With Ford playing with a quicker jump in his step, with Rasho Nesterovic playing like the consistent starter he should have been long before last night’s tip, the entire team played with more confidence.
Even when the game got tight in the final two minutes, the Raptors made plays at both ends of the floor.
"A change was needed because what we were doing wasn’t working,” Calderon said. "We needed something. We won and now we have to play at the same level for the next (season-ending) 11 games."
The Raptors simply had no choice but to reinsert Ford as a starter because it gives the team its best chance of trying to turn around its sagging fortunes.
At least with Ford starting, the Raptors have someone other than Chris Bosh who can create his own shot and draw fouls.
"It shows great character,” Ford said of Calderon’s initiative to play second fiddle. "He’s a team player.
"I think it worked well (last night) and hopefully we can build on this momentum."
The decision to start Nesterovic over Andrea Bargnani was a no-brainer, a move that should have been done weeks ago.
As good as the Pistons are, they seemed disinterested, unwilling to bring the same intensity Detroit showed in its riveting overtime win over the red-hot Phoenix Suns on Monday.
Rasheed Wallace, for example, is a beast on the blocks, but he spent the night content to hang around the three-point arc.
Even when the game seemed in control, the Raptors, who led by as many as 17 points, yielded open looks and were careless with the basketball during a stretch in the fourth quarter.
Jose Calderon’s stock around the NBA just got better with his selfless act of wanting to come off the bench, even though the Spaniard is a legitimate starter in this league.
With Ford in the starting lineup, the Raptors will be in a better position to peddle the lightning-quick point guard, assuming he stays healthy for the balance of the season.
Many in the NBA wonder how the Raptors can keep both Ford and Calderon and have speculated that a move must be made either this summer or at next season’s trade deadline.
Last night’s game pitted two of the game’s brightest minds in Detroit’s Joe Dumars and Bryan Colangelo. Each executive calls the shots for their respective franchises without the meddling from ownership.
Kevin O’Neill said he expects to return to Lute Olson’s Arizona staff and succeed the Hall of Famer when he retires.
"As I sit here today I am planning on being the next coach," O’Neill said. "Lute is planning on fulfilling his contract and that is a long way off before any of that stuff happens. That is the last thing I am concerned about right now."
And it was only because of Calderon’s persistence that the change – putting Ford in as the starter – was even made.
"I went to (coach Sam Mitchell) because I thought we needed to change something because something wasn’t working," said Calderon, who had 13 points and four assists in 27 minutes. "I think it’s a team thing, we needed something. We didn’t know exactly what was the problem and we still don’t know if it is this, but the good news is we won, it’s good for the Raptors, good for the team and that’s what we have to think all the time."
It took Calderon a couple of conversations with the coaching staff and general manager Bryan Colangelo before he convinced them the move was the right one.
"Some of them, they didn’t want to agree with that, they said we have to keep doing the same thing. But after … we thought it was the best thing for the team," he said.
But for all the talk of who starts, who backs up and who is where in what pecking order, when it came time to win the game, both guards were on the court.
"It was easy because without Rip Hamilton, they played two point guards in the backcourt," coach Sam Mitchell said of the Pistons, who were without their top scorer.
"It wasn’t a physical matchup problem. It’s just going to depend, if it’s smaller guards in the backcourt and we can do it, we’ll look at doing it but for the most part, no," Mitchell said.
"It’s much easier when you play 40 minutes than when you play 10 or five and you try to do everything in those minutes," said Nesterovic, who logged 46 minutes last night, more than anyone else in the game.
"In 40 minutes, you know you’re going to get your chance, you focus on just what your job is,” Nesterovic added.
"It was a great win for us," said Mitchell. "I thought our defence for 48 minutes was as good as it could have been."
Kris Humphries, the Raptors’ bench-bound forward, heard the buzz in the locker room yesterday and asked a reporter what gave. "You’re starting tonight," came the lie.
"I am?" said Humphries. And for a moment – before the cruel jokester conceded that, no, Humphries would not be involved in the starting-lineup shakeup that inserted T.J. Ford and Rasho Nesterovic into the first five for last night’s win over the Pistons – the glint in Humphries’ eye summed up the mentality of the vast majority of NBA players, from 12th man to all-star. The glint said: "Of course I’m starting. It’s about freakin’ time I started. I knew the coach would finally wise up and start me."
Sam Mitchell, the Raptors coach, said last night that his respect for Calderon is "through the roof" after the act of team-first selflessness. The Raptors’ first win against a playoff-bound team in exactly five weeks proved Calderon’s intuition to be impeccable.
Long-time NBA observers said they couldn’t remember a time when a starter suggested the greater good would be served if he moved to the bench. It’s heart-warming stuff and it’s clearer than ever where the fan base sides on the Ford-Calderon divide. Ford, who did an awfully good impression of Calderon, playing prudently and efficiently and not particularly explosively, got booed for missing a single shot, a wide-open three-pointer that barely grazed the rim. Those grumblers can make the argument that Ford has been rewarded for a month’s worth of sulking and they’d have a case. But the truth is, for a lot of different reasons Ford’s better as a starter (and maybe he’s better trade bait). Both he and Calderon were better than they’ve been in a long time. And Toronto’s stretch-run outlook is a lot rosier than it was yesterday.
It’s not that Ford should be congratulated for winning this war of attrition. But if he and Humphries and every other selfish pro athlete didn’t believe, deep down, that they were starters miscast as backups, maybe they wouldn’t even belong on the bench.
"Sam’s afraid to start me," said Humphries, cracking back and probably speaking a grain of truth. "He wouldn’t be able to take me out. You can’t change the starting lineup when you’re winning."
“In life, sometimes, it takes the sacrifices of one or two for the better good the many,” coach Mitchell said before the game. “You have to have people like that on your time who are willing to do that.
“Jose, as much as I’ve respected him – and I do respect him – it goes through the roof … We’ve been saying this since he’s been here, he always puts everyone before himself and he puts the betterment of the group (before him).
“It’s not 100 per cent that this is going to work but we have to try something at this stage. We’d be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn’t try.”
“I don’t think it’s because of the way anyone has been playing,” Ford said before last night’s game. “Jose has been great as a starter, same thing with Bargnani. I guess this is the time to start to search, try to find some type of momentum, something that works, and I think that’s what this is all about.”
Calderon first broached the subject of a change a week or so ago, while Toronto was in the throes of losing five straight road games on a west-coast swing. The coaching staff initially was reluctant to make the move – primarily because Ford hadn’t done anything to earn his spot back in the starting lineup – but it came to the fore again after weekend losses to Cleveland and Denver.
“We talked about it again yesterday … and we really felt like this is going to give us the best opportunity,” said Mitchell “If we’re going to make a change, we need to do it now.
“It’s not a change for just a change, it’s a change to hopefully get us back to where we were and how we used to be.”
The perception is that T.J. is being rewarded for not playing well by getting starting job back tonight.
The reality is things weren’t working and it’s better to salvage this situation and deal with the ramifications in the summer.
But, first, I do have to say this move says more about Jose Calderon than it does about any of the other principles involved. I know the dude talks about only wanting what’s best for the team and how winning is all that matters, if this doesn’t show it, I don’t know what else does.
Back in the day, I really thought T.J. was special and this team could only maximize its potential with him as the starter and Jose coming off the bench. But as their personalities evolve and their games develop, it’s clear to me that the long-term point guard job should be Calderon’s. He’s more steady, gets more people involved more often and, quite frankly, shoots better than I, or a lot of people, ever imagined. And the respect his teammates have for him is immense.
Ford’s probably better as a backup to change tempo but only – ONLY – if he gets his head on right and as we’ve seen these past few weeks, that’s not something he can do right now.
I still say having the two of them would continue to give Toronto depth at a key position but the way things are right now, I think BC has to explore trade possibilities for Ford this summer. What he can get, I have no idea. But asking around would be a good idea.
The change seemed to spark Ford, although he was barely ordinary in the first half as both of his stints on the floor ended with the Raptors trailing. Calderon’s time coincided with a Raptors surge that had them leading by five points midway through the second quarter.
Ford began to find his way in the third, as he counted eight points on three of four shooting and found his teammates for five assists.
But some of the best moments of the game came with Ford and Calderon on the floor together, a luxury the Raptors could afford because the Pistons’ backcourt was small with the absence of 6-foot-7 shooting guard Richard Hamilton (hip).
Both Ford and Calderon contributed assists as the Raptors went on a 10-4 run to end the third quarter.
"Whenever you have both of us on the court," Ford said, "it’s a big factor because I’m more of a penetrator, and with his [Calderon's] shooting ability, I think he’s a big threat the way he can shoot the three-point ball and make plays also. It worked out in our favour."
"He’s just playing with a lot of confidence," Mitchell said of Nesterovic. "He works on his game every day in practice, he talks on defence, he works on defence and he’s really been helping us on the boards."
"I have an ego, but my team is first. I work for the Raptors and I play for the Raptors, I don’t play for Jose Calderon. What I want is to be in the playoffs, I want to have a chance to play in the second round, so I don’t try to be 20 points a game or something like that. I think this is a good idea to change everything so this is something I have to do.”
Why did you make the offer? Why could it be good for T.J.?
"Because when he was playing in the starting lineup he was playing really good, his confidence was better. Now he’s going to be playing with CB and Anthony Parker and these guys. I don’t know if it’s going to be good for him or worse, the team needed to change something. I think it’s going to be better for the team; if it’s good for T.J. that’s perfect too. It’s a team thing."
Have you talked with T.J.?
"No, he doesn’t have to say anything to me, it’s a team decision."
"It was more natural for me today to prepare myself," Ford said." I think I prepared myself yesterday, all day. I really couldn’t sleep.
"I knew I had to make a lot of adjustments to playing with these guys because I haven’t played with them since I really returned in February. I think it worked out well tonight."
"Very rarely with Chris [Bosh] healthy do I play Rasho 46 [minutes], more minutes than Chris, but Rasho is playing well," Mitchell said.
"We’re looking for him in the paint. He is shooting the ball extremely well."
"It was business as usual. It’s how we normally play," Bosh said of the change. "It’s how we played at the beginning of the season. No more figuring things out. It’s just back to how we’re used to playing."
Yes, it was just one night. No, this was not Detroit’s best shot. But it was something, and this team needed something.
The move highlights the two major problems that have crippled this season. One, 2007 No. 1 pick Andrea Bargnani, whom Nesterovic replaced, has been an almost complete bust in terms of development. And two, Ford’s health and attitude have held this team hostage for months. One of those he couldn’t control. One of them he should have been able to control.
Nothing Ford did in the past month helped him earn this starting spot – or, at least, nothing he did that was positive. Ford was playing like a frantic moth trapped in a jar on the court and pouting off it, and it added up to a man who could not be a backup. And so there he was last night, back in the first five. That’s not necessarily healthy.
"Either way it goes, I think the eyes are on me," Ford said before the game. "Either way it goes. I think as far as me growing as a person, in my opinion, I think I have been doing a great job all year. We all make sacrifices."
It seems that Ford still doesn’t quite get it. When pressed on sacrifice, Ford pointed to playing fewer minutes. Calderon, meanwhile, talked with wide and earnest eyes about how minutes don’t matter as much as the team does – and this from a man who will be a sought-after free agent this summer. If there is a less selfish player in the NBA, he has yet to be discovered.
Detroit isn’t moving from that No. 2 slot, which means Toronto needs to get the hell out of No. 7, last night be damned. And while that escape is up to every Raptor on the roster, most of all, it’s up to T.J. Ford.
"It’s a lot of pressure," said Ford. "I won’t tell a lie."
Without using words, he asked for this. Well, he’s got it.
"We didn’t play with any purpose offensively," coach Flip Saunders said. "(The Raptors) did a good job. They pressured a lot of our initial entries and sets and took stuff away and ate up a lot of our shot clock. A lot of our shots, except for the last 10 minutes, came with five seconds left on the shot clock and were almost desperate-type shots."
Ford, who had chafed at playing a reserve role, was energized. He had 13 points and nine assists. His work on the pick-and-roll with Bosh broke the game open in the third quarter.
"They were running that angle pick-and-roll and we couldn’t get a handle on it," Billups said.
The Raptors built a 16-point lead two minutes into the fourth before the Pistons fought back.
"Once we got aggressive and started to trap and zone, we were able to force turnovers and we started to close the gap," Billups said.
"Listen, if we turn the ball over 15 times on the road, we aren’t going to beat anybody," Saunders said.
For the first time in weeks there was constant movement on offense, Rasho Nesterovic was playing the two man game with Calderon, Ford and Delfino. There were criss-cross patterns being run once the ball was dumped into the post, even Jamario Moon cut to the rim with a purpose! TJ Ford reminded us that he still remains the only Raptor that can completely and utterly break down his man, get to the rim and make a good decision once he gets there. I felt it a couple games ago against Cleveland, but I’m positive that Ford’s head is back on straight.
For those Raptors fans that went out for the night assuming the big loss, yes that score is correct. It was an ugly game, Detroit may have mailed one in but whatever…..the Raps are back and it was in large part to Forderon the two-headed PG.
Detroit is just one of those teams you never expect to beat. They seem to only lose to inferior teams when they are not playing the Raps. Well boys I think you caught the Pistons on a night when they really did not care. Woo weee.
Whatever. That one felt goooodddd. Like a roadside pee on that long trip to Grandma’s. Like beating your older neighbor in a game of 21. Like eating an entire bag of Party Mix. Yessir, sa-tis-fact-ion. Take that, Detroit Pistons powerhouse! Nah nah nah nah nah nah!
(Right now I’m mooning a photo of Flip Saunders, just so you know)
Sure, I’m all bravado and razz-mouth right now, but when the Pistons made their run late in the 4th, I was sure we were going down. C’mon, admit it – you were ready for another predictable Raptor collapse. But it was fitting that Jose and TJ knocked in consecutive 3’s to seal the deal. Our potent PG partnership was in fine form last night, a welcome relief from the dysfunction of the past two months.
player personnel shifts, like these, are indelible warning signs that something has gone seriously wrong, internally, with the way this franchise conducts the business basketball on a day-to-day and a long term basis.
I never understood why people thought that reinserting TJ in the starting line-up would lead to Jose leaving in the off-season. Here was a guy who had always spoken about simply wanting to play for a winning team that he enjoyed being around, not one where he was necessarily the starter. His recent display only solidified this line of thought and as unbelievable as it is, here is a player who truly cares only about his club’s wins and losses when all is said and done.
And let’s face it – as a restricted free agent, the man is going to get paid.
So I hope everyone can stop the “Jose isn’t going to stay with the team now that they’ve rewarded TJ’s poor play with the starting role.”
Obviously Calderon doesn’t see it that way, he simply sees it as a strategic basketball decision in effort to buoy a struggling club.
The Raptors, who were 2-8 in their last 10, now have a little something to draw back on if they hold at #7 and meet us in the first round of the playoffs. The Pistons beat Toronto by an average of 15 points in the two previous meetings this season and had lost 10 of the last 13 against the ‘Stonz.
Next: Andrea Bargnani. Y’all may not know who that is – hell, I didn’t either – until several of my co-workers pointed him out to me, as he also shops at the night job. Apparently he’s the power forward & center for the Raptors. All I know is bitch is the hotness. And he totally checked me out upon one of his frequent visits. He’s pretty shy but hard to miss, as he’s a little over seven feet. Will let you take a picture with him if you ask nicely.
The Pistons have been stuck in a big win/bad loss cycle ever since the All-Star break. Last night apparently was the "bad loss" part of that cycle as Detroit dropped an 89-82 decision to the previously struggling Toronto Raptors. Chris Bosh was the wrecking ball to Detroit’s dilapidated building, and T.J. Ford – who’s recent pouting and gunning apparently convinced Jose Calderon to surrender his starting job – finished the urban renewel with 15 points and 9 assists.
"We need more guys like him," Bosh said of Calderon. "Both him and T.J. have been very unselfish with their starting positions and they want what is best for the team.
"I think it showed tonight, with Jose making a move like that. It says a lot about his character [because] I don’t think a lot of other players would do that."
This team is mentally weak, they are the NBA equivalent of the Ottawa Senators to me. One bad call or bounce swings the momentum completely away from Toronto too easily. Without mental fortitude this team can’t improve beyond the season it had last year anytime soon.
Maybe its possible that the chemistry with the 2nd unit isn’t working for TJ but I can’t see how usurping Jose will improve this team. Jose and Bosh work the high screen like Nash and Amare and i don’t know if TJ can replicate that success. The only reason i can think of that doesn’t implicate Mitchell’s incompetence for pulling this move would be TJ himself. has his sulking gotten so bad that it is wearing on team moral? has he become such a malcontent in a backup role that he has forced Mitchell to put his job on the line in the hopes he feels better? cuz i got to say, as a raps fan, Ive always considered TJ’s self-esteem much more important than team success.
Nesterovic has proven over the last dozen games that he’s worthy of being in the starting lineup. Inserted after Chris Bosh went out with a sore knee, the 31-year-old veteran averaged 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in 10 games. Overall as a starter this season, he’s averaging eight points and six rebounds; he averaged four points and three rebounds coming off the bench.
Aside Bargnani’s a 16-point first quarter against Denver on Sunday – the only points he scored in the game – the second-year centre has been wildly inconsistent this season.
The Raptors would enter the fourth and look the more energized team. They extended the lead to 17 capped off by a Bargnani 3 pointer who had been silent to that point. Get out the Salami and….Wait a second Detroit would put a hold on that order as they climbed back to within 9 prompting a Sam Mitchell time-out. There was bout 7 minutes left to go. The Piston push would get to within 5. But Ford would return and Calderon would remain. Ford to Calderon for 3 and Raps were back up by 10. Ford would make another shot and Now GET OUT THE SALAMI AND CHESSE THIS BALL GAME WAS OVER. I think T.J Ford would enjoy this quote from the legendary wrestler Ric Flair to sum up the night. Whether you like it or don’t like it, you better learn to love it. Cause Ford was back as starter and Forderon was running on all cylinders. T.J answered the call and Jose gave him the chance to make it happen. Another Piston push would not be enough. Tonight you saw why people both love and hate T.J Ford. But on this night there was much more to love!!! Raptors were in the winners circle with an 89-82. Bosh quietly lead the team with 21 points but was no doubt happy to do so if it meant a win for his team.
Yes, they beat the Pistons (who were without Rip Hamilton), but what’s up with putting T.J. Ford back into the starting lineup? The guy’s been pouting and sulking for weeks. When did we start rewarding players for bad behavior? Uh, last night, I guess. Supposedly, Jose Calderon volunteered to return to the bench for the good of the team and coach Sam Mitchell allowed it. Frankly, I don’t care that they won. This is a bad idea. Calderon is the best PG for this team, and Mitchell should have insisted he remain in the starting lineup. I don’t see this ending well. But hey, maybe I’m wrong.
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