ford wasn't too shabby either

[thOOdee]

not too much talk on what ford did....not too impressed w earlier games, but really showed what he can do in this game. created buckets, and fed the guys who had the hot hand.

[The_Worlds_finest]

did he set up rj for a mad dunk? I cant watch most of the games

[Interrohater]

:tu

[justinandimcool]

He set up DG for an alley oop and it was awesome.

He is a natural passer and a natural at being quick. Spurs haven't had that in a long time. Once he realizes that he is actually a good shooter when he's open it will be huge for us. But I like his mentality- get the easiest shot, shoot as a last resort.

[TDMVPDPOY]

tj ford aka speedy claxton v2.o

bailed out the starting pg, nothing to see here

took the game on his back hustling shots and setting up green or open players...

(then again if those shots didnt fall, we wouldnt have this thread besides a hater thread)

[007nites]

Ford, actually is the guy who got Green started on offense. Actually, he deserves just amount of credit as Green did tonight. Because if it wasn't for those clutch shots and passes he made we wouldn't have been in the position to take over the game.

[angelbelow]

He definitely jump started the comeback. Props to TJ tonight.

[thOOdee]

yuh..definitely loved that he had the smarts to keep getting it to green, even though he is not known as a go to guy.

[benefactor]

Ford continues his steamy dump on ST.

[DAF86]

He has a much better court vision than I remembered. I'm still not sold on him keeping this up but he has definitely earned himself the benefit of the doubt.

[silverblk mystix]

where's all the TJ haters who dismissed him after 1 or 2 games?

[Robz4000]

Ford is solid. Thought he would be for a backup but he's making himself a case to get more minutes if TP doesn't pick up his game.

[ulosturedge]

TJ Ford definitely deserved player of the game. He single handedly kept us in it when it looked like we were about to fade away. Our offense looked completely lost out there until TJ made those big shots and then followed it up with some great passes. Kudos to him.

[z0sa]

Ford may be better than some expect. He's certainly played better than I thought he would at this point, and the I thought the pickup was decent. However, it's going to be a long season. Guys like him need to step up every night if they want to be a good team.

[GSH]

Don't forget 8 assists in 19 minutes. So much for the people who said he doesn't look to involve teammates. He made some great shots, right when we really needed them. But he also used his quickness to draw in the defense, and then made some great feeds. His passes were mostly right on the money, and timely. All you could ask for.

[silverblackfan]

I liked TJ's play tonight and it was his best game as a Spur. We can only hope it improves with familiarity.
His defense needs work, but he is hustling. He did turn his back on Curry a couple times at the 3 point line. That seems like a bad idea...

[callo1]

where's all the TJ haters who dismissed him after 1 or 2 games?

Exactly.

TJ played good ball tonight. Other than the last few minutes, TJ clearly outplayed Tony. I am not really suprised that TJ played better than TP tonight. Tony's biggest issue has always been trying to find that happy medium between distributing and scoring. TJ came in and distributed first, got his teamates going, then went and got some of his own later.

Props to TJ for coming up big tonight, and silencing his ST critics for at least one game. I liked the TJ pick up from the beginning and feel like he is only going to get better in the Spurs system.

With Manu out, Tony is going to have to figure out how to balance assists and scoring...I hope he learned something from TJ tonight.

[TDMVPDPOY]

i thought pop was going to leave him in for the rest of the game after the successful quarter he had....he was doing everything perfectly...

[ggoose25]

I wasn't really feeling the TJ Ford pickup until tonight. We'll see how he does but he clearly has skills. I kinda liked the TP and TJ backcourt

[gospursgojas]

Ford continues his steamy dump on ST.

[angelbelow]

where's all the TJ haters who dismissed him after 1 or 2 games?

I'm not a hater but I didn't like the signing of TJ. I followed his career when he was with the Raptors wasn't sure if he would fit well here. With the raptors, his shot selection was a big question mark, he heavily over-dribbled, and his defense was average at best. Hes also very injury prone which has really affected his speed and athleticism. This led to him settling for bad jumpers over and over again. So objectively, I didn't like the signing that much.

Luckily, hes done a great job picking his shots, keeping his dribbling relatively reasonable and has a good job defensively. His passing is as good as ever though. So far hes a very solid pick up and I hope it continues that way.

[lurker23]

It's been interesting listening to interviews with TJ since he became a Spur. Some of it may just be how happy he is to be back in Texas, but he seems simply at awe with the Spurs organization.

We all know that the Spurs have the reputation of being one of the classiest and best run teams off-the-court, but TJ makes it sound like the other teams he's been on haven't had nearly as much camaraderie or work ethic as the Spurs. I think one of his quotes from training camp even said that he felt that he was being coached for the first time in his career.

[itzsoweezee]

He's been shitting on the haters all season. Spurstalk posters continue to demonstrate they know nothing about basketball.

[GSH]

I'm not a hater but I didn't like the signing of TJ. I followed his career when he was with the Raptors wasn't sure if he would fit well here. With the raptors, his shot selection was a big question mark, he heavily over-dribbled, and his defense was average at best. Hes also very injury prone which has really affected his speed and athleticism. This led to him settling for bad jumpers over and over again. So objectively, I didn't like the signing that much.

Luckily, hes done a great job picking his shots, keeping his dribbling relatively reasonable and has a good job defensively. His passing is as good as ever though. So far hes a very solid pick up and I hope it continues that way.

In fairness, it makes a difference when he has good teammates, and a good coach. Ford has been with three crappy, undisciplined teams. People forget that the first year with Toronto he averaged something like 8 assists in 30 minutes. And he probably averaged about 6.5-7 AST per game until he got to Indiana. I think he was a better PG than he got credit for, because of the players surrounding him.

I saw him in the last pre-season game, and he really looked bad that night. But other than that game, he has been adequate to pretty good. And he seems to be improving. I said when they signed him that he will be the best backup point we've had in years, if he stays healthy. He was even better than that tonight. I just hope he can be consistent, instead of up and down. We don't need an All-Star for a backup PG - we need a guy who will give us solid minutes, keep the offense from totally stagnating, and not turn the ball over. Anything beyond that is a bonus. As long as he doesn't start pressing to earn another starting job somewhere, I think we will be glad we got him.



I think one of his quotes from training camp even said that he felt that he was being coached for the first time in his career.

Lots of truth to that. He's been in some really crappy situations.

[The_Worlds_finest]

TJ Ford definitely deserved player of the game. He single handedly kept us in it when it looked like we were about to fade away. Our offense looked completely lost out there until TJ made those big shots and then followed it up with some great passes. Kudos to him.

Why we dumped Hill

[angelbelow]

In fairness, it makes a difference when he has good teammates, and a good coach. Ford has been with three crappy, undisciplined teams. People forget that the first year with Toronto he averaged something like 8 assists in 30 minutes. And he probably averaged about 6.5-7 AST per game until he got to Indiana. I think he was a better PG than he got credit for, because of the players surrounding him.

I saw him in the last pre-season game, and he really looked bad that night. But other than that game, he has been adequate to pretty good. And he seems to be improving. I said when they signed him that he will be the best backup point we've had in years, if he stays healthy. He was even better than that tonight. I just hope he can be consistent, instead of up and down. We don't need an All-Star for a backup PG - we need a guy who will give us solid minutes, keep the offense from totally stagnating, and not turn the ball over. Anything beyond that is a bonus. As long as he doesn't start pressing to earn another starting job somewhere, I think we will be glad we got him.







Good points. He was on some pretty shitty teams with coaches like Sam Mitchell. He kind of fell off after going to Indiana so I was skeptical for that reason as well. But I'm glad were getting a disciplined TJ ford.

Talent wise, Ive always liked him, that was a big part of why I even bothered to follow his career given that Spurs are my favorite team and I'm from the west coast. (And he was on my fantasy team 3 years in a row lol). I hope he stays healthy and consistent, talent wise, hes definitely one of the best back up PGs we've had in recent years.

[The_Worlds_finest]

He's been shitting on the haters all season. Spurstalk posters continue to demonstrate they know nothing about basketball.

:toast

[timvp]

I've been pleasantly surprised by Ford thus far in terms of his style of play. He is really, really attempting to follow Pop's orders. I give him a lot of credit for that. I can't remember a role player who has bought in so quickly and thoroughly with the system. Any passion that TJ lost in the last few years has returned now that he's in an environment he enjoys. Props to him. :tu

That said, Spur/Longhorn fan shouldn't be planning Ford's Hall of Fame banquet just yet. Coming into this game, Ford was 58th out of the 59 point guards in the in NBA in PER. The only point guard in the entire NBA with a lower PER than Ford (5.63) thus far this season was an injured Mike Bibby. So to frame the game against the Warriors like this is more validation that Ford has been a great find by the Spurs is laughable.

Coming into this game, Ford was the most turnover prone point guard in the NBA despite being one of the point guards with the lowest usage rates -- a pretty difficult feat to pull off. He also almost had as many turnovers (9) as points (10).

Against the Warriors, the biggest difference to me regarding Ford was his ability to jump. He got great elevation on his jumper ... which had been missing this year. He was also able to get in the air and stay in the air long enough to find the open man. That, too, wasn't happening in any other game.

I really, really, really hope that Ford got off to the slow start just because he was a bit out of shape and this is the player we'll see going forward. He was damn good tonight so if this is the real version of Ford, I'll be more than glad to eat burnt orange crow.

But, unfortunately, anyone who has watched Ford the last few years knows that he periodically has these types of breakout games about once every other week ... only to revert to worse play for the rest of the time. Again, hopefully that isn't the case this year and Ford will play closer to an average point guard rather than the worst point guard in the league outside the corpse of Mike Bibby.




P.S.

Ginobili's injury actually makes Ford a much better fit on this team. Next to Ginobili, Ford's strengths are muted because Ginobili can do everything Ford can do. But without Ginobili, Ford will be counted on to make plays and direct the offense ... which are his two strengths as a player.

If the FO signed Ford with the thought that he'll be extra useful when Ginobili misses his annual games due to injury, they are smarter than I and I tip my cap for such great foresight.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I've been pleasantly surprised by Ford thus far in terms of his style of play. He is really, really attempting to follow Pop's orders. I give him a lot of credit for that. I can't remember a role player who has bought in so quickly and thoroughly with the system. Any passion that TJ lost in the last few years has returned now that he's in an environment he enjoys. Props to him. :tu

That said, Spur/Longhorn fan shouldn't be planning Ford's Hall of Fame banquet just yet. Coming into this game, Ford was 58th out of the 59 point guards in the in NBA in PER. The only point guard in the entire NBA with a lower PER than Ford (5.63) thus far this season was an injured Mike Bibby. So to frame the game against the Warriors like this is more validation that Ford has been a great find by the Spurs is laughable.

Coming into this game, Ford was the most turnover prone point guard in the NBA despite being one of the point guards with the lowest usage rates -- a pretty difficult feat to pull off. He also almost had as many turnovers (9) as points (10).

Against the Warriors, the biggest difference to me regarding Ford was his ability to jump. He got great elevation on his jumper ... which had been missing this year. He was also able to get in the air and stay in the air long enough to find the open man. That, too, wasn't happening in any other game.

I really, really, really hope that Ford got off to the slow start just because he was a bit out of shape and this is the player we'll see going forward. He was damn good tonight so if this is the real version of Ford, I'll be more than glad to eat burnt orange crow.

But, unfortunately, anyone who has watched Ford the last few years knows that he periodically has these types of breakout games about once every other week ... only to revert to worse play for the rest of the time. Again, hopefully that isn't the case this year and Ford will play closer to an average point guard rather than the worst point guard in the league outside the corpse of Mike Bibby.




P.S.

Ginobili's injury actually makes Ford a much better fit on this team. Next to Ginobili, Ford's strengths are muted because Ginobili can do everything Ford can do. But without Ginobili, Ford will be counted on to make plays and direct the offense ... which are his two strengths as a player.

If the FO signed Ford with the thought that he'll be extra useful when Ginobili misses his annual games due to injury, they are smarter than I and I tip my cap for such great foresight.
Timvp I dont believe you have watched or know as much about TJ Ford as you make it seem.

[scottspurs]

T.J. Ford should start. Put Parker at SG. Dominate

[Fireball]

T.J. Ford should start. Put Parker at SG. Dominate

Thats what I did not understand when Parker and Ford closed the game against the Warriors. Ford should have been the one being the floor general. But it was Tony playing PG and I think TJ Ford added nothing the last few minutes ... without Parker he was really good

[GSH]

That said, Spur/Longhorn fan shouldn't be planning Ford's Hall of Fame banquet just yet. Coming into this game, Ford was 58th out of the 59 point guards in the in NBA in PER. The only point guard in the entire NBA with a lower PER than Ford (5.63) thus far this season was an injured Mike Bibby. So to frame the game against the Warriors like this is more validation that Ford has been a great find by the Spurs is laughable.

Coming into this game, Ford was the most turnover prone point guard in the NBA despite being one of the point guards with the lowest usage rates -- a pretty difficult feat to pull off. He also almost had as many turnovers (9) as points (10).




Well, damn the stats. ;) Unfortunately, you're right. I'm one who thought (and still thinks) that Ford isn't as terrible as some do. But even if you think the stats don't tell the whole story, you can't totally ignore them either.

That being said, I think that the biggest problem so far is the low usage rate, and that should improve as he gets settled in here. (Hopefully last night was a sign of that.) He's not taking many shots, and he's not getting to the line at all. That'll knock all those PER-related stats in the dirt.

His AST/TO is still 2-to-1, which is on the low side of adequate, but still adequate. He's always been a bit turnover-prone, and that's not likely to end now. As long as he can keep the offense from stagnating, it will be an improvement over the last couple of years.



Against the Warriors, the biggest difference to me regarding Ford was his ability to jump. He got great elevation on his jumper ... which had been missing this year. He was also able to get in the air and stay in the air long enough to find the open man. That, too, wasn't happening in any other game.


Funny you should mention that. One of Ford's shortcomings is that he has always tended to shoot on the way up. Part of the rap on his shot selection, I think, has to do with his ability to make an okay shot look awkward. He's never had an impressive FG%, and he really depends on FT's to round out his scoring. I'm really hopeful that Chip Engellund can turn his shot around. If he does, I think his overall game will improve a lot.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

TJ Ford is the best backup PG we've had since Claxton.

[DaBears]

I haven't been to impressed with TJ Ford thus far in the season but it is too early..
He has made a lot of turnovers that i wouldn't have expected him to make.. He seems to slip aot on the court and loose the ball.. But last night he had a decent game even though he had multiple turnovers..

[Spurs Brazil]

TJ was great. I hope he can keep that. We'll need with Manu out

[z0sa]

lol KBP being proven a dumbass already

[Mel_13]

lol KBP being proven a dumbass again

Fixed it

[Solid D]

That was his best game as a Spur. I liked the double PG lineup Pop ran out there in the last 5 1/2 minutes with TJ and TP + Danny, RJ and Timmy. We may see that sb lineup some more against certain teams.

Duncan and Green made a huge defensive impact. Duncan's entry into the game is actually what inspired the strong finish. Green did his best Bruce Bowen (with a dash of Manu) defensive imitation, while Ford listened to Pop and pushed the pace when he got the ball.

I noticed that TJ still makes some errors like picking up his dribble under pressure. However, his jump shooting was a real plus and his confidence has been on the rise.

[ChumpDumper]

Yeah, TJ's response to defensive pressure bothers me the most, but his application of pressure in transition is what I like best.

[jjktkk]

Seems like alot of over analyzing on Ford imo. Sure Fords got holes in his game, but those holes would really be glaring if he was a starter, but, alas, hes a backup pg. Most backup players do have deficiencies, hence, the reason they are backups.

[Morg1411]

TJ had a great game last night. I thought he and Parker did well on the floor together, at least for that stretch of the game. I'm sure Pop will try it again at some point.