NBA Top 50: Jose Calderon (No. 33)

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

You know, Jose Calderon was a lot more likeable before he defended the silly slant-eyes photo and blamed referees on Spain's Olympic loss to the United States. A humble but ballsy point guard who could drop a dime while carrying a tray full of fajitas through tar pits on Tuesday, all with messed up hair. Quite a catch, in the basketball sense, no matter how much of a jerk he's been over the past month.

No matter your denomination, you want these four things from your point guard: hit shots, get the ball to folks who will hit shots, don't give the ball to the other team, play defense. Calderon is already a master in three of those areas, and his defense isn't considered bad. (He has size and energy, which cover his less than wild athleticism.)

Calderon had a True Shooting percentage of 60.8% last season, astronomical for a guard. He doesn't score often -- he's bashful on the trigger too frequently -- but he sinks his shots or draws fouls when the scoreboard does call.

In only 30 minutes of play per game, Calderon dropped 8.3 assists last season, good for fifth in the league. As I've noted before, assists are a strange mistress. It's hard to figure exactly what they mean. But looking over the Toronto roster and the statistics of other Raptors, it's pretty clear Calderon's brand of passing is notable.

Ball protection is Calderon's calling card, however, and it's simply dynamite. Over the last nine games of the regular season, Calderon played 211 minutes, or 24 per game. He totaled 67 assists ... and gave up one turnover. That's the norm, but it's close, and it's an indication of how special a ball-handler this gato can be.

Looking at the full canvas, it's easy to make the leap from Calderon to Steve Nash, circa 2001. That's not quite right. Toronto plays slow, while Nash excels in the open court. Calderon can play fast, and might be in a similarly good situation had Bryan Colangelo's "100 FGAs or bust" plot worked two years ago. But the guards exhibit different types of incision. Nash cuts with spontaneous, freelanced beauty -- there are options X, Y, Z on any given play, and Nash can pull off any of them flawlessly, with no questions of indecision at all. There's an overarching philosophy about the action, but no real rules for this possession or that.

Calderon's method is more sure, a boulder to Nash's sand. Jose still sews magnificent thread, delivering spot-on surprises for the Toronto teammate and the viewer. But it's all part of a larger plan ... there's an order, a structure to the work. The play goes A-B-C. Again, it's not boring or predictable. It's safe. Calderon's style is safe. It also happens to be as valuable as that of almost any other PG in the league.