For many Knicks fans, Jose Calderon is being — and already has been — embraced at point guard because he’s not Raymond Felton.
But to others, Calderon is being embraced because he’s, well, Jose Calderon.
“His numbers speak for themselves,” Carmelo Anthony said. “The way he’s able to run a team, the way he’s able to shoot the basketball lights out, his assist-to-turnover ratio is like no other.”
“He understands the game, he sees everything, and he is a willing passer,” said Samuel Dalembert, who arrived with Calderon from the Mavericks in the trade for Tyson Chandler. “There is no ego, there is nothing, just go out there and try to win.”
So Knicks fans have substance in their willingness to accept Calderon, and not simply because he replaces prime booing target Felton. Calderon is a pass-first, hit every (or almost every) free throw, terrific shooting, smart point guard. He enters his 10th NBA season, 7 ½ seasons spent in Toronto, as a career 10.2 scorer and 6.8 assist guy. Every season, he was in the top 20 in assists-to-turnovers.
And Calderon, who turned 33 Sunday, is as excited to be a Knick and adapt to the triangle offense as the Knicks are to have him.
“It helps just to be able to learn the system [together],” Calderon said at Media Day on Monday. “It’s going to be about where you’re going to be, finding a spot, trying to get everybody in the right places and just share the ball. Find the open guy. If you’re open shoot the ball. Just try to make it as easy as possible. If we’re sharing the ball and you pass the ball first, your teammate is going to pass it to you. We have to get that into our minds and try to play as a team. We can be a really good team.
“The system is going to be trying to share the ball, try to reposition everybody. I like that. I’m the pass-first point guard. I’m going to try to get everybody involved like I’ve been doing for a while.
“The system fits me well.”