual basis, or is there actual proof? I'm open to it if it's there. I just never hear it"
I get my sources from a very simple and reputable sources - NBA.com...but you wouldn't know because you don't read, you admitted to it "I just never hear it"..of coarse not, and you never will, cause you never read about it! Where are your sources from hot shot??? I'm now calling you out! lets see your hard facts, here's mine.
I'm gonna post Jose's first five games last year and they are gross for a 9 million dollar player - ready:

1ST GAME - Calderon 5 points/11 assists/3 rebs
- Mo Williams 16 points/2 assists/6 rebs
(they make the same money at 9 million per year. This is the only game where Jose is even close to being equal with his opponent and Mo has the sme over paid no defense lable as Calderon however seems to find 6 plus points more game on the score then Calderon did all year)

2ND GAME - Calderon 15 points/3 a's/1 reb (are you kidding me 1 rebound in 32 minutes of playing time...this shows like his previous game he is no where near any position to grab rebounds anytime where his opponent has double his input or in the second game 6-timed his input)
- Conley 10/points/10 a's/6 rebs (Conley earned 4.5 million last year...so thalf of Jose's tag, therefore two Conley's would be 20 points/20 a's/12 rebounds or someone worth the value of two Conely's which is 9 million - Jose's value, would you want tow players add more input per player then 1 Calderon???)...seriously bros!

3RD GAME - Calderon 10/6/2
- Nelson 30/5/2 (Nelson makes roughly 2 million less the Jose)

4TH GAME - Calderon 9/2/1 (pathetic game and numbers against a PG who Jose is supposed to be better then or gets paid to be better then - all in 31 minutes of action too)
- Stucky 13/10/7 (He makes 2.7 million a 1/3 of what Jose makes, so you could have 3 Stucky's at that production would be 39/30/21 for the same money as Jose just like with the Conley case)

5TH GAME - Calderon 16/8/4
- Paul 21/18/7
Over the first five games as a starter Jose averaged - 11 points...Opponents averaged 18 points. Jose averaged 6 assists...Opponents averaged 9 assits. Two points scored at least per assist is 6 points per game difference Jose averaged 2.2 rebounds per game (this is a lack of defence on both ends)...Opponents 5.6 rebounds, a diffrence of 3.5 (more then doubled Jose's effort) - each rebound should result in a scoring play or a stopped second chance which could be two-three points. So lets add this up: roughly about 16 -19 point differnce against opponets in the first five games.I'm sure it gets worse if I add the whole season, so mine quest-a-mation after actually reading research before speaking was not so far off. Plus 3 of those PG's made less money agaisnt the cap then Jose, two making a huge amount less then Jose. So my point being Jose is not worth the money in comparison to what is avialble in this salary capped league. I rather Stucky - and 2 other players that give Stuckey's numbers and that would be triple of what Jose does. So do you think you would build a team with 3 players with Jose's numbers or settle for a third of the output while paying 2/3rds more

[Penny]

Young James - you are basing all your Jose bashing on 5 games - especially the first 5 games of the season where the whole team was trying to adjust to Turk playing as he had not played with them up to that point? Give me a break.

[GM]

Marques, yeah, I know with the two-headed PG that the Raps have, starters don't always play against starters and backups don't always play against backups. But that's true of any position. But critics seem to want it both ways -- that is, when an opposing starter scores a lot, and Jose started but played fewer minutes than Jack, they'll blame it on Jose even though Jack played against the opposing starter more. And if the opposing starter scores below his season average, they'll give credit to Jack. I'm just looking for hard stats on the matter.

Young James, you wrote Jose was giving up 20-25 points per game all on his own. Your words, not mine. And to back this up, you give all of the first five games of the season! And even better, your own stats don't prove your point. In those games the opposing PGs average 18 points -- and that includes a 30-point outburst from Nelson.

I'm just looking for concrete proof that Jose's man is scoring 20-25 ppg. I don't think you'll find that even if you went beyond the first five games of the season. Your argument that he's not worth 9 million dollars is different. I don't care about what a player gets paid but I'm not arguing that point.

[Young James]

@Young James:
"Wow, did you really quote a HoopsWorld source as being very reputable? If anything, those websites tend to be less credible, as they already proved with their Josh Howard to Toronto nonsense. If you think HoopsWorld has the ear of BC moreso than a Toronto Star reporter, then that's fine, but it's obvious your opinion of them is colored by your own bias."

The fact you don't think this site is reputal, then your obviously a fair-whether basketball fan. Yeah I know Doug gets to be in BC's ear...however, BC is aware of whom he's speaking with - a information mogal who takes his words and puts them in mediums for every and anyone else wanst to read it. So therefore he is not going to say yeah no one in the league wants Jose and that he's not worth the money when they are trying trade him. So if a NBA reporter (not a team reporter) gets the word around the NBA that Jose is not wanted then we should listen. Because it is very possiable BC is blowing smoke on how many teams want him or if there is infact interest to help his case in dumping a over paid under execution player. You are the guy that is selling a car and you tell the next potential buyer that no one wants to buy the car, everyone who has inquired is cautious about it, because it has some weakness to it...then you ask the potential still wanna pay the top dollar for this car now!?? Your that stupid - or at least defending that kind of stupity. Here is another blog I read by a reputable NBA reporter Bill Ingram: the question was aksed on his blog...What do you think of Calderon to Indy? His answer from his reporting on every other team in the NBA including the Pacers GM's...."He's been available all summer and the Pacers haven't made a substantial offer . . .even though they openly say they want a point guard. Maybe it happens, but I'm not sure Calderon is much of an upgrade over TJ Ford, especially at the price." Did Doug interview the Pacers before he spouted out his answer or did he just get some info while digging for answers from mid level Raptors source??? No he didn't so you go and beleive BC or Doug because "he has BC's ear" as you put it; but BC's remarks about Jose are a smoke screen and that is what he wants yo to believe along with every other GM's. Charlette almost bought it! Word from almost every other source eveywhere ( Ihave read anyways) is that Jose make way too much and is a good back PG or spot starter at best in the NBA. If he made half or less then he is he would be a value pick up. Also ask Doug about late last summer when a reader asked him about the trade Doug reported after hearing BC on the Fan stating the the Raptors have traded Banks to the Mavs for Carroll. When a few weeks went by and no trade was announced a fan wrote on this blog that he read the trade wasn't gonnna go down. Doug replied that it was a "done deal", and questioned the readers sources. You tell me, now! is that the same as reporting Howard to the Raps? as a non reputal source?? - all reporters get it wrong dude! not just Hoopsworld to make you look like you have a point to make.

[J]

@ Young James,

I don't think anyone here is arguing that Calderon isn't over paid. The question is whether we should be desperate to dump him, rather than try to obtain similar value at a different position. Face it, you're not going to get in return a player with the same salary but who actually earns it.

As for your proof, I'm glad you outlined exactly how you come to your conclusions, because now we can put out of our mind the idea that you may actually have solid evidence. Though no comparison is ever 100% accurate, yours is far from scientific. Did you go minute by minute over the course of the season to see who was on the floor during each score? Could it be possible that Jack's miserable contribution over the first games of the season skewed the "data"?

Not that this is 100% conclusive, but you can at least take this along with other data to come to an accurate conclusion. Calderon and Jack split minutes as starting PG almost evenly, as evident in the minutes played of the team's top two 5-man lineups. With the other 4 players the same in both lineups (DeRozan, Turkoglu, Bargnani, Bosh), Calderon proved to be much more effective than Jack. That lineup with Calderon posted a 1.14 ppp on offense, while the same with Jack posted only 1.02 ppp. Shockingly, on defense, Calderon's lineup gave up 1.14 ppp (not good by any means), but Jack's equivalent gave up 1.15 ppp.

What about overall performance, and not just the starting lineups? The team with Calderon on the floor was a 1.13 ppp for, and 1.16 ppp against, while with Jack they were 1.12 ppp for, and 1.15 ppp against. Using a different stat, the team was a -0.7 with Calderon on the floor and a -2.7 with Calderon off (meaning they were even worse without Calderon), while the team was a -2.0 with Jack on the floor and a -1.4 with Jack on the bench.

Of course, if we want to be more accurate, we'd go game by game, minute by minute to designate which minutes were against the opposing starting lineup, and which were against mostly bench players, and even better, factor in the quality of the team played against (based on win%), but I'm sure since you're so good at obtaining good solid evidence, you can do that bit yourself.

[Matt]

@Young James,

This kind of silly over-analysis of a meagre five-game sampling is a complete waste of time - both yours to spout and ours to read.

Clearly you don't believe Jose is a good point guard, and that's your prerogative, but why do you think anyone here cares to hear you try and prove it?

It's clear to me, at least, that you really know little about basketball and the priorities of a point guard's role on a team.

Is Jose's contract too large? Yes, clearly. Is Jose the main reason this team hasn't succeeded in the last couple of years? Absolutely not.

The NBA is a point guard driven league and virtually no NBA point guards can be reliably defended on the ball by their compatriots. The key to guarding NBA point guards lies in effecive help defence and interior defending, both qualities the Raptors have lacked. If you put Jose in a system with quality team defence, he will excel on both ends of the court. Whether or not the Raptors will ever succeed in doing that remains to be seen.

Please stop wasting our time.

Thank you.