José Calderón (basketball)

Infobox NBA Player
name = José Calderón


league = NBA
height_ft = 6
height_in = 3
weight_lb = 210
position = Point guard
birth_date = birth date and age|1981|9|28
birth_place = Villanueva de la Serena, Badajoz, Spain
team = Toronto Raptors
number = 8
college =
nationality = ESP
draft = Undrafted
draft_team =
draft_year =
career_start = 1998
career_end =
former_teams = Diputación Foral Alava (1998–1999)
CB Lucentum Alicante (1999–2001)
Baloncesto Fuenlabrada (2001–2002)
Tau Cerámica (2002–2005)

José Manuel Calderón (born September 28 1981, in Villanueva de la Serena, Badajoz) is a Spanish professional basketball player who plays for the National Basketball Association's Toronto Raptors and the Spanish national team. He is the Raptors' starting point guard.

European career

The 6'3", 210 lb Calderón spent his first six seasons playing in Europe. He made his Spanish League debut playing for CB Lucentum Alicante, and helped them win the league championship. [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/jose_calderon/bio.html Jose Calderon Info Page - Bio] , nba.com, accessed 21 June 2007.] He switched teams to Baloncesto Fuenlabrada in the 2001–02 season, but seeing his playing time curtailed, he moved again the next season to TAU Cerámica. There, Calderón played behind former NBA guard Elmer Bennett at point for most of the season, and in the 2003–04 season, he won the King's Cup with TAU Cerámica. In 2005, he led TAU Cerámica to the Euroleague Final Four, where they finished second.

NBA career

Rookie season

Calderón entered the NBA when former Raptors GM Rob Babcock persuaded the Spanish guard to sign with the Toronto Raptors on 3 August 2005. [ [http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/PR_calderon_050803.html "Raptors Sign Jose Calderon"] , nba.com/raptors, 3 August 2005, accessed 21 June 2007.] Known as a talented playmaker, Calderón struggled with his shooting in his first year in the NBA. Many basketball analysts considered the shooting problems a mental issue, as Calderón was a top shooter in the Spanish League. By the end of the 2005–06 season, he was ranked third among all rookies in assists with 4.5 per game. He finished the season with 64 played games, having started in 11 of them. He averaged 5.5 points, 4.5 assists, 2.2 rebounds and an assists-per-turnover ratio of 2.85.

2006–07 season

Throughout the 2006–07 season, Calderón played primarily as backup to T. J. Ford, turning in solid numbers from the bench. [Smith, Doug, [http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/258727 "Calderon makes point to remember team first"] , thestar.com, 20 September 2007, accessed 21 September 2007.] As acknowledged by coach Sam Mitchell as well as his teammates, Calderón's form was instrumental to the Raptors' push for a playoff spot, and later, the Atlantic Division title. [ [http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/quotes_013107.html Post-Game Quotes] , nba.com/raptors, 31 January 2007, accessed 21 June 2007.] He ended his regular season with improved averages of 8.8 points and 5.1 assists per game and .525 in field goal percentage, even though he had less playing time compared to his rookie season. [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/jose_calderon/career_stats.html Jose Calderon Info Page - Career Stats and Totals] , nba.com, accessed 21 June 2007.] In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, Calderón played in all of Toronto's games in the series against the New Jersey Nets, but the Raptors were defeated 4–2. [ [http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/postup_050407.html Raptors Post Up] , nba.com/raptors, 4 May 2007, accessed 21 June 2007.] Calderón averaged 13.0 points and 5.3 assists per game in his first ever NBA playoff season.

2007–08 season

Toronto continued to deploy Ford and Calderón in tandem for the point guard position to good effect. Ford was injured for several games in November and December and the Spaniard stepped in with impressive performances. [ [http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/recap_121207.html Raptors Cruise Past Mavericks For Third Straight Win] , nba.com/raptors, 12 December 2007, accessed 13 December 2007.] In three games against the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls, Calderón provided 37 assists while committing only three turnovers. [Smith, Doug, [http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/279755 "Calderon leads Raptors past Bulls"] , thestar.com, 26 November 2007, accessed 26 November 2007.] 14 games into the season, he was also leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio with 5.67 to 1 (he would go on to end the season as the league-leader with 5.38 to 1), [ [http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Turnovers.jsp?league=00&season=22007&conf=OVERALL&position=0&splitType=9&qualified=Y&yearsExp=-1&sortOrder=4&splitDD=All%20Teams 2007-08 TURNOVERS] , nba.com, accessed 2 May 2008.] but even so, he said: "But how I feel about the team right now is that we need T.J. Ford [for the next game] ." [Grange, Michael, [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071125.wspt-raptors25/GSStory/GlobeSportsBasketball/Raptors "Toronto goes to the well, finds it's deep"] , globeandmail.com, 25 November 2007, accessed 26 November 2007.] 35 games into the season, the Spaniard increased the turnover ratio to 6.15 to 1, setting him on course to break an NBA record. [Ewing, Lori, [http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/292924 "Humble Calderon on pace for efficiency record"] , thestar.com, 10 January 2008, accessed 11 January 2008.] By mid-season, he was touted as a possibility for making the All-Star reserve team. [Smith, Doug, [http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/297839 "Calderon playing like all-star"] , thestar.com, 27 January 2008, accessed 28 January 2008.] Even after Ford returned from injury for the final third of the campaign, Calderón was able to keep his place in the starting lineup. Ford had initially agreed to playing backup, but reportedly became frustrated at not being able to start.Feschuk, Dave, [http://www.thestar.com/Sports/NBA/article/404839 "Raptors' Ford may be wearing out his welcome"] , thestar.com, 28 March 2008, accessed 29 March 2008.] Calderón eventually asked the coaching staff to play Ford as starter instead, leading to widespread praise from the coaching staff, his team mates, and fans. Given that he was going to become a free agent by the end of the campaign, there were even calls for Ford to be traded so that the team could be built around Calderón as point guard. By the end of the regular season, Calderón was fifth in the league for assists per game, [ [http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Assists.jsp?league=00&season=22007&conf=OVERALL&position=0&splitType=9&splitScope=GAME&qualified=Y&yearsExp=-1&splitDD= 2007-08 ASSISTS LEADERS : Assists Per Game] , nba.com, accessed 2 May 2008.] and in the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Ford split the playing time with him about equally, with the two players combining for averages of 23.4 points and 13.6 assists per game. [ [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/tj_ford/career_stats.html T.J. Ford Info Page - Career Stats and Totals] , nba.com, accessed 8 September 2007.] However, the Raptors were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in the first round four games to one. [ [http://www.nba.com/games/20080428/TORORL/recap.html Magic Beat Raptors, Move to Second Round] , nba.com, 29 April 2008, accessed 1 May 2008.]

2008–09 season

On July 9 Calderón re-signed with the Raptors to a multi-year deal. [ [http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/calderon_070908.html Raptors Re-Sign Calderon] , nba.com/raptors, July 9 2008, accessed July 28 2008.] With the departure of Ford to the Indiana Pacers, the Spaniard was slated to start the point guard position for the Raptors.

International career

Calderón has enjoyed a successful international career. When he played for Spain's national youth team, he won the gold medal at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, as well as the bronze medal at the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. As his career advanced, the point guard began appearing for the Spanish national senior team. Calderón was part of the Spanish national team which finished fifth at the 2002 World Championships and second at the 2003 European Championships. He was later named the team captain during the 2004 Summer Olympics, and on 3 September, 2006, Calderón and his Spanish squad defeated Greece, and won the 2006 FIBA World Championship along with future Raptors teammate, Jorge Garbajosa. In EuroBasket 2007, Calderón and Garbajosa again featured for the Spanish team. In the knockout stages, Calderón recorded a game-high 17 points as Spain defeated Germany 83–55 in the quarter-finals. [ [http://www.eurobasket2007.org/en/cid_BqypGFJPHy-Nw4lwIAq,v3.gameID_5172-43-A-1.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2007.roundID_5172.teamID_.html Game card] , eurobasket2007.org, 13 September 2007, accessed 14 September 2007.] In the semi-finals, Calderón scored 18 points in Spain's defeat of Greece. [ [http://www.eurobasket2007.org/en/cid_BqypGFJPHy-Nw4lwIAq,v3.pageID_MIo9t,r8GfgCzft4jY3M,2.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2007.roundID_5169.teamID_.gameID_5174-49-A-1.html Boxscore] , eurobasket2007.org, 15 September 2007, accessed 16 September 2007.] The Spaniard led his team in points again in the final, but Spain lost 60–59 to Russia. [ [http://www.eurobasket2007.org/en/cid_BqypGFJPHy-Nw4lwIAq,v3.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2007.gameID_5178-54-A-1.html Game card] , eurobasket2007.org, 16 September 2007, accessed 17 September 2007.] In the 2008 Olympics, Calderón was part of the squad that won the silver medal, but was injured and therefore could not play in the semifinal and the final game. He averaged 7.3 points per game in the tournament. [ [http://www.nbcolympics.com/basketball/statistics/gender=M/teamstats/rsc=BKM000000.html Statistics] , nbcolympics.com, accessed 26 August 2008.]

Off the court

On 2 March 2007, the Raptors announced that Calderón was named as a Right To Play Athlete Ambassador. [http://www.nba.com/raptors/community/jose_030207.html "Jose Calderon Named as Right to Play Ambassador"] , nba.com/raptors, 2 March 2007, accessed 21 June 2007.] Right To Play is an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play as a tool for the development of children and youth in the most disadvantaged areas of the world. As part of the program, Calderón pledged $100 for every assist he recorded in a home game against the Chicago Bulls on 26 November 2007. He ended the game with 14 assists. [Smith, Doug, [http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/279753 "Calderon in a giving mood"] , thestar.com, 26 November 2007, accessed 26 November 2007.]

NBA career statistics

: "Correct as of 30 April 2008"

Regular season

-
align="left" | 2005–06
align="left" | Toronto
64 || 11 || 23.2 || .423 || .163 || .848 || 2.2 || 4.5 || .7 || .1 || 5.5
-
align="left" | 2006–07
align="left" | Toronto
77 || 11 || 21.0 || .521 || .333 || .818 || 1.7 || 5.0 || .8 || .1 || 8.7
-
align="left" | 2007–08
align="left" | Toronto
82 || 56 || 30.3 || .519 || .429 || .908 || 2.9 || 8.3 || 1.1 || .1 || 11.2
-
align="left" | Career
align="left" |
223 || 78 || 25.0 || .500 || .368 || .856 || 2.3 || 6.1 || .9 || .0 || 8.7
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

Playoffs

-
align="left" | 2006–07
align="left" | Toronto
6 || 1 || 24.3 || .507 || .250 || .833 || 1.7 || 5.3 || .8 || .0 || 13.0
-
align="left" | 2007–08
align="left" | Toronto
5 || 0 || 24.0 || .440 || .476 || 1.000 || 3.6 || 7.0 || .2 || .0 || 11.8
-
align="left" | Career
align="left" |
11 || 1 || 24.1 || .479 || .394 || .909 || 2.5 || 6.1 || .6 || .0 || 12.5
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

References

External links

* [http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/bio/?id=1306&hubname=nba-raptors TSN.ca]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3989 ESPN.com]
* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/jose_calderon/index.html NBA.com biography]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/players/3989/ SI.com]
* [http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3989 Yahoo Sports]
* [http://217.13.116.51/plantillas/jugador.jsp?id=BDG Player profile] @ Euroleague.net
* [http://www.josemanuelcalderon.com Calderón's blog]