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I guess that's why Calderon and TJ work so well together. They really, really, really change the pace of the team when they are on the floor. That must be confusing for other teams to have to deal with.

I think much of has to do with the fact that Jose simply can't play like an animal when he has to log heavy minutes.

When he and TJ are splitting time, he gets the ball down court in a flash. He really wants to push the pace and I feel he is incredibly effective in this as he is a much more aggressive player. He's got no backup right now, so if he wants to have any gas left in the fourth, he needs to play a certain way.

Alfred wrote:I guess that's why Calderon and TJ work so well together. They really, really, really change the pace of the team when they are on the floor. That must be confusing for other teams to have to deal with.

I agree. I think it's a great combo for that reason.

That's why we need both these guys. Sometimes, you need to speed things up, and sometimes you need to slow it down. Sometimes, you need a spark, and sometimes you need things to calm down. TJ is the spark, the lionman, and the instigator. Jose is the steady current, the lionman in a Ford Focus, a buddhist monk in meditation. They are the yin and the yang, the alpha and omega, the macaroni and cheese. Together, harmony is achieved.

So am i still the only one thinking that TJ`s faster pace would be a BIG asset off the bench?

Not a surprise to anyone who's been watching the Raptors since TJ went down.

That's why I keep saying we can't have one with out the other. People that are so quick into trading TJ or Jose. Need to see that they work great off each other. That's why we were so successful last year.

Elite teams can play at any pace, any time.

Although the offense hasn't been nearly as efficient with the loss of TJ and his fast-paced style, hopefully the team has learned a thing or two from playing this slow-paced gamed with Jose.

What I hope for in the near future is whenever Ford does return, we can maybe experiment with Jose playing the same super slow pace he's been playing without Ford, which would make the Forderon combo that much tougher to defend - which would of course make our team much better as a whole.

What's a pace stat? If it's like a down the court thing, I can see TJ being fast since he normally pushes the ball up so far and his team is still behind. Anyhow, pace would be much better off the bench as Il mago suggested.

I'm just guessing, but the pace has probably nothing to do with a team's record.

I wonder what the pace factor is with DMart running the show? Kevin O'Neill probably would have considered DMart a perfect PG at the pace he plays.

HighOctane wrote:What's a pace stat? If it's like a down the court thing, I can see TJ being fast since he normally pushes the ball up so far and his team is still behind. Anyhow, pace would be much better off the bench as Il mago suggested.

I'm assuming it's basically like the possessions per game stat, which has similar rankings/numbers.

http://www.knickerblogger.net/stats/2008/o_pace.htm

An interesting-only-to-me note about pace: this season, every team 22 through 30 in pace currently sits in a playoff slot...and the 21st team (New Jersey) is only a single game out.

Is there something to this? Teams that are able to slow the pace down to a crawl may be better able to avoid the fatigue of an 82 game season, and it does appear that we are slightly less doomed on the second half of back-to-backs than was the case last season.

Of course, the top five in pace are also sitting in the playoffs, so I might be completely out to lunch.

Hmm, that is interesting.

But it looks like those are the teams that have defined what they want to do. They either want to look after the rock and control the game that way, or push it like animals.

Either way, it looks like they would be dictating tempo. While the middle teams haven't really defined what they do.

Ill Mago wrote:So am i still the only one thinking that TJ`s faster pace would be a BIG asset off the bench?

I actually feel the opposite is true. Looking at our team as opposed to other teams with a slower pace, we don't have the offensive execution those teams have. The Pistons and Spurs have some of the most efficient offensive execution in the league.

This is why I believe a faster pace for THIS team would be better. Right now our team is completed dependent on the Jumpshot + CB4, but this ain't gonna cut it for the playoffs. If anything the faster pace will allow us to get some easier baskets and also doesn't allow the defence to sit and wait. We NEED to generate easier baskets.

What is the offense/defense numbers in terms of points scored when Jose runs the show? If the points numbers on offense are as good while playing at the slower pace that tells me the Raps are more effective playing slow. If the points numbers on offense are inline percentage wise with the pace numbers then there is no difference by playing slower. Since the Raps have Jose and Bosh logging large minutes if playing at a slower pace doesn't hurt the production then it may be in Raps best interest to continue playing slow to better pace Bosh and Jose for the game/year.

cdel00 wrote:What is the offense/defense numbers in terms of points scored when Jose runs the show? If the points numbers on offense are as good while playing at the slower pace that tells me the Raps are more effective playing slow. If the points numbers on offense are inline percentage wise with the pace numbers then there is no difference by playing slower. Since the Raps have Jose and Bosh logging large minutes if playing at a slower pace doesn't hurt the production then it may be in Raps best interest to continue playing slow to better pace Bosh and Jose for the game/year.

You mean points per minute with Jose playing the slow pace?

Obviously it'd be much lower since the pace is slower...and if you're asking if our team is as efficient playing a slow pace, it isn't.

We need TJ.

Schadenfreude wrote:An interesting-only-to-me note about pace: this season, every team 22 through 30 in pace currently sits in a playoff slot...and the 21st team (New Jersey) is only a single game out.

Is there something to this? Teams that are able to slow the pace down to a crawl may be better able to avoid the fatigue of an 82 game season, and it does appear that we are slightly less doomed on the second half of back-to-backs than was the case last season.

Of course, the top five in pace are also sitting in the playoffs, so I might be completely out to lunch.

Your missing something critical and focusing too much on the offensive side of the equation.

Good Teams = Good Defence
Good Defence = Harder for other teams to get good shots off early in shot clock = Less Shots from Opponent = Slower Pace

Which is why most good teams have a slower oace.. because they are good defensively.

Were focusing way too much on the offensive side of the pace factor. Great defensive times will also have a nice pace, even if there offence is not a walk it up the floor all the time type team.

As awesome as Calderon has been as a big time starter, I liked the way he played with Calderon. With less playing time he was definitely pushing the ball a lot more because of the extra energy he could afford to use up.