Turkoglu hasn't been as effective as advertised, for one, and neither has Jose Calderon, who was seen applying a wrap to his right hamstring after a six-turnover debacle in Wednesday's drubbing. Calderon repeatedly has claimed good health this season, but it's important to remember that the Raptors, and NBA teams in general, are often not transparent in their public disclosure of ailments. It was only in October's training camp that Calderon acknowledged the full extent of last year's injury – a six-centimetre tear in his right hamstring. Before that, he'd claimed he was physically "fine," this even when the numbers suggested he clearly was hurting.
This year, the Spaniard is either hurt or not very good.
Calderon's player efficiency rating (PER) is only slightly better than that of the average NBA player's thus far. The league average of the all-encompassing stat devised by ESPN.com's John Hollinger – which, though it's not perfect, is the best measure yet devised of a player's per-minute effectiveness – is 15. Calderon was riding at about 17.3 as of Monday.
The problem is, when Calderon is on the floor, the opposing point guard is putting up a PER of 23.7, according to 82games.com. For an example of an NBA point guard achieving a PER in the neighbourhood of 23.7, think Steve Nash, who the Raptors will see on Sunday when the resurgent Phoenix Suns come to town.
In other words, Calderon is such a non-factor on defence he is making all of his opponents look like Nash.
Jose's Either Hurt or Not Very Good
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Dave wrote:
