Calderon in Detroit
In this thread, we follow Calderon and Garbajosa's 2007/2008 season in Toronto. Let's continue the discussion here. The Toronto Raptors have had a busy off-season, bringing in several new international players along with former US National Team member Jermaine O'Neal. The Canadian franchise has one of the most internationally influenced teams in the NBA.
To the disappointment of NBA fans, Jorge Garbajosa is gone after a bitter summer with the Raptors in which they refused to let him join the Spanish National Team. Garbajosa was eventually released by the Raptors (nobody knows the true conditions, but I suspect that he was not allowed to join another NBA team) and Garbajosa was given an $18,000,000 contract by Khimki.
Calderon is the lone Spaniard left on a team that still has a great international flavor. Rasho Nesterovic and TJ Ford were both traded during the summer in exchange for Jermaine O'Neal. This means that Calderon is the undisputed starter. Roko Leni Ukic, from Slovenia, will back him up.
Last year, with Ford, Calderon averaged 11 points, 8 assists, and a 52% shooting average in 30 minutes per game. He'll get a more minutes per game this year, so the statistics of this point guard will go up as well. He had one of the highest (maybe even the highest) assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA last year.
Most of Toronto's team has plenty of experience overseas. The former first overall draft pick, Italian Andrei Bargnani, will continue to improve playing behind Chris Bosh and O'Neal, and he might pick up minutes as a small forward. Dunker Jamario Moon and Hassan Adams both played rather unsuccesful for a year in Italy. Point guard Will Solomon played several years in European leagues, winning the 2004 ULEB Cup with Efes Pilsen. Anthony Parker won the Euroleague MVP award in 2005 and 2006, and although his game has not translated as well to the NBA, he still figures to be a major part of the Raptor's plans. These international players will be joined by Nathan Jawai, a 6'10" Australian Aboriginal, who signed a two-year rookie contract with the team.
The Dual Centers, Chris Bosh and Jermaine O'Neal have both logged extensive time playing for the US National Team. O'Neal will need some time to adjust to the style of play that Bosh and Calderon have thrived with.
Coach Sam Mitchell has been accused of discriminating against international players in the past. Many of the accusations come from Mitchell's treatment of Jorge Garbajosa, who turned out to have serious injuries. Nevertheless, Mitchell has had tremendous success with this team and his roster of internationally experienced players.
For his part, O'Neal is excited to be teamed up with Calderon:
O'Neal Excited - by Doug Smith, The Toronto Star, September 29, 2008
..."Me, Chris Bosh and Jose (Calderon) sat down after the scrimmage (last week) and it was like, 'Man, we have a real shot here,' " newcomer Jermaine O'Neal said. "We've got a real shot.
"Obviously, we have the talent on paper and if we mentally believe that and bring that swagger every day, that we're the best team on the floor every time we step on the floor, we've got a shot at doing some great things this year."...Calderon Ready for Increased Workload - by Doug Smith, The Toronto Star, September 26, 2008
...Calderon has spent every summer for the past decade with Spain's national team, either at an Olympics, a world championship, a European tournament or qualification event.
...With the departure of T.J. Ford to Indiana in the Jermaine O'Neal trade, and the uncertain prospects of rookie Roko Ukic and Will Solomon, an unproven free agent signed out of Europe as the primary backups, Calderon will be asked to carry a heavier load.
And the groin, while a problem in Beijing, no longer is an issue.
"I feel normal," he said. "I feel 100 per cent, no pain at all, perfect for the training camp."
Bosh and Calderon, aside from showing off the new uniforms – which the Raptors will wear at home on opening night Oct. 31 – had their Olympic medals on display at yesterday's unveiling.
The U.S. defeated Spain 118-107 in the Olympic final.
If there was any question about the Olympics being a bittersweet experience for Calderon, he quickly dismissed it.
"It was tough, but it wasn't tougher than the year before at the Eurobasket where we lost (to Russia in the gold-medal game)," he said. "We lost that and got the silver. This one, we feel like we won something – we won the silver medal.
"The Americans were an unbelievable team and we played really good against them. I think everybody sees a difference there, but it's not that big. We felt really good. When we were on the podium waiting for the medals it was different, we enjoyed the moment, not thinking we just lost the game.
"Everybody likes to win, for sure, but we have to be realistic. They played good the whole tournament. They've got a really good team and we just couldn't make it."
Double-double in an successful OT game against the Warriors: 16 pts + 13 assists + 5 rebs.
Die Liebe wird eine Krankheit, wenn man sie als eine Heilung sieht
Artificial Nature
Calderón and Garnett trash talking
Die Liebe wird eine Krankheit, wenn man sie als eine Heilung sieht
Artificial Nature
Calderon is not backing down!! Good for him!! Rik, you Iberians are getting tougher and tougher every season.
Calderon is the best PG in the East right now. 15 points (45% shooting), 10 assists. Chris Duhon is doing a good job and Derrick Rose is playing great in Chicago, but Calderon is the steadiest and most proficient.
Unfortunately for Toronto, Jermaine O'Neal still isn't playing very well. He's scoring 12 points a game with 41% shooting. For Toronto's sake, he's got to muscle up. Same with Anthony Parker. He's shooting 39%.
Calderon helped Jay Triano win his first NBA game. Calderon had 11 points, 14 assists, 3 steals, and only 2 turnovers.
Only Chris Paul is giving more assists per night than Calderon.
He is better than Paul in the assists per turnover ratio, and third in assist per 48 minutes(Only checked top 50 in assists) behind Paul and guess who? The other Spanish PG of the NBA, Sergio.
It's a bird? It's a plane? No, it's Rudy!
On the way to work this morning, I listened to ESPN radio. They said that Calderon has made 63 (well, 60-something) straight free-throws. Michael Williams from Indiana holds the NBA record with 97 straight free-throws, so Caldeorn still has a long way to go.
Yes, and in early times, I think longest streak goes to Kobe with 60+ too. Maybe 63 is already better.Originally Posted by mvblair
Kobe ended the serie on the 81 points night, so maybe Calderon will break the Chamberlain record if he continues this way
It's a bird? It's a plane? No, it's Rudy!
I've watched some Raptors games lately and while I like the team,they're in serious slump right now and Calderon, while putting up good stats, seems unable to make things better. He's not very aggressive driving on basket and when 3pointers are not falling and Bosh is neutralized, Raptors is pretty hopeless.
Yes, it seems that the Raptors are looking very poor now. Honestly, I think it was a bad move to push out Mitchell, who I know wasn't that popular with his players, but was a good technical coach. Firing coaches in the middle of the year is usually a terrible move.
But Richey, you can't blame Calderon. Yeah, he could probably be more aggressive like very PG not named Steve Nash, but O'Neal seems to have just stopped Toronto's offense completely. He just can't seem to get started as a Twin Tower with Bosh. And yes, you're right, Bosh is easily neutralized. He's skinny and a weak double team can stop him.
Calderón matched his assist career-high with 16 assists and added 21 points and 2 steals as the Raptors lose to the Warriors.
Die Liebe wird eine Krankheit, wenn man sie als eine Heilung sieht
Artificial Nature
All-around game with 18 pts + 11 assists + 5 rebs, but the Raptors lose to the Nuggets.
Die Liebe wird eine Krankheit, wenn man sie als eine Heilung sieht
Artificial Nature
Looks like Calderon has a temporary injury. He missed last night's win against Orlando and Coach Triano said he will not go with the team to Milwaukee and Washington this week. It's apparently a hamstring injury.
Calderon passed Calvin Murphy (78) for most consecutive free throws made in the NBA. He now has 79 and is third on the all time list and is trailing only Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (81) and Micheal Williams (97).
I think he can outdo Abdul-Rauf but it will be really interesting to see if he can break Michael Williams record.
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/feature...116/index.html
86 straight free throws for Calderon! If he makes 11 more, he will break the NBA record.
Toronto had lost 7 games in a row, including their last 6 without Calderon. He returned on January 25th and helped Toronto win against Chicago, scoring 23 points (9-10 shooting), 10 rebounds and 0 turnovers. Last night against Sacramento, Calderon scored 16 points, 8 assists, and 0 turnovers.
Is Toronto "back on track?" They are still three and a half games outside of the play-offs, but with Calderon and O'Neal returning from injuries as well as Bargnani's improvements as a starter, perhaps Toronto can move up in the standings.
The way this guy talks about his streak is like it was the only thing that counts in his life... Poor him.
It's a bird? It's a plane? No, it's Rudy!
) if he still hasn't missed any free throws
Calvin Murphy is the jerk, but Michael Williams would be happy for Calderon:
Will Williams be upset if record is broken? No way, Jose - by MIKE GANTER, 28th January 2009, Toronto Sun
Micheal Williams has much bigger concerns these days than worrying about his consecutive free throw record being broken.
The former guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who once was traded for former Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell and played the final two games of his NBA career as a member of the Raptors, is the president and CEO of 3i Construction, one of the fastest growing general contractors in Dallas and currently engrossed in the building of the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium Facility in Arlington, Tex.
The state-of-the-art facility will consist of a retractable roof stadium, seating approximately 75,000 patrons, with more than 200 suites, and multiple restaurants and lounges.
So while Williams is well aware of Jose Calderon's assault on his record, he's not exactly following it game by game.
Nor will he be the least bit disappointed should Calderon best his 16-year-old mark of 97 consecutive successful free throws, which Calderon is 11 shy of tying.
"Tell him good luck from me and I'm cheering for him," Williams said yesterday.
The Baylor graduate says he believes records are made to be broken, a far cry from the Calvin Murphy's of the world.
Murphy, the former Houston Rockets guard who held the mark before Williams broke it in 1993, still holds the mark for the highest free throw percentage for a single season, a mark which also could be in jeopardy should Calderon continue on his current path.
Murphy has been known to show up and do whatever possible as a distraction to ensure his lone remaining mark stands, and has promised to be there when the Raps visit Houston on March 3.
Williams is not that sort.
"(Calderon) won't see one sign of Micheal Williams at any of his games," Williams said, "but he will get a phone call from me congratulating him if he does break it."
Well, well, well... Did he score 100 points? Guys, everybody is making a crzy stuff about that, no way it is important.
It's a bird? It's a plane? No, it's Rudy!
Closer look at Calderon's free throw run
Another article on Calderon's free throw streak. This topic is definitely a big "buzz" in the NBA.
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/feature...128/index.html
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote