The On Deck Circle

I really didn’t plan on responding to this, but the amount of MSN/e-mail comments people have made to me has been overwhelming. Yes, Gilbert Arenas is back in the news again, this time for chirping Raptor-faithful favorite Jose Calderon.

In his NBA.com blog (and later in every newspaper on the planet, apparently), Gilbert, with respect to Jose’s All-Star candidacy, wrote:

”On the East side, I don’t know if there were any big snubs. I mean, some people wanted Jose Calderon. Jose Calderon? Who? Come on man, this is All-Star, people. When I’ve seen some of the names that are being thrown around on the ticker as snubs, it’s killing me. I understand Calderon has the best assist-turnover ratio in the league, but you know what’s funny? All back-up point guards have the best assist-turnover ratios. Screw it, Kevin Ollie should be an All-Star then! For like five or six years, Ollie was No. 1 in assist-turnover ratio!

An All-Star is an All-Star! He’s playing at a high level. That means, if you take him off the team, that team should fall down if he’s that one guy. An All-Star means that he is dominating the game of basketball. It’s not even about numbers necessarily, it’s about dominating.

I could probably say that Richard Jefferson got snubbed maybe Josh Smith too. His 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks puts him at No. 14. Richard Jefferson is No. 13. Turkoglu is No. 15. But, El Calderon? Come on.

I’ve been loving the way he’s been playing for the last two years. When he first came into the league he was a little timid and scared to shoot the ball, but he’s taking over that team. But All-Star? He’s about 20 years away from being an All-Star.

This is the difference between Antawn and Caron stepping up with me out and Calderon stepping up with T.J. Ford out: Antawn is second in the league in double-doubles and there’s only five players in the league averaging 20 and 10 – he’s one of them. There’s Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh and Antawn. Four of those five are All-Stars and their teams are winning. Caron is playing at a high level. He’s taking over the game when he’s been playing – All-Star. Calderon is managing a team. If he was up for Rookie All-Star, Sophomore All-Star … BOOM … he’d get in. He might even be MVP! But for the big show? The big game? No.”

For more from Gilbert’s usually hilarious blog, you can hit this.

As usual, Agent Zero has spoken a little bit out of his ass and pissed a lot of people (read: Raptor fans) off. The comments in response to his piece are large in number and angry in context. So what do I think of Gil’s breakdown of Jose? Well for one, I think he should stick to Men’s Journal articles.

I can agree with Gil right away that perhaps Josh Smith is a better All-Star choice than Jose, fine. But that pick should have come at the cost of teammate Joe Johnson’s spot. With respect to Hedo, he is as borderline a candidate as Jose is. Jefferson? His team is performing poorly and he offers nothing but points. Regardless, my quarrel is not even with him suggesting Jose is not the foremost backup All-Star. I can see the merit in this argument.

My beef comes with the way he approached it. First of all, how the hell is someone supposed to become an all-star name without their first all-star selection? That part of the election question is always a circular argument, but if Mehmet Okur and Wally World can be all-stars, Jose can be too.

And sure Gil, Jose was a back-up, and back-ups generally do have better assist-to-turnover ratios. But one of the five greatest of all time is not pedestrian. Kevin Ollie also didn’t do it while averaging close to 10 assists per night and starting in two thirds of his games played.

And Gil, check the stats. Jose does more than just collect dimes. His scoring average is low by all-star standards (though comparable to Jason Kidd), but his shooting percentages from everywhere on the floor (overall, 3-point, and free throws) are out of this world.

And homie, an all-star does not mean your team falls down without you. By that logic, you are not an all-star, and any player on a team with a losing record (since the team can’t get worse without you) is not an all-star. Paul Pierce probably isn’t an all-star,

and most players on highly competitive teams aren’t, because their teams are deep enough to cover for a player lost to injury. Sure, being an all-star is about dominating the game, but how can you watch Jose and the way he terrorizes opposing PGs and say he doesn’t dominate on that side of the ball? The floor is never as well spaced as it is with Jose out there, and you can bet if you replace Jose with Juan Dixon during TJ’s absence that everyone but Bosh is going to suffer (though Dixon would probably average 25 points a night on 33% shooting-”Is he going to shoot that??”).

Yup, Calderon is just managing a team. A team one spot above yours in the standings despite a long-term injury to a player of nearly comparable value to his team (TJ) as youare to yours. Oh, and 20 years away? Hyperbole much, Zero? If, Bosh-forbid, Jose suits up for another team next year, say one lacking a true point guard (Miami, Atlanta, Cleveland, etc), good luck keeping him out of the February Classic.

We know you have a big mouth Gil, and usually it’s very entertaining. This time it was, too; it gave me something to do instead of studying for my two Wednesday mid-terms. And I respect that you’re willing to put your opinion out there constantly for the fans to enjoy. And you’re not even wrong in saying Jose probably isn’t the biggest All-Star snub in the East. But don’t insult the guy, man. I’m sure Jose can’t wait to see you guys again. In the words of Booker T, “Gilbert Arenas, we comin’ for you!”