<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">In Chicago last week, in a moment that encapsulated the bad side of T.J. Ford's uneven season, the Raptors point guard blasted through the lane with all the precision of buckshot. He was moving at a speed with which only the fleetest NBA players are familiar. But no one on the floor, Ford included, appeared to have the slightest clue where he was headed. To say Ford blew the layup wouldn't be exactly correct. He blew by the layup, zipping past the rim like a motorist attempting to discard a spent coffee cup into a roadside garbage can at highway speed. And the Raptors, down three points with less than a minute left, ended up losing yet another winnable game. If Ford has shown the Toronto faithful anything this season, it's that he is a talent unaware of his limits. He has taken a startling number of difficult ? nah, outrageously ill-advised ? shots in crucial situations, continually pulling up for three-pointers on the dead run as if oblivious to the low-percentage reality. In Sunday's dismal home loss to Portland, he killed the only loud moment of an otherwise funereal afternoon with one such heave. And Monday night's performance in Miami, in which Ford coughed up six first-half turnovers and the Raptors lost their fourth straight, was made all the more glaring by the expectation that Ford ? who recently signed a four-year contract extension that could be worth as much as $33 million (U.S.) ? should be the club's de facto leader with Chris Bosh out with a left knee bone bruise. Though Ford has also had stretches of laudable effectiveness, there've been enough lamentable moments to prompt some critics to re-rip the trade that brought Ford to Toronto for Charlie Villanueva. And there has also been occasion for the widespread formulation of yet another flawed argument: That the Raptors are a better team with Jose Calderon running the show. The 25-year-old Spaniard has been, despite his recent fall off the radar, a reliable and occasionally soul-stirring backup, but he doesn't possess Ford's upside. And if the Raptors are to grow into the contender they hope to become ? with Ford and Bosh and Andrea Bargnani among the core ? Ford must be given plenty of rope to learn from his mistakes as an NBA starter. "It's a process," Ford said of his ongoing education. "It's a challenge. Every day is a challenge." It is instructive to remember that at Ford's age, 23, Steve Nash was a backup who averaged 21.9 minutes a game in Phoenix. A year later ? in the days before the Canadian hardened his body and smoothed his rough edges to become the two-time-reigning MVP ? he was booed in Dallas during a miserable, injury-riddled season in which the Mavericks' rookie 7-footer, Dirk Nowitzki, also struggled to find his niche, not unlike Ford's fresh-from-Europe running mate, Bargnani.</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">That coach Sam Mitchell has been heard to publicly chastise Ford's work ethic — "If you practise (as hard as) you play, you will be an all-star," Mitchell said to Ford a few weeks back — doesn't exactly bode well. It's not difficult to figure out which facets of his game Ford needs to shore up. He acknowledged Monday night that his usual one-speed, high-speed attack is too predictable. Teams beg Ford to shoot his jump shot, which, according to Dave Hopla, the club's shooting coach, is flawed by both a hitch and Ford's wont to drift instead of jumping perpendicular to the floor. Still, when it has been suggested that his jump shot isn't adequate, Ford has sometimes dismissed valid criticism as a hater's refrain. "People have been saying that all my life," Ford has said. And the unsaid punchline isn't necessarily: "And I'm still working on it." It's more like: "I'm still in the NBA, making millions, so who's to say my jump shot stinks."</div> This part made me worry a little.
Ford takes way too many off-balanced/fadeaway shots. His shot never looks the same. The few times he jumps straight up (or close), it actually looks decent.
are u talking bout practice? practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice.... in all seriousness- i wouldn't play hard in a mitchell organized practice either. do u guys honestly think mitchell teaches anything worthwhile in a practice? however, i see mitchell's point cause today at the gym i played some ball with my buddy- at first we played an half arsed game of one on one, then we played a game of 3 on 3 with some others guys but i couldn't get going offensively and my defense was atrocious. focus is not a whim, i think it should be a constant if u want to be consistent.
Actually, if you watched the Training camp aired on Raps TV, Sam does show some areas where he does teach and tell guys what to do. But some players keep doing the same thing and not breaking the habit.
