link You can see the frustration on his face when he is pulled from games. Since returning he has played about 20 min. off the bench. Initially he was playing great, he looked like TJ. But the last couple of games he has been in an obvious funk. After taking some bad shots in the previous game, Mitchelle took the ball out of his hands a lot last night. Last night he played only 14 minutes and then left immeidiatly after the game. I really feal for TJ. He was playing great this season. Then he had a potentially carear ending injury. And after he returns he's loses his starting job and is only getting 20 min. off the bench.
Calderon's a bad ***. Ford is a bad ***. Win win situation for the Raptors. I do hope one or the other gets traded though. There's not room on an NBA roster for two potential all star point guards.
I agree. Calderon's an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the Raptors say they are going to match whatever is offered. If they do make a trade, it would be TJ to go. Of course, his stock is way down because of injuries. I do think there will be interest since so many team need a point guard. And, Toronto needs much more help in other areas, i.e. rebounding. My guess is it will probably happen this summer. If not, either TJ or Calderon will be unhappy as the back-up, which is not a good situation for the team.
TJ has great talent, but he hasn't shown the durability you would like to see in a player making the kind of $$ TJ makes. In his 5 year career, he missed one season entirely and significant portions of two other years. The nature of his injury and doubts that it won't continue to hamper his game would cause me to make Calderon the #1 guy if I'm calling the shots in Toronto. I agree that TJ will probably get a shot somewhere else because of his talent, but there is a lot of risk in bringing TJ and his salary on board now.
How the hell is the Raptor coach expected to not start a guy leading the NBA in assist/turnover ratio (by a lot--5.01 with only 2 other guys over 4), shooting 53.5% from the field, 45% on 3's, and 92.2% on FT, while being 5th in the league in assists per game and assists per minute played?
It is obvious that TJ and Toronto are not a good fit. Their style of play doesn't match his. He is basically seldom used now and I think it is time for a change of scene. I could see him contributing pretty well with a team like the bulls who need an upgrade over hinrich who cannot shoot anymore if his life depended on it. The bulls have plenty of scorers and can get out in the open court and run for days. Imagine TJ Ford leading that charge and wreaking havoc on other teams pg's with his defense!
It's pretty hard to condition muscles and tendons to compensate for an unusually narrow spinal cord "opening" in the vertebrae, Hu. TJ did the smart thing in taking the money when it was offered.
Good lord. TJ's injury problems have only reinforced the fact that he made the right decision. You really think that some extra weight training in college is the answer? He's probably got better access to training facilities, etc., than he did in college, even at a school like Texas. I'm receptive to the idea that some players benefit from more time in college. Ford came out when his stock was never going to be higher.
Never ceases to amaze me that some people question the decision of an 18-20 year old kid deciding to do what he loves for millions of dollars, instead of doing it for free. But you're quite right Hu, I'm sure once TJ was drafted he never bothered to work on his strength and conditioning again.
