Jose Calderon And His Thoughts On The Toronto Raptors This Upcoming Season
By Andrew DubowecSpanish point guard, Jose Calderon continues to impress and improve. At the just completed Eurobasket 2007 in Spain, Calderon played extremely well and was a deserving selection to the all-tournament team.
"He looked extremely confident and was a strong, vocal leader on his team," said Raptors assistant general manager Mauritzio Gherardini, who was in Europe. "Everyone in attendance - and I'm talking about NBA scouts and coaches - appreciated the way he played and the improvements he's made."
Calderon finished second in the tournament in field-goal percentage, where he connected on a sparkling 55.6 per cent of his shots. He finished 13th in scoring, fifth in three-point shooting, 10th in assists and 12th in steals.
Earlier this week, after the tournament Calderon spoke to members of the global sports media on an international conference call. Here’s what he specifically had to say relating to the Toronto Raptors.
Q: Were you thinking about Jorge Garbajosa’s leg injury when you were on the court together?
A: No. Throughout the summer we talked about his injury. I think he worked pretty hard for too many hours to win this Eurobasket. Everything is all right. We can not think about what happened, whether he played good or not. It was a great job what he did. He was an important player for us. In his first game after, everyone was worried, but the doctors say he was ok and we went with that.
Q: You’re going into the final year of your Raptors contract. Have you given much thought to staying in Toronto or would you consider going somewhere where you probably would get playing time?
A: I am not worried about where I am going to play. I felt great in Toronto from the first day with the fans with everybody. It’s true all the players want to play more minutes, but you have to see how the minutes are. I am very happy with my minutes, with my role with the Raptors. I feel very important with this team. I feel great with this role right now. I don’t know what is going to happen. It’s my city, it’s my team right now and I’m feeling great with my coach and my staff.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most about training camp in Italy?
A: It’s going to be fun. It’s a little different for us, the Raptors. I think it will be fun for my teammates to know a little bit of Italy and of Spain. We can show them a little bit how we live because for some of them it is the first time in Europe. We can be more a team because we are going to have to do more things together. I think that’s more important for the NBA season. We can go to dinner, we can go out together and that’s the best thing about this Europe tour.
Q: Do you think Andrea Bargnani can make the Raptors take the next step to Conference Finals? Do you think he can be an All-Star player?
A: For sure. I think Andrea is going to be one of the best players in the NBA. I think he can do it. There are not too many guys like him. He can dribble, he can shoot … a little bit of everything. His first year was really good. For us, he is a really important player. He is great. He has everything to be a star.
Q: You’ve been playing regularly for about two years. Are you worried about wearing down with all the basketball you’ve played?
A: It’s been a long time, but the thing is, when we finished the season May 4, I had almost three months to relax and take care of myself. I think this Eurobasket tournament, to be ready for training camp and next season for Raptors, I think being off for five months is too much. I think for the last two weeks it was harder because you play a lot of games. You’re just practicing your job to be ready for the season and last year I felt great after the World Championship when I arrived to Toronto. Hopefully, this year it will be the same. I feel great. I now have 10 or 12 days to relax to be ready to go again. I’m expecting this season again that we can be great.
Q: After making the playoffs last season, do you think there’s an opportunity for Toronto to win this year?
A: I don’t know if it is a real option to win the ring for sure. Right now, you have to think that. When you start a competition you have to play for a win. We’ll go step-by-step, game-by-game without thinking too much. Just thinking to win the next game and see what happens then. I think we have a better team than last year -- more players, more rotation. Everyone has to go in the same direction. The guys we signed, the guys that played last year, everyone is thinking in a group and I think it’s a very important thing to be successful this year.
Q: Do you think your scoring will increase this year? Do you think you can be more dangerous offensively?
A: I like to play for the team first. It doesn’t mean that I cannot shoot or be more aggressive on the basket. I’m going to try and play like always. If I have options and I can shoot more times or not, I can make the decision. When we start to play we can see what’s going to happen. I don’t think about if I’m going to score more or not, I just think if we are going to win more games. It’s how I feel. I’m going to try to be a better player scoring and assisting for my teammates. I am going to be a complete player. I don’t think too much at then end of the season if I’m going to score more or not.
Q: What did you do to relax after the NBA season?
A: A little bit of everything -- be with my family, my wife; be here in Spain and relax for almost a month without basketball. I was taking care of myself, eating good. I worked on my shot, physical conditioning, lifting and getting ready for the season with the Raptors. It’s going to be a great season for us and I want to be part of the success of the team. I think we can do great work this year. Everybody has to be ready for this year because it’s a very important year for the Raptors.
Good job guys. Keep on blogging.
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