Is Calderon nearing his peak?

[supersub15]

He's 26 right now and never played better in his life. Just a few stats as a starter.

In the entire NBA, he's:

7th in 3-Pt Field Goal Pct (.462)
2nd in Free Throw Pct (.922)
5th in Total Assists (440)
5th in Assists Per Game (8. - 4th if you take his starts (10.0)
5th in True Shooting % (.634)
4th in Assist % (44.9) - % of teammate field goals he's assisted
1st in Offensive Rating (131.7) - Points produced per 100 posessions
1st in Pure Point Guard Rating (13.6) - equivalent of Ast/To ratio
1st in Turnover Ratio among point guards (7.8%)

These are gaudy stats. The only thing he can improve is his ppg, and that can easily be fixed by taking more shots (he's at 4th in FGA on the team with just 9.2). He's playing at an extremely high level. Can he play better or are we watching his peak?

[cdel00]

Offensively he's at his peak, Defensively he's still stuck in the mud. Lots of room room to improve his defensive awareness.

[Griff83]

id say his peak is around 17ppg

[Antoine_Wright21]

I personally think he is reaching his peak. Unless he pulls a Nash and magically gets better when he gets older, we're probably looking at Jose at his best.

That being said, he'll probably keep this level of play for a couple more seasons before we see even a slight drop off because it seems like he keeps himself in tip top shape. Also the fact that he has TJ backing up him up now means statistically he can't get any better, but his efficiency could go up. But having TJ backing him up will probably keep him at his current stats.

[ToffKobe]

To be honest I never thought Jose Calderon would be this good so it's really great to watch him right now.

I think he can emerge as a very good player since he's still quite young. He may not shoot at the same percentages he's shooting right now, but I think he'll be more poised and a better decision maker. Yes, I know he's 1st in turnover ratio, but that's because he's too careful and I think you'll see him taking more chances and taking the shots for himself when the team is in a bit of a lull.

Plus, you can't teach experience. Many players as they gain experience become that much better, it shows in their game, but the stats might go down a little. I'm not saying Calderon's stats will go down but I don't think his shooting percentages will continue like this into next year.

[mintsa]

I too never thought Jose would be this good bit im even more surprised on how consistant he is. i would of expected flashes here and there but not an enite almost 2 months of solid ball.

[Duffman100]

What's True Shooting %?

[SuminderJi]

We saw flashes in his first year, but this is a suprise to all fans. Hes just a pleasure to watch.

[raps9]

He's hitting his peak for this season

over the offseason he will have a lot to work on
Defenses will be a lot more prepared.

This offseason is key for him playing at this level for the rest of his career (or at least the next 4-5 seasons)

[supersub15]

What's True Shooting %?

It's a modified FG% that combines 2FG%, 3FG% and FT%.

[Shaazzam]

He's playing out of his gourd.

I want to see him play with better wings.

[Komodo]

We are going to have to dish out some serious dough to keep Jose, and I'm more than fine with that. But no doubt, it will eventually lead to some roster changes.

[Ill Mago]

Calderon is not near his full potential yet, IMO.It's his third year in the L, he saw limited minutes in his first, and we all remember how horrible he was back then. To put it simply, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

These days, Jose is money from anywhere on the floor. His shooting from outside on the Bosh screen has become just as "patented" as his high-percentage "ocho special" layup. His game has evolved beautifully! I think we'll see a steady progression from jose throughout his 20s, i see him focusing on becoming more aggressive and a better defender over summers.

If he gets those things on lock, too, jose becomes a premier point in the NBA.

[Rapture]

Like others have pointed out it's obvious that he has to improve on defense. I would like to see him add a floater to his game. Usually it's either an outside shot or all the way to the rim. Also he can improve a lot at drawing fouls and getting to the line. His decisions on fast break are sometimes too safe and some easy buckets that other top PG's could create are left unmade. This is only his third year in the L and first one starting. I see him still developing though he's already playing on a really high level.

[cdcastellon1]

JC has said in spanish media he could shoot more, but he prefers to get all involved, but if he continues with this FG% he should staRt to shoot more and produce more PPG.

Imo that will happend in his #4 season, he will motivate himself to hold his numbers with a better PPG production.

[I_Like_Dirt]

I actually think Jose will improve even more. Defensively he has loads of room to improve but I doubt we see anything major in that regard. Offensively I think he'll eventually figure out that there are times when he needs to score rather than just take opportunistic shots in order for his team to be successful (like he did in the third quarter last night). Right now I don't think he's very good at it but he'll eventually develop some of those skills with time. As he does that I expect his percentages to go down a little bit and his assists at least won't go up and may even dip a little but he'll be an even better player because of it.

[bakafool]

I'm not too surprised of how good he is right now. Maybe a little surprised at his incredibly high field goal percentage, but there wasn't much doubt in my mind that he would play at this high of a level. He showed in his first year that he was capable of becoming a really good player in the NBA. People just assumed that since his jumper wasn't automatic in his first year and since his play fell off after a blazing start that he wouldn't improve. They fail to remember that this guy is the pointguard of the reigning world champs. He ain't no scrub coming into the NBA.

[ponder276]

I don't know if he has the athleticism/quickness to be much better than he currently is. I do think he's near his peak, although that's not a big deal, since he's playing excellent ball right now.

[Grizzled]

I think that what this last game showed is that there is a whole other aspect to his game that is waiting to open up. He showed that he can penetrate and that he can be the #1 option and take a lot of shots and still make a high percentage of them. Obviously he can improve on defence too. I think he

[The_Hater]

I think that most players playing at Jose's level are either at or near their peak. All things being equal, the better player that you are the less room for improvement exists.