Hey all, Need a little help from everyone. I know I'm a Raps fan treading on Bucks territory here but I need to know people's opinions of T.J Ford. He's been driving me a little nuts lately. 16 foot jump shots ALL THE TIME, most of the time before the offence has even set up. Routinely getting beat on defence even though he is super fast. His FG % has gone down every month. I know he battled back from a serious injury but he is making me nervous, especially if the Raps make it to playoffs. What was he like on the Bucks? Did these types of things bother any of you? If this continues, can we have Charlie V back.....please
He did bother me just as often as he pleased me. He thinks he's a scoring guard, but he can't shoot. He has amazing speed and quickness, but he tries to be a jump shooter too often. I think he's a real good playmaker when he wants to be. Same with his defense. I honestly haven't seen him more than 3 or 4 times this year playing in Toronto, but that's what I remember from his time in Milwaukee. He's definitely got the potential to be one of the top 1s in the league due to his talent, but he needs to figure out how to maximize his ability.
To be fair, I don't think he's had a very good coach yet. One of the reasons I feel he's been a little frustrating to watch in Toronto is that he's forced to improvise far too often. When our pick-and-roll offense stalls (happens every so often), our players tend to sit at the perimeter and wait for him to penetrate and draw the defenders. That usually results in overdribbling and bad shots, because the opposition knows what he intends to do. People like to compare him to Jose Calderon, but they have to realize that Calderon's more of a pass-first playmaker and his European experience has made him better at improvising than Ford (and playing against reserves helps too). I still think he's the most talented PG on Toronto, though. He's got all the physical attributes (aside from height) and every so often you see an amazing pass from him that displays his great vision. He would really shine in an offense like Detroit's, that has players constantly moving off the ball.
I think that he is very quick, and has a good first step off the dribble. But to develop into that elite PG, he needs to get more of a leader mentality. He needs to get a edge like Steve Nash, and really put those athletic skills to use.
