Calderon, Lucas Both Appear to Hurt Knee During Raptors Intrasquad Game

[Built Ford Tough]

I didn't see the Calderon injury as I was still asleep, but by the sounds of it, it didn't look good. I'm not sure how it happened, but I believe he ran into a Bargnani screen, hit his knee somewhere and immediately went down. He was helped off the floor by the medical staff and was putting very little weight on his right leg. From what I've read on Twitter from the beat guys (Koreen, E. Smith, Jones and McKenzie) it didn't look good at all.

 

As for Lucas, it happend at the very end of the game. Team Black was down by 3 with 8 seconds left, Lowry missed a 3 and then Fields put up a meaningless putback with 2 seconds left. His putback went in and out and then Acy incidently hit Lucas in the knee when going up for the board. Lucas was down on the floor in some obvious discomfort holding the back of his knee. On the positive side, he did get up and walk to the back so it didn't look like anything serious.

 

 

 

As for the game itself Team White (the bench) beat Team Black (the starters plus Kleiza, Acy and maybe McGuire) 78-75.

 

I don't know the stats, but I know Ross drained around 3 or 4 threes, Anderson had at least 10 points and his jumper looked good and Lowry was the best player on the black team. I only saw the last 5 minutes or so, but from what I read it sounded like those 3 were the best players tonight and that Ross was really getting after DeRozan.

[Real Deal]

We have Chris Duhon, if you want a PG. We'll take a second rounder for him.

 

But yeah, I read somewhere on Twitter that they were worried about Calderon. Didn't read ANYTHING about Lucas, but then again, it's John Lucas.

 

I always put Calderon on blast, but the fact of the matter is, you don't want him injured. Lucas just doesn't do enough with the ball, and while Calderon is a train wreck defensively, he still has the ability to run an offense, and the second unit will need that type of player.

[Built Ford Tough]

It doesn't sound like Casey is too worried about either one of them. After I posted this thread (or maybe even while I was posting this thread) there was some tweets that made it seem like there was nothing to worry about.

 

Paul Jones ‏@Paul__Jones

Casey: Fortunate to get out with only bumps and bruises. ... Jose kneed in the thigh...#Raptors

 

Paul Jones ‏@Paul__Jones

Maybe he was being coy or didn't know but Casey didn't seem overly concerned with the injuries to Calderon Lucas or DeRozan #Raptors #RTZ

 

jose manuel calderon ‏@josemcalderon8

Great exhibition/practice. Now to focus on wednesday vs Pacers. Only a hit on my knee. Nothing else. I'll be practicing tomorrow! Thanks

 

Eric Smith ‏@Eric__Smith

Lucas says he's fine. "I'll be ready for Wednesday" #Raptors #RTZ #smithandjones

 

Holly MacKenzie ‏@stackmack

JL3: "It twisted and then it kind of locked up a little bit. It was more of a scare than anything."

 

 

It sounds like Calderon got a charley horse (like I said, I didn't see the play) and Lucas' knee just locked up on him and was fine after walking it off.

[DunkinDerozan]

I'm not that worried about Lucas running the second unit tbh. He's really impressed me over the preseason. Obviously Calderon would be a better option but he honestly has not been too impressive since camp started.

[Built Ford Tough]

How has Lucas impressed you running the 2nd unit?

 

Running around jacking up shots has made you impressed in his ability to run the 2nd unit?

 

Sure, he has been good as a sparkplug off the bench for some instant offense, but aside from one half (2nd Detroit game I believe or maybe the Washington game, can't remember exactly) he has shown absolutely no ability to effectively run the 2nd unit. Aside from the first couple games with Lowry injured, Lucas has been playing shooting guard all preseason.

 

What happens when his shot isn't falling, which is going to be the case many times this season? What exactly does he bring to the table that would make you comfortable with him actually running the 2nd unit?

 

PS: I forgot to mention this in the post with all the Twitter updates, but they actually seem to be more worried about DeRozan's eye swelling up (he was poked in the eye and needed to get some drops and attention on the bench) than they are either Calderon or Lucas.

[DunkinDerozan]

How has Lucas impressed you running the 2nd unit?

 

Running around jacking up shots has made you impressed in his ability to run the 2nd unit?

 

Sure, he has been good as a sparkplug off the bench for some instant offense, but aside from one half (2nd Detroit game I believe or maybe the Washington game, can't remember exactly) he has shown absolutely no ability to effectively run the 2nd unit. Aside from the first couple games with Lowry injured, Lucas has been playing shooting guard all preseason.

 

What happens when his shot isn't falling, which is going to be the case many times this season? What exactly does he bring to the table that would make you comfortable with him actually running the 2nd unit?

 

PS: I forgot to mention this in the post with all the Twitter updates, but they actually seem to be more worried about DeRozan's eye swelling up (he was poked in the eye and needed to get some drops and attention on the bench) than they are either Calderon or Lucas.

 

I know that you can't expect a player to play the same in the regular season as they did during preseason, but just from the preseason, John Lucas's 10.6 PPG on a 50% FG in 18 MPG with 3.3 assists has been pretty solid. Although he does jakc up a lot of shots, as long as he's shooting well, I don't think you can really count that against him that much. Once I see him start missing, then I'll change my opinion.

[Built Ford Tough]

I know that you can't expect a player to play the same in the regular season as they did during preseason, but just from the preseason, John Lucas's 10.6 PPG on a 50% FG in 18 MPG with 3.3 assists has been pretty solid. Although he does jakc up a lot of shots, as long as he's shooting well, I don't think you can really count that against him that much. Once I see him start missing, then I'll change my opinion.

 

None of that really has anything to do with running the 2nd unit, though.

 

You are impressed by his scoring and shooting off the bench (don't get me wrong, it was a lot better than I expected as well) but he didn't really show any ability to actually run the offense with the 2nd unit, which is what I'm saying. I have no problems with Lucas playing the Barbosa role from last season of instant offense off the bench. Based on what I saw in the preseason, I do believe I'd have a problem with him actually running the offense with the intention of getting others involved.

 

Even the 3.3 assists don't tell the story since a lot of those came as bail outs late in the clock. I remember plenty of times where he would have a wide open Valanciunas, Johnson or Davis rolling to the rim and completely miss them. Or he would have Kleiza, Ross or Anderson spotting up on the perimeter on one of his drives and would look them off in favour of putting up a shot of his own. Sure, they went in during the preseason but what happens when those shots aren't falling?

 

That is what I mean by I'm not impressed with him running the 2nd unit. I'm not trying to sound condescending or anything like that (and I apologize if I come off that way). I'm genuinely curious what it is that you saw from Lucas that made you impressed with his ability to actually run the 2nd unit and get others involved.