blogsketball

I was working an AJHL game on Wednesday night and as I was writing my story, a TV behind me had TSN on it. After three hours of hockey talk, they finally made their way to the NBA’s slate of action (didn’t see you on the Celts/Suns highlights, Danny).

During the Raptors/Pistons highlights, they mentioned that Jose Calderon had surrendered his spot as starter to TJ Ford, because he thought it would help the team win. That kind of re-ignited my love of all things Calderon. It also reminded me that I completely forgot to post the transcripts of my interview with numero ocho from last month. So here it is. Of course, you can and should pick up SLAM 117 if you haven’t already, to read the In Your Face that I wrote on him.

I spoke with Calderon just after they completed a home-and-home series with the Washington Wizards. They won the back end of that series.

Me: Whenever you hit a three you make that signal with your fingers. Where’d that signal come from?

Calderon: It came from last year in practice we were playing first unit against second unit. Second unit was hitting some threes and I hit a three after one game and everyone liked it. It’s something with me and the team.

Me: Have you noticed that other players around the league do it now?

Calderon: I noticed that, but I have to say something to them maybe because I have a patent (he laughs). Everything is alright, it’s a good thing, whatever happens is not a problem.

Me: Did you start to notice last year that the buzz increased around you? Other teams want you as their pg now, have you noticed that?

Calderon: I don’t want to say nothing about that. Right now, I finish my contract at the end of the season. Right now I’m thinking about the Raptors winning games and whatever happens in July we’ll see what happens. But right now, I don’t want to think about that, I’m here in Toronto, we’ll see what happens.

Me: When did you start handing out Gatorade in the locker room?

Calderon:I just go to the freezer where the drinks are and just bring something for everybody. I used to do it, so I dont know. I’m always the same guy, for sure.

Me: did you do that before the NBA?

Calderon: I don’t remember if I did or no.

Me: Did it start as a rookie thing? I can picture Mo Pete making the rookies do that.

Calderon: Yeah, you can say that it’s a rookie thing, but I just do it because I feel like I have to. It’s like if I’m going into where the drinks are I’m going to get something for my teammates, I dont know. This is a team, so I feel like it’s nothing. I feel good doing it.

Me: Last week against Boston, the game’s on the line and you took the ball to the hoop for the win. Are you more comfortable doing that this year?

Calderon: I am comcortable with my teammates. Everything is, sometimes it just come out. I feel like that time I was open so I just say to myself okay go for it, and everything went well so it was a good thing.

Me: Rob Babcock drafted or signed you. You might be the only person in Toronto who thinks highly of him at this point.

Calderon: I signed as a free agent, so I come in from Spain. Yeah, I feel really good with him, we’re still good friends. Everything that happened to me is because he gave me the opportunity to be in the NBA.

Me: Was it a hard transition for you into the NBA?

Calderon: Oh yeah, the first year was terrible. We lost a lot of games, I was injured in my foot with the plantar fasciitis. I didn’t play a lot of minutes. It was a tough year for the Raptors. I felt really bad, it was a tough year, I even thought about coming back home because I don’t know if … my role in the team was here. It was a bad year but after that I put myself to the game and just tried to work hard and get better and the whole summer I was working hard, trying to show Bryan Collangelo I could play so last year was a really good year for me and this year too. The first, it’s better to forget about it.

Me: Did something change for you? What happened?

Calderon: Yeah. Last year wass great. I felt really comfortable on the team with my teammates, you know, and the thing was I know the league and I know how everything is going to be. It was easier for me. The language was better, my English was better, so I could explain myself sometimes when I wanted to. Everything worked out better last year. I feel like every day I play with more confidence so my teammates have confidence in me and that’s the best thing.

Me: How tough was the language barrier for you?

Calderon: That was really bad. That was one of the biggest problems. As a point guard you have to be ready to explain yourself, tell your teammates what you want, what the coach want at that moment. At some situations I didn’t understand what the coaches wanted when they were talking to me. They tried to explain something and I didn’t know. It was tough for everything, so I got tired of having everything translated to me in the first year. More or less everything worked out. That’s why you need to speak English with your wife here, because it’s very important, and more if you play at the point, because you need to tell everyone that.

Me: How’s your wife’s English?

Calderon: Better, better, better than mine. She helps me a lot.

Me: How much did the Spanish national team help you in NBA?

Calderon: Yeah for sure. Everything helps, you know? After the first year we got the World Championship and we win that and it was great, it brought a lot of confidence, because I feel like I came back to play basketball, and that’s why I came here in the second season and I was ready to play.

Me: Are you surprised to see national teams here in Canada and the US recruiting players to play for them? It seems like it’s an obligation for a lot of the NBA’s foreign players.

Calderon: I don’t know, I think everyone has a different culture about that. The same. I think we play for the same teams, we practice, we started playing together when we were young. When I play with my country, it’s nice.

Me: Your assist to turnover ratio is ridiculous, and it’s always been good, even in your first year. How have you mg’d to keep that so low?

Calderon: The thing is, at the end it’s a team stat, you can’t do it without your teammates. They know when to grab the ball, when I go to pass the ball, so I think it’s a team thing.

Me: Does that turnover in game six against New Jersey last year stick with you?

Calderon: No, for sure no. It was a really good play (by New Jersey). My pass was a little low. I don’t think too much about that. I was talking with CB, and after CB said the same thing, it was good defense, there was nothing we could do.

Me: Why do you wear number 8?

Calderon: I always wore 8 in Spain too, so that’s why. Nothing different. Not really a big thing?

Me: Not because of Kobe?

Calderon: No, it wasn’t.

Me: You wore his shoes as well the last two years so I thought it was a little tribute or something you had for him.

Calderon: I like him, I think he’s the best, but nothing no, I was wearing 8 before.

Me: And you guys play pretty different styles of basketball too.

Calderon: Yeah, so we are different (laughs).

Me: What’s your favorite city to go to on the road?

Calderon: I like San Francisco. It’s in the west, it’s kind of different, and they’ve got really good Spanish restaurants, so that’s it.

Me: Are there good Spanish restaurants in Toronto?
Calderon: Yeah we got some. They’re okay.

Interview with Jay Triano 

Me: Do you see any similarities between Nash and Jose?

JT: Absolutely. Obviously in the way that they play, because they really try to make their teammates better. And also because they’ve developed an uncanny ability to shoot the basketball and that just makes them have to be guarded and respected and that allows them to do what they like most, which is create for other people that opportunity.

Me: It seems like international play really helped both of these guys.

JT: I think it’s playing in a system where it’s team oriented and playing with guys who have the ability to shoot the basketball. Both players get as much satisfaction out of making a pass as they do scoring a point. They’re both very, very adept at handling the basketball and it makes it tough for them to be guarded.

Me: In last week’s Boston game, were you surprised that he took things into his own hands?

JT: Not really. Again, he was in a situation where they put Tony Allen on him the one time, and he used his quickenes to get by and get a couple free throws and then on the last play of the game we ran a high screen and KG was not going to leave Chris Bosh alone. Everyone expects Chris to get the basketball. Jose was smart enough to use that as a double screen and was able to get past Rondo and rub him off on the screen and then get all the way to basket before Paul Pierce could come over and commit the foul.

Me: Would Jose have made that play last year?

JT: Probably not. I don’t know if he would have been as aggressive and confident as he is right now. But the confidence has been earned and I think teams are having a hard time figuring out how to guard him. If you go under the screens, he’s going to shoot the ball. He’s developed his shot to where he can keep you honest that way. If you try to go over he’s quick enough where he’s got that long extending step where he can get to the backboard.

Me: We always see Jose giving out Gatorade at halftime. I was at the ACC in Jose’s rookie year and saw him find a ten dollar bill on the floor during shootaround and he spent a good ten minutes trying to find the usher who lost it.

JT: Is that right, yeah?

Me: Is that typical of him?

JT: He’s a great person. Genuine, happy, competitive, and loves to play the game. Loves the environment of being around people and I think those are the same traits that Steve has when I coached him on the national team, to a tee. And Jose’s super passionate about the game, he plays with a lot of passion. That rubs off on his teammates and it rubs off on the fans here in Toronto and people have found him very excitable to watch.

Me: The fans have really latched on to him too.

JT: Hey, they’ve grown with him. They saw him struggle as a first year player, then make huge strides last year and they’re watching him flourish right now.

Me: Did you see him being this good when he was a rookie?

JT: Not when he was rookie, I think the jury was still out. When we do our player evaluations at the end of the season, we have a list of ten things that we give our players to work on. It wasn’t until the end of the year last year that we pulled up from the year before and said let’s see, let’s do this year’s and see…he’d improved everything we asked him to do: be more consistent with your shot; be more aware of team defense; be more aware of lateral speed to keep guys in front of you more; take the ball to the basket and finish stronger. Every one of those things that we had written the year before, he had accomplished and surpassed within a year. There was no one else on our list that you could say that. Other guys work at it, but they weren’t able to be complete with their development in that skill. Jose completed every one of those things that we had offered and we were like what do we say this year? What more can we ask from the kid? Be more consistent with your three point shot, find your teammates, understand your role in the game and make sure everyone gets involved. He’s smart, he’s a smart player he knows how to do all that stuff.

Me: Talk a little about his efficiency.

JT: I mean, he’s just…he … you go back to his first year and we always used to get on him about leaving his feet to make passes and he’s learned to not do that. He’s a good ball handler, teams have tried to pressure him, teams have tried to make it difficult for him, he’s got great length for a point guard, he’s got great quickness and so it makes it tough for people to turn him over. He’s great at knowing when and who to give the ball to his teammates, he doesn’t put any of his teammates in a bad position either and as a result, his turnovers ar down but as a team so are the Raptors.

Me: You guys have to have seen the buzz increase the last couple of years on him.

JT: Yeah, he has raised his awareness and probably how much money he’s going to make this season. Point guards who can do what he does: look after the ball, hit shots, set up other players, have the assist to turnover ratio, have the ability to shoot the ball the way he has, they’re few and far between in this league. Bryan (Collangelo) fielded a ton of calls from teams that were inquiring about him in the off season, knowing that we have two very good point guards with us.

Me: Do you think he’s an all-star?

JT: I don’t know because I haven’t really sat down and looked at it in the east…the fact that he’s being mentioned is a tribute to him. He’s not on the ballot and he’s getting votes from coaches, that says a ton right there.