New York Knicks: How Jose Calderon Affects Team
By Evan Massey
How will point guard Jose Calderon affect the New York Knicks now that he is back in the lineup?
The New York Knicks have been without point guard Jose Calderon all season long until he made his debut in their last game against Philadelphia 76ers. He didn’t play all that well, but he is going to be a major upgrade over what Shane Larkin brought to the point guard position during Calderon’s absence.
Now that he is back on the court, the question about how Calderon will affect the Knicks has come up and needs to be answered.
Take a look at Calderon’s numbers last season with the Dallas Mavericks:
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/24/2014.
Those numbers may not look too impressive, but they could desperately use them at the point guard position with the lack of production that they have gotten from that position all season long. He will bring much better ball-handling and passing to go along with a much improved offensive game than Larkin as well.
At 33 years of age, Calderon is also bringing a good amount of veteran experience and understanding to the table. The Knicks’ offensive game hasn’t been very good all season long, but Calderon returning will help make it much smoother. He is the type of point guard that will need to have the basketball in his hands coming up the floor, but he’ll hit the open man and help get his teammates open.
One of the Knicks’ main issues on the offensive end of the floor is players playing too much one-on-one basketball and forcing the issue. Calderon will help alleviate that, and has a good chance to be a major piece to fix those issues. He will keep the basketball moving, and knows how to distribute well to keep everyone involved.
Quite simply, bringing a true point guard back onto the court will help keep the Knicks from playing selfish basketball. Calderon will also fit right into the system that Derek Fisher runs, and can knock down some shots as well as create his own. He’s not the type of player that is going to score 20 or more points per game, but he can score 20 on any given night and forces defenses to stay at home on him.
Despite everything that has been said about Calderon and how he’ll help the Knicks, he isn’t going to be able to fix their issues on his own.
Calderon will be able to help fix some of the issues that they have offensively, but he is not a good defensive player and he lacks athleticism. He’ll knock down some jumpers and make good passes and create openings for his teammates, but the Knicks will still need another player or two to step up. That being said, getting him back at full health is going to be a big step in the right direction.
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It’s going to be very intriguing to see how the offense looks with Calderon back on the floor. He wasn’t good to say the least in his debut, but he will need to get used to the speed of the game and get his legs back under him again before he can be judged.
New York is very excited to have their starting point guard back on the court, and it should make their offense look much better. Anytime a team gets their starting point guard back they should take a step forward offensively. Only time will tell whether or not he can make the impact that Phil Jackson and the Knicks need him to, but he has a much better chance than Larkin.
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