| Who Would You Rather Have: Ford Or Calderon? Authored by Patrick Kaas - December 4, 2008 - 1:07 pm
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At the end of last season there was much speculation that the Raptors would try to trade Ford, originally a central piece of the Raptors' long-term plans, and rebuild their team around the more efficient Calderon.
The 2008 playoffs proved this was a valid thought. Toronto really could have gone either way, because both point guards were enjoying a good season.
The choice was eventually to build around Calderon because he was more efficient and Toronto didn’t want to take a risk with Ford, who was on the mend from a serious injury that caused him to miss just a little over 30 games.
Now, nearly a quarter of the way through the season, both point guards have settled into their roles. Let’s take a look at how well Ford and Calderon are doing now that they don’t have each other to lean on.
Calderon vs. Ford: Bios
Nationality: Spanish, American
Age: 27, 25
Experience: Four Seasons, Five Seasons
Height: 6'3", 6'0"
Weight: 210 pounds, 165 pounds
When I take a look at the bios, I spot a slight advantage for Ford. While Calderon is a bigger and stronger guard, Ford is younger and more experienced in the NBA.
The differences between both players are really minimal though. Ford might have played an additional season in the NBA, but Calderon played in Spain for Tau Ceramica, which faced better competition than Ford did at the University of Texas.
Calderon vs. Ford: Stats
Points: 12.9, 14.9
Rebounds: 3.1, 4.7
Assists: 9.5, 5.4
Steals: 0.7, 1.1
Blocks: 0.1, 0.2
Turnovers: 1.93, 2.06
Field Goal %: 45.1, 42.1
Free Throw %: 100, 90.1
3-Point %: 40.7, 38.7
Minutes: 36.5, 34.2
While looking at the stats, we can already see the story on how both players like to play their game.
Ford is a very athletic guard, who is quick up and down the floor. This helps him when grabbing rebounds and playing defense (more on that later). He also grabs more steals because of his quick footwork. On the offensive end, Ford is a good distributor with 5.4 assists per game (18th in the league among PG's).
He's also a decent scorer/shooter, who shoots a efficient percentage on most shots. He's average on FG% and 3P% among starting guards. His FT% is even among the league leaders.
Calderon, on the other hand, is the real deal of you're looking for a pure point guard. He isn’t as athletic as Ford is, and that shows in the rebound and steals column.
Aside from that, Calderon doesn’t have any flaws. He’s a great leader dishing 9.5 assists per game (2nd in the league). He’s also a very smart offensive player choosing and looking for good shot options, which has given him high percentages from the field as well from downtown. Calderon is the more efficient player of the two.
Calderon vs. Ford Mixedup Stats
Player Value: 56.6, 50.6
Minute Value: 0.72, 0.77
Defensive Value: 20.5, 21.4
Explanation of 'Mixedup Stats':
Player Value: This formula is used to determine the value of a player to his team. The number will be between 1 (No contribution) and 80 (Terrific contribution).
Minute Value: A formula to determine how a player’s production is per minute. +1 would indicate a very good production per minute. Meanwhile, -0.5 would be a bad production per minute.
Defensive Value: A formula to determine how good a player is defensively. It takes into account team defense, individual defense and certain stats. The best score would lie at about 40 points.
Calderon is the more valuable out of both players. This is largely due to the way he distributes the ball, and how the Raptors are moving the ball at the moment. His minute value is pretty good and solid for a pass-first point guard.
Defensively, Calderon isn't the most reliable player given the fact that elite point guard perimeter defenders have a score between 30-35.
On the other hand, Ford is not far behind in player value. He’s only 6 points behind Calderon and is touted as a good and reliable starter. His production per minute is slightly better than Calderon’s at 0.77 and that’s because Ford is a better scorer. Ford is also a better defender than Calderon due to his quick feet, which keep him in front of other guards.
Calderon vs. Ford: Games
2008-09: 15(88%), 17(100%)
2007-08: 82(100%), 51(62%)
2006-07: 77(94%), 75(91%)
2005-06: 64(78%), 72(88%)
2004-05: None, 55(67%)
Overall: 90.4%, 78.3%
This is the big difference between Calderon and Ford. Calderon has played in almost 18% more games over his career than Ford has thus far.
Ford has had to battle through several injuries since his rookie year and played over 90% of his game in only one of his four full seasons. Meanwhile, Calderon averages over 90% for his career.
If his history is any indication as to how this season will play out for Ford, he may not be able to stay healthy this year.
The Verdict:
If I were in charge of an NBA franchise, and I had the pick between Indiana’s T.J Ford or Toronto’s Jose Calderon to lead my team, it would be a difficult call.
Both players have there strengths and flaws. Counted all together I would call this a draw. You could choose between either and have the same amount of success if wasn’t it for Ford's injury history.
The difference of playing 18% more games is immense and that’s the edge that pushes Calderon over Ford. So, if I had the choice to pick between Calderon and Ford ... I would take Jose Calderon.
Who would you rather have on your team? |
