After getting off to a dismal 3-10 start to their season without him, the entire New York Knicks organization was very happy to see their prized acquisition of the summer, starting point guard Jose Calderon, finally take the floor for their team, for the first time in a game that counted, on Saturday night.
But no one figures to be pleased by Calderon’s return as much as star forward Carmelo Anthony.
Even when Calderon didn’t add much to the box score — scoring a mere three points, and missing five of six shots from the field, while recording just three assists and a turnover in 21 minutes during the Knicks’ win over the hapless Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night — the value of his veteran presence was evident to Anthony and others.
"“For our morale, as a team, it’s good to see [Calderon] back out there,” Anthony said. “Jose’s a smart point guard, he’s a smart guy. He’s been around, he’s played a lot of games. He knows how to run a team, he knows how to run an offense, especially an offense like [the triangle]. He can shoot the ball, he can spread the court. But most important, his IQ out there on the basketball court, I think, is very high. That’s something that, at that position, we’ve been missing.”"
(Sorry, Shane Larkin, you were solid at times while being forced into a starting role long before you were ready, but a scorer like Melo notices the difference when he doesn’t have a high-level point guard getting him the ball).
"In reflecting upon the ways that other point guards like Chauncey Billups and Andre Miller (when Anthony was on the Denver Nuggets) and Jason Kidd (with the Knicks) have helped his own game flourish in the past, Anthony said, “I love it. I don’t think there’s anything like playing with great PG’s… Jose is our point guard now. We’re just trying to build something here.”"
Calderon admitted he wasn’t himself in his first game as a Knick after missing significant time with a calf injury. Yet he promised that will change.
"“I’m healthy,” he said after the Knicks’ win over the 76ers. “I’m just excited that I was finally able to play. We won, that’s the most important part. It’s always good to get a win in your first game back… some rustiness out there, as expected, but it’s good to be back… better things are coming, for sure.”"
While Calderon, at age 33, is beginning to get up in years, he’s still in good shape and young enough to maintain solid productivity for a while. And the track record speaks for itself, at least offensively. Although he has a poor reputation as a defender, Calderon has done everything over his first nine years in the NBA which Anthony gave him credit for, and more.
He has shot a solid 47.9 percent overall, including an excellent 41.1 percent from three-point range, while compiling an exceptional ratio of 6.8 assists and just 1.7 turnovers per game.
It’s that history which caused longtime league point guard, himself, turned rookie head coach, Derek Fisher, to view Calderon’s unimpressive statistical showing against Philadelphia in a different kind of light.
"“Jose was good,” Fisher said. “He looked like he was able to find some comfort level. Those were 21 good minutes.”"
Like Anthony, Quincy Acy noted the immense value of going from a raw point guard like Larkin to the experience of a fellow New York newcomer like Calderon.
"“He is a great player,” Acy said. “He is a fit. He has been around a long time, so it was good to have him out there.”Teasing Calderon a bit, guard Iman Shumpert added, “It was good to Jose back. He was tired as hell, super tired. He was laughing about it on the bench, saying, ‘I know, I missed you guys. I know you guys want some lobs.’ But he’ll get there.”"
That’s the type of steadying influence that a proven point guard can give a team, even when that didn’t immediately show against the league’s worst team.
Very likely, the one who might benefit the most from Calderon’s return is Anthony, whose expected increase in production and efficiency with Calderon back, should have the kind of positive trickle-down effect throughout the roster that the struggling Knicks are hoping for, just when they need it the most.